How to Delete Google Earth Cache File

Techwalla may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.

Google Earth saves downloaded image data to speed up loading times, which can be a problem if your hard drive has little free storage space available. Further, screen flickering, missing characters, texture anomalies and various other display issues can show up if the Google Earth cache contains outdated content. You can try to resolve these issues by deleting the Google Earth cache files from the Google Earth application itself or via a manual search through File Explorer.

Advertisement

Google Earth Installation

Video of the Day

Step 1

Click "File" on the Google Earth menu bar, then select "Server Sign Out" to disconnect from the Google Earth servers.

Video of the Day

Step 2

Click "Tools" on the menu bar, then select "Options" to open Google Earth Options.

Advertisement

Step 3

Click the "Cache" tab, then click "Delete Cache File." On the confirmation pop-up box that shows up, click "Yes."

Step 4

Click "Apply," then "OK" to exit Google Earth Options.

Advertisement

Step 5

Click "File," then click "Server Sign In" to reconnect to the Google Earth servers.

File Explorer

Step 1

Exit all instances of Google Earth.

Advertisement

Step 2

Press "Windows-R" to open Run. Type "appdata" (without quotes) and press "Enter" to get to the Appdata folder on your Windows 8.1 user profile.

Advertisement

Step 3

Double-click the folders "LocalLow," then "Google" and then "GoogleEarth." If you cannot find the GoogleEarth folder, click "Back" twice and then double-click the "Local" and "Google" folders instead.

Advertisement

Step 4

Select the files labeled "dbCache.dat" and "dbCache.dat.index," then press "Shift-Delete." After deleting both files, select the folder labeled "unified_cache_leveldb_leveldb2," then press "Shift-Delete."

Step 5

Press "Alt-F4" to exit File Explorer.

Advertisement

Advertisement

references