Conda Package Cache
Conda keeps a shared package cache in pkgs directories where it stores downloaded .conda and .tar.bz2 archives, extracted package directories, repodata state, and temporary fetch artifacts so new environments can be created without downloading the same files again. Over time this cache accumulates superseded builds, interrupted downloads, and partially extracted packages that no longer match current channel metadata. Kudu removes Conda’s downloaded package cache contents from the standard pkgs locations while leaving environments, installed packages, configuration, credentials, and user project files untouched.
Why clean Conda Package Cache?
- Interrupted or failed downloads leave partial .conda or .tar.bz2 files behind, and later installs may stop with checksum mismatch, invalid archive, or extraction errors
- Superseded builds pile up in the shared pkgs cache, so the pkgs folder grows to many gigabytes and free disk space drops even though those old archives are no longer needed
- Corrupted extracted package directories in pkgs can break hard-linking into new environments, which shows up as environment creation failing partway through or packages being re-downloaded repeatedly
- A stale local package cache can cause Conda to keep reusing an older build that satisfies the solver, leaving you wondering why a fresh environment still gets outdated binaries from disk
- When the shared cache contains damaged metadata or incomplete package contents, installs may appear to solve correctly but then fail during linking with missing files or permission-related errors
- Removing old cached archives is useful after large channel or Python version transitions, because users often notice slow solves followed by unnecessary fallback behavior and repeated fetch attempts from mixed old and new package sets
- On systems with multiple environments, the shared pkgs cache can retain packages no active environment needs, causing backup jobs, antivirus scans, and disk indexing to take noticeably longer
Cache paths Kudu targets
Windows
~/anaconda3/pkgs |
~/miniconda3/pkgs |
~/.conda/pkgs |
macOS
~/anaconda3/pkgs |
~/miniconda3/pkgs |
~/.conda/pkgs |
Linux
~/anaconda3/pkgs |
~/miniconda3/pkgs |
~/.conda/pkgs |
Common questions about Conda Package Cache
Download Kudu and reclaim your disk space.
Available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. No account required, no feature gates, no telemetry without consent. All cleaning targets are open source and community-auditable.