A Windows utility for clearing stale GPU shader caches and reclaiming disk space after driver updates, game installs, or graphics-related instability.
The project includes both a graphical app and a command-line batch utility for quick cleanup.
It scans and can remove shader cache folders commonly created by:
- Windows / DirectX
- AMD
- NVIDIA
- Intel
- Steam
It targets known cache folders such as:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\D3DSCache%LOCALAPPDATA%\AMD\DXCache%LOCALAPPDATA%\NVIDIA\VkCache%LOCALAPPDATA%\Intel\ShaderCache- Steam library paths under
steamapps\shadercache
Shader caches are meant to speed up game and app launch times, but stale or corrupted caches can sometimes cause:
- stutter
- visual glitches
- driver-related instability
- poor performance after updates
Clearing the cache is a common safe troubleshooting step and the app makes it easy to choose affected vendors without deleting unrelated files.
- Detects common GPU cache folders automatically
- Shows cache sizes before you delete anything
- Lets you select presets such as Windows, AMD, NVIDIA, Intel, Steam, or All
- Detects Steam library folders automatically
- Supports custom Steam shadercache paths
- Lists untracked vendor folders that were added by newer drivers
- Works from a GUI or a batch script
- Built for Windows 10/11
-
Install dependencies:
pip install customtkinter
-
Run the app:
python mainGUI.py
-
Choose a preset or manually select cache folders, then clear them.
Running as Administrator is recommended so more cache folders can be removed without being locked by Windows.
Use the batch script directly:
Clean_Shaders.bat /HELP
Clean_Shaders.bat /LIST
Clean_Shaders.bat /AMD
Clean_Shaders.bat /NVIDIA
Clean_Shaders.bat /DEFAULT
Clean_Shaders.bat /ALLThe CLI supports:
/LIST— show detected caches and sizes/WINDOWS— clear Windows/DirectX caches only/AMD— clear AMD caches only/NVIDIA— clear NVIDIA caches only/INTEL— clear Intel caches only/STEAM— clear Steam shader cache only/DEFAULT— clear everything except Steam/ALL— clear all known caches, including Steam/PRESET:x— run a vendor preset/ADDSTEAMPATH:path— add a Steam shader cache path
# List cache folders without deleting anything
Clean_Shaders.bat /LIST
# Remove NVIDIA cache folders only
Clean_Shaders.bat /NVIDIA
# Remove all cache folders except Steam
Clean_Shaders.bat /DEFAULT
# Remove everything, including Steam
Clean_Shaders.bat /ALL- This tool deletes shader cache folders only; it does not remove game files, driver installations, or Windows system components.
- Some folders may be in use and cannot be deleted unless the app is run with elevated privileges.
- Clearing shader caches is generally safe and reversible, but if you are troubleshooting a major graphics issue, it is still wise to keep a backup or restore point.
mainGUI.py— the CustomTkinter GUImodules/shader_cache_core.py— cache discovery, sizing, and cleanup logicmodules/configModule.py— app configuration storageClean_Shaders.bat— command-line cleanup utilitydevtools.py— build helper for packagingtheme/— app theme filesdocs/— screenshots and supporting assets
This project is packaged for Windows using PyInstaller and the build helper in devtools.py.
To build locally:
python devtools.py --dry
python devtools.py