Move Microsoft Edge Cache to another folder (Second Drive)

2015-08-02

Question

_{Sunday, August 2, 2015 5:09 AM | 1 vote}

Hi All,

I understand that the new Edge Browser just launched and it is still in its infancy but I am having difficulty with the settings as they seem over-simplified.

How do I change the CACHE FOLDER LOCATION OF EDGE TO MY SECOND DRIVE?

I have looked online and there is little to no answer to this question. This is a very important feature in all browsers but Edge seems to be missing this.

Using CCleaner, I tracked the location where the CACHE is going to. For instance, they are being sent to:

C:\Users\***\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AC\MicrosoftEdge\Cache
C:\Users\***\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AC\!001\MicrosoftEdge\Cache
C:\Users\***\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AC\!002\MicrosoftEdge\Cache

I have no way to change the path Edge. I have navigated to environmental variables under system properties and changed the TEMP and TMP location but no avail.

Thanks in advance!

All replies (8)

_{Wednesday, August 5, 2015 5:16 AM ✅Answered}

Hi,

As you said it seems that Edge does not have an option to move the cache folder.

A possible workaround is to create a symbolic link but it is not recommended and may cause issues. You can post a suggestion in Feedback function of Edge.

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and un-mark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact [email protected].

_{Wednesday, November 18, 2015 3:31 PM | 1 vote}

Pity this wasn't posted sooner, but oh well. For anyone who still wants to try the SymLink method I can confirm it works.

*These steps are exactly as I did them (also works with ZuneMusic_8wekyb3d8bbwe if you stream a lot and don't want it to wear/bloat your SSD - yes, "stream" apparently means "save to disk"), some steps may be unnecessary, but worth doing just in case. Your mileage my vary, if you follow these steps you do so at your own risk. Depending on restarts, step 1. may need to be repeated.

Run cmd from the start menu with admin rights (right-click command prompt and select run as administrator).
Take full ownership of the cache folders to be safe, you may want to clear using disk cleanup first. Type takeown /F "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AC" /A /R and press enter (%USERPROFILE% should work, but if not replace it with [Drive]:\Users\Username] as per normal).
When it finishes (depends on size) make an exact copy to your other drive (replace E:\Edge Cache as desired; and make sure Edge\Groove\etc. isn't running or you will get 'in use' errors). Use: robocopy "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AC" "E:\Edge Cache" /E /COPYALL /DCOPY:DAT ensure that there are no skipped\failed files, otherwise retry after disk cleanup.
Instead of deleting the original as required for Symbolic Links, suggested you rename it: ren "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AC" "AC Backup" in case the SymLink fails when you can just rename it AC again, deleting the SymLink (you can do this using windows explorer as well). If the renaming encounters 'in use' errors even though Edge\Groove\etc. isn't running then restart your PC and retry.
Create the SymLink as follows (replacing E:\Edge Cache as needed): mklink /D "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AC" "E:\Edge Cache" then restart your computer.

After some time if everything is working smoothly and you're sure its the other drive being used for caching then you can safely delete the original AC Backup file, but I just deleted #!001\MicrosoftEdge\Cache from the backup. If you don't use disk clean up, all your Edge cache should be retained.

*Thanks to Martin Brinkmann for inspiration from a Windows 8 variation on ghacks.net.

_{Wednesday, August 17, 2016 7:40 AM}

not work with softperfect RamDisk

_{Monday, September 19, 2016 3:34 AM}

I must thank you very much cause you have asked my question!

Thank you!

_{Friday, February 3, 2017 4:07 AM}

This caused Edge not to execute at all. When I double-clicked it, it does not open. Deleting the symlink and renaming back AC restored functionality. Otherwise, the mklink solution works for other apps like Chrome.

_{Thursday, May 4, 2017 4:35 AM}

You should totally remove Microsoft Edge and install a fresh new one with powershell, then you may try again.

Or, try to boot into safe mode instead to do such operation

because your files may be occupied to prevent you to made any modifications even you are not using Microsoft Edge.

_{Saturday, January 18, 2020 9:13 AM}

You can use EDGE based on Chromium and change the cache location like this:

Modify EDGE shortcut to point to:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --disk-cache-dir=r:\TEMP\EdgeCache

Where "r:\TEMP\EdgeCache" is your wanted cache location.

_{Saturday, January 18, 2020 9:15 AM}

You can use EGDE based on Chromium and change the cache location like this: