If you have noticed that Kodi is not working as well as it should and you are experiencing glitches and slower performance, clearing the cache may help. Over time, Cache files (temporary bits of data) can accumulate and affect your system. In this guide, we will learn a simple way to clear the cache on Kodi. Once you do this, the buffering issues and other things that are affecting your streaming should be fixed.
Before we go through the steps, it is important to mention that a VPN should be used with Kodi. This will allow you to enjoy access to more content, in a secure way. A VPN allows you to bypass geographical restrictions that prevent you from accessing some websites and apps. It should also be noted that while it is not recommended, if you use unofficial Kodi add-ons that provide access to TV shows, movies and sports, you need to keep your privacy protected and a VPN does exactly that. If you choose to access copyrighted content from sources that don’t have the required authorization, in order to avoid getting warning letters, you need to use a VPN as it will disguise your IP address and encrypt your traffic so others won’t know what content you access and won’t be able to trace you.
Why should you clear your cache?
Let’s start by saying that actually, cache has some advantages. It allows Kodi to avoid downloading the same bits of information every time you use your favorite addons. The problem is that as time goes by, these bits accumulate and slow down your system. If you don’t have more disk space, Kodi will stop working as it should. If you use Kdi on a device that has a large hard drive such as a desktop or laptop, it may not be so important to clear the cache. However, for smaller streaming devices, clearing the cache can make a huge difference on Kodi’s performance as these devices can fill uo faster than those whit large hard drives.
Types of Kodi cache
There are different kinds of cache. We’ll take a closer look at them below.
Video cache
To improve your video experience, Kodi saves a few seconds of video before the stream starts to play. The video is temporarily saved to your RAM. You don’t have to clear video cache since it is not permanently saved. It goes away when you stop watching the video.
Android app cache
Android users who run Kodi on their devices need to clean up the android application cache folder from time to time. The difference is that android application cache folder doesn’t accumulate over time and won’t clog the hard drive. The problem is that the files inside the folder can become corrupt. When you delete the android application cache using a cache cleaning tool, Kodi will replace the files in this folder with fresh ones automatically, the next time you load Kodi.
Addon cache
There are addons that create their own specific cache folders to save bits of data for later. The data may include wallpaper backgrounds, logos, menus and more. The majority of addons are set to delete their cache automatically, but some don’t. For those, it is necessary to use a cache cleaning tool.
Image cache
The album art and DVD covers that are downloaded from databases are saved to the image cache folder. Although these image cache files are compressed and won’t take that much space, if you have a large collection of video and music files, you also need to clean the image cache.
Temp files
All miscellaneous files end up in the temp files directory, which is a kind of trash bin. When you use subtitles or extract zip or rar files, the temp files slowly fill up as time goes by. Old versions of addons may also end up there.
Cleaning cache on Kodi
Although there is not a built-in cache cleaning solution, you can use third-party tools for this purpose. They will save you the hassle of having to edit Kodi’s configuration files, which is a complicated process. One of the best options is Indigo. Using Indigo is easy and in order to clear cache with it, you just need to click maintenance tools from the main menu. From there, it is possible to clear cache, thumbnails, crash logs and packages. It is possible to program Kodi to clear your cache automatically or to enable debugging mode, and more solutions to some Kodi issues.
Installing Indigo
1. Download the Indigo installation file. Go to http://fusion.tvaddons.ag/begin-here/
Then download the file called plugin.program.indigo[VERSION].zip
2. Install the Indigo installation file. From the main screen, click the addons sidebar menu. Then click the box icon on the top left side of the screen and then select “install from zip file“. Then go to the location where you saved the plugin.program.indigo[VERSION].zip file and open it.