Delete Kdenlive Proxy Files to Free Storage

Kdenlive’s proxy clips feature is excellent for ensuring smooth editing of high-resolution video, but these temporary files can quickly consume gigabytes of your hard drive space over time. This guide explains how to locate, manage, and safely delete obsolete proxy files in Kdenlive to reclaim valuable local storage capacity without affecting your original high-quality footage.

Understanding Kdenlive Proxy Files

Proxy files are low-resolution, easily readable copies of your source videos that Kdenlive uses during the editing process to reduce CPU and RAM strain. When you render your final project, Kdenlive automatically switches back to the original, high-resolution source files. Because proxy files are strictly temporary, you can delete them at any time without losing any of your original footage or progress in your video projects.

Method 1: Delete Proxies via Kdenlive’s Cache Manager

The safest and most efficient way to delete obsolete proxy files is using Kdenlive’s built-in cache management tool. This tool scans your system for temporary files associated with unused or older projects.

  1. Open Kdenlive.
  2. Go to the top menu and select Project > Clean Project… (or Project > Project Settings and navigate to the Cache data tab in older versions).
  3. Alternatively, to manage cache globally, go to Settings > Configure Kdenlive.
  4. Select the Cache tab on the left sidebar.
  5. Here, you will see a breakdown of the storage used by proxy clips, audio thumbnails, and timeline previews.
  6. Click the Delete or Clean up button next to the “Proxy Clips” category to remove files associated with the current project or all historical cached data.

Method 2: Manually Delete Proxy Files

If you want to completely wipe out all cached proxy files from older, completed projects that you no longer have open, you can delete them manually through your operating system’s file manager.

On Windows:

  1. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog box.
  2. Type %LocalAppData%\kdenlive and press Enter.
  3. Locate the cache folder.
  4. Inside, look for the proxy folder.
  5. Select and delete the folders or files inside this directory.

On Linux:

  1. Open your terminal or file manager.
  2. Navigate to your user cache directory, typically located at: ~/.cache/kdenlive/ or ~/.var/app/org.kde.kdenlive/cache/kdenlive/ (if using Flatpak).
  3. Delete the contents of the proxy or proxies folder.

On macOS:

  1. Open Finder and select Go > Go to Folder… from the top menu.
  2. Type ~/Library/Caches/kdenlive/ and press Enter.
  3. Delete the proxy files stored in this directory.

How to Automate Proxy File Management

To prevent proxy files from cluttering your hard drive in the future, you can configure Kdenlive to manage storage automatically.