Apps
pnpm Store
pnpm keeps a content-addressable package store on disk so projects can hard-link or copy package files locally instead of downloading the same tarballs repeatedly. That store accumulates cached package contents, unpacked dependency files, integrity metadata, and temporary fetch artifacts as installs, updates, and branch switches happen over time. Kudu removes disposable pnpm store cache data so corrupted or obsolete package contents can be rebuilt, without touching your projects, lockfiles, accounts, or saved settings.
Why clean pnpm Store?
- A damaged package entry in the content-addressable store can make pnpm install fail with integrity or unexpected checksum errors even though the lockfile itself is correct
- Partially downloaded or interrupted fetch artifacts leave the store in a bad state, which shows up as repeated install retries, extract failures, or packages that never finish linking
- Old package contents kept after dependency churn can consume many gigabytes, and users usually notice it as unexpectedly low free disk space on the system drive
- Store metadata that no longer matches current package contents can cause relinking problems, with symptoms like missing module files, broken postinstall steps, or apps failing immediately after install
- Switching between branches or registries can leave stale package versions in the shared store, leading to confusing installs where pnpm appears to reuse the wrong dependency revision until the cache is rebuilt
- Large shared stores slow down maintenance operations such as pruning, verifying, and linking, which users experience as installs spending a long time in resolution or import phases before dependencies appear
What gets cleaned
Cache paths Kudu targets
Windows
%LocalAppData%/pnpm-store |
macOS
~/Library/pnpm/store |
Linux
~/.local/share/pnpm/store |
Frequently asked
Common questions about pnpm Store
Related cleaners
Free & open source
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.