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/commands/nuget/clear-nuget-cache

Clear the NuGet cache: dotnet nuget locals all --clear

verified onenvironmentlocal · windows 10.0.26200 arm64 · GNU bash 5.3.15 (Git Bash)updated
tool
NuGet
versions
.NET SDK 3.1+ (dotnet nuget locals), nuget.exe 3.x+
os
linux, macos, windows

dotnet nuget locals all --clear deletes every local NuGet cache: the global packages folder (where restored packages live), the HTTP cache (downloaded package metadata and .nupkg files), the temp folder and the plugins cache. The next dotnet restore downloads everything again. Clear only the cache you need when possible, for example http-cache when a newly published package version is not found.

List and clear

bash
dotnet nuget locals all --list | cut -d: -f1
dotnet nuget locals http-cache --clear | grep -v '^Clearing'

Output

http-cache
global-packages
temp
plugins-cache
Local resources cleared.

--list prints each cache name and its path (the paths are omitted above because they depend on the machine). Typical locations:

CacheLinux / macOSWindows
global-packages~/.nuget/packages%userprofile%\.nuget\packages
http-cache~/.local/share/NuGet/v3-cache%localappdata%\NuGet\v3-cache
temp/tmp/NuGetScratchUSERNAME (Linux), $TMPDIR/NuGetScratch (macOS)%temp%\NuGetScratch
plugins-cache~/.local/share/NuGet/plugins-cache%localappdata%\NuGet\plugins-cache

The NUGET_PACKAGES environment variable or the globalPackagesFolder setting in nuget.config move the global packages folder (NUGET_HTTP_CACHE_PATH, NUGET_SCRATCH and NUGET_PLUGINS_CACHE_PATH move the others); dotnet nuget locals global-packages --list always shows the effective path.

Which cache to clear

SymptomCommand
A version just published is not found by restoredotnet nuget locals http-cache --clear
A package seems corrupted, or a locally rebuilt package with the same version is not picked updotnet nuget locals global-packages --clear
Everything else faileddotnet nuget locals all --clear

With nuget.exe the same operations are nuget locals all -clear and nuget locals all -list. In Visual Studio: Tools > Options > NuGet Package Manager > Clear All NuGet Cache(s).

Sources