Where apps hide your files
Premiere Pro, After Effects and Media Encoder share one hidden media cache that can grow large. Here is where it is, what is safe to remove and how to clear it without breaking projects.
Premiere Pro, After Effects and Media Encoder share one media cache. On a Mac it lives here by default:
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Media Cache Files
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Media CacheMedia Cache Files holds the cached files themselves. Media Cache holds the database that tracks them. Adobe's community FAQs give these as the defaults, and Adobe's Media Encoder documentation says the database is shared by Media Encoder, Premiere Pro and After Effects, so a location change made in one app applies to the others. On a Mac checked for this guide, the Common folder around them also held DVA, LUTs, Motion Graphics Templates and Team Projects Local Hub.
In Finder choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and paste the path. From Terminal:
open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/Common
du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/Common/Media\ Cache\ FilesThe du line only reports a size, so it is safe to run. If your apps were pointed at another drive, the folders are wherever the Media Cache settings say, so check there before concluding the cache is small.
When you import footage, these apps make helper files so they can scrub and play quickly: conformed audio, peak (waveform) files and index files, plus the database entries that track them. The names are machine-generated and unrelated to your clips. Your original footage is never stored here, which is why the cache can be rebuilt.
| Item | What it is |
|---|---|
Media Cache Files | Conformed audio, peak and index files |
Media Cache | Database that tracks the cache |
| After Effects disk cache | Rendered preview frames, kept elsewhere |
After Effects' disk cache is a different thing with its own setting; by default it sits under ~/Library/Caches. The After Effects guide covers it.
In Premiere Pro, open Premiere Pro > Settings > Media Cache (Preferences in older versions) and click Delete. You get two choices: delete unused media cache files, or delete all media cache files from the system. Adobe's community FAQ recommends deleting all of them when troubleshooting, and notes that the delete-all option may require every project to be closed first. Relaunch Premiere Pro afterwards so it rebuilds what it needs. After Effects has its own clean button for the same database in its Media & Disk Cache settings.
Expect the first open of a project afterwards to be slower while audio is conformed again.
If the app will not launch, you can clear the folders manually:
Media Cache Files and Media Cache as above.Clear the files and the database together. Removing only one leaves the database describing files that no longer exist, or files nothing tracks.
Never delete the whole Adobe folder in Application Support to clear space. It also holds Creative Cloud components and your libraries, in folders such as Creative Cloud Libraries, CoreSync and OOBE. Inside Common, keep LUTs, Motion Graphics Templates and Team Projects Local Hub unless you know why you are removing them: Motion Graphics Templates holds templates you installed, and the Team Projects folder may hold local data for shared projects.
Premiere Pro's Media Cache settings have a Browse button for choosing a new location. Because the database is shared, moving it in one app moves it for the others too. A fast external SSD is a good home, but keep it connected while you edit, or the cache has to be rebuilt.
Every clip you import adds cache, and entries remain after projects are finished. On a busy editing Mac the media cache is a prime suspect when the startup disk fills. Compare it with ~/Library/Caches/Adobe using du -sh to see which folder is large before you clear either.
Open a project once and let it settle. Premiere Pro rebuilds conformed audio and waveforms as you work, so the first playback may show progress at the bottom of the window. That is normal and does not mean the project is damaged. If a project already had missing audio or odd waveforms before you cleared anything, a full cache delete is also the standard fix, since everything is regenerated from your source media.
Do not back this cache up or copy it to a new Mac. It rebuilds from your source footage, and a copied database can point at files that do not exist on the new machine. Back up the footage and project files instead. If your cache lives on an external drive, moving a project to another computer does not take its cache with it.
The default cache sits in ~/Library, where Spotlight does not look, and an editor who has moved it a few times can end up with copies on several drives. Typing Media Cache into Everywhere lists the default folder with no extra setup, and copies on scratch drives as well once it has Full Disk Access (macOS guards external drives), including one that is not plugged in today; reveal one with ⌘↵ and check its size. It sees names, not contents, which is all you need to decide whether a folder is worth clearing.
By default in ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common, in two folders: Media Cache Files for the cached files and Media Cache for the database.
Yes, it is rebuilt from your original footage. Use the Delete button in Premiere Pro's Media Cache settings, or quit Premiere Pro, After Effects and Media Encoder and clear the files and database together.
No. The cache holds helper files such as conformed audio, peak and index files. Your projects and source media are stored elsewhere.
Yes, with Browse in Premiere Pro's Media Cache settings. The database is shared, so the new location applies to After Effects and Media Encoder too; keep the drive connected while you edit.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
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