How to Clear NVIDIA Cache to Fix Game Stutter in Windows?

Experiencing game stutters while gaming can be quite annoying as it can disrupt your gaming session. Stutters often display irregular delays between frames, leading to a rough visual experience. This issue usually occurs due to a corrupted or overloaded NVIDIA shader cache, which stores precompiled shaders to increase rendering efficiency. 

When the cache becomes corrupted or cluttered, it causes stuttering and performance degradation during gaming sessions. Regularly clearing the NVIDIA shader cache can help resolve these stuttering and performance issues, providing a much smoother experience while gaming.

1. Delete the NVIDIA DXCache and GLCache Folders

The cache in these folders stores graphic files, which can become outdated or corrupted over time. By deleting the data in these folders, you force your system to rebuild new shader and rendering data the next time you run a game.

1. Open the Run command by pressing the Windows + R keys.
2. Type in %localappdata%/Nvidia and press Enter.
   
3. Locate the DXCache and GLCache folders.
   
4. Select both folders and right-click on them.
5. Click on Delete and confirm the prompt to remove these folders.
   
6. Once done, restart your computer.

2. Use the Disk Clean-up Tool

The Disk Clean-up tool is used to clear out unnecessary files, including the DirectX Shader Cache, as it contributes to stuttering and performance issues in games when it becomes corrupted or cluttered. Clearing this cache helps refresh the data your graphics system depends on, which can potentially resolve the stuttering and performance issues you’re facing.

1. Open Disk Clean-up by searching for it through the search bar.
   
2. In the given window, choose your main drive (typically C:), where Windows and most of your system files are stored.
   
3. Click on OK and it will scan how much space you can free up.
   
4. Once the scan is done, look for DirectX Shader Cache and check the box next to it.
5. You can also select other items you want to clean up.
6. Click on OK to start the clean-up.
   
7. Once the clean-up is complete, restart your computer.

3. Update NVIDIA Graphics Drivers

Keeping your NVIDIA graphics drivers up to date is important for better performance in games and for system stability, as these updated drivers usually include bug fixes, performance improvements, and compatibility enhancements. 

1. Open your preferred browser.
2. Go to the NVIDIA Driver Download page.
3. Navigate to the Manual Driver Search section.
   
4. Enter your graphics card information in the given form and click on Find.
   
5. Download the most recent driver listed for your graphics card by clicking on View next to it and Download on the next page.
   
6. Open the downloaded file and follow the installation prompts.
7. Choose Custom (Advanced) if you want to perform a clean install.
   
8. Select Perform a clean installation and then click on Next. This will remove previous driver files, ensuring no old data interferes with the new driver.
   
9. Once the installation is complete, restart your computer.

If you are still facing stuttering, you may try completely clean installing the graphics driver using our detailed guide & a tool called Display Driver Uninstaller.