Apps
Unreal Engine Derived Data Cache
Unreal Engine stores a shared Derived Data Cache under the user profile to avoid recompiling expensive intermediate data every time a project opens. That cache holds derived asset formats such as compiled shader bytecode, cooked and compressed texture data, mesh and distance field build products, and other platform-specific asset artifacts generated from source content. Kudu removes only these rebuildable DDC files from the common cache location, leaving projects, source assets, editor settings, accounts, and saved work untouched.
Why clean Unreal Engine Derived Data Cache?
- Stale compiled shader data after an engine upgrade or RHI change can cause long shader recompiles, black materials, or hitching until the cache is rebuilt correctly
- Corrupted derived texture or mesh artifacts in the shared DDC can show up as missing thumbnails, incorrect material previews, or assets that look wrong only on one machine
- A bloated Common DerivedDataCache grows across multiple engine versions and projects, consuming tens or hundreds of gigabytes and leaving Windows short on free space during builds
- Old platform-specific cooked asset data can be reused when project settings change, leading to repeated cache misses, noisy 'building' phases, and slower editor startup
- If the cache contains artifacts generated against a previous GPU driver or rendering backend, the editor may stutter while recompiling shaders and rebuilding render data on first open
- Teams that switch branches often accumulate incompatible derived outputs, which can cause constant asset reprocessing, long 'Preparing Shaders' screens, and inconsistent local behavior compared with coworkers
What gets cleaned
Cache paths Kudu targets
Windows
%LocalAppData%/UnrealEngine/Common/DerivedDataCache |
Frequently asked
Common questions about Unreal Engine Derived Data Cache
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