Unity Editor
Across projects, the editor stores reusable import artifacts under its global cache, including compiled shader variants, GPU program binaries, Enlighten and Progressive Lightmapper global illumination data, package download archives, and Asset Import Pipeline metadata. These files exist to avoid reimporting assets and recompiling shaders every time a project opens, but they can become stale after editor upgrades, graphics driver changes, or interrupted imports. Kudu removes Unity Editor’s global cache so those derived files are rebuilt cleanly, without touching your projects, assets, settings, accounts, or credentials.
Why clean Unity Editor?
- Stale compiled shader variants and GPU binaries from an older graphics driver can cause pink materials, flickering previews, or long shader recompiles when a project first opens
- Corrupted Asset Import Pipeline cache entries after a crash or forced shutdown can trigger endless reimport loops, missing thumbnails, or inspectors that stay blank until assets are reprocessed
- Outdated global illumination cache data from previous bakes can leave lighting previews inconsistent with the current scene, showing wrong indirect light or repeated rebake requests
- A bloated package and artifact cache can consume many gigabytes under the user profile, which users notice as low disk space even when active projects are stored elsewhere
- Invalid cache records after switching Unity versions can make the editor pause on startup or hang at Importing assets while it discards and regenerates incompatible data
- Old SQLite-backed cache state can suffer page fragmentation over time, increasing disk usage and slowing reads; VACUUM rewrites the database pages compactly without deleting rows
- Partially written cache files from interrupted imports or machine shutdowns can produce console import errors, broken preview rendering, or package extraction failures until the cache is rebuilt
Cache paths Kudu targets
Windows
%LocalAppData%/Unity/cache |
macOS
~/Library/Caches/com.unity3d.UnityEditor |
Linux
~/.cache/unity3d |
Common questions about Unity Editor
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.