Cypress E2E Testing Binary Cache (~/.cache/Cypress)

Bottom Line: It is 100% safe to clear the Cypress binary cache. Running npx cypress cache clear will NOT delete your End-to-End (E2E) test files (cypress/e2e/), test specs, or assertions.

What is the Cypress Binary Cache Folder?

Located at ~/.cache/Cypress on Linux/macOS or %LocalAppData%\Cypress\Cache on Windows, this folder is created by Cypress (the popular JavaScript E2E testing framework).

When you install or update Cypress via npm, it downloads complete standalone Electron browser binaries (each version weighing 300 MB to 600 MB). Because npm projects update dependencies over time, Cypress never automatically deletes old binary versions. Over multiple projects, obsolete Cypress binaries hoard 5 GB to 20 GB+.

Can You Delete Cypress Cache?

✅ Yes, it is completely safe to clear.

• Zero test spec loss: Your test files, custom commands, and cypress.config.js live in your project repos and remain untouched.
• Auto-reinstalled: Running npx cypress install in any project will re-download the exact binary version required for that project.

How to Safely Clean Up Cypress Cache

Method 1: Using the Cypress CLI (Recommended)

1. Open your terminal.
2. List installed Cypress binary versions:

   npx cypress cache list

3. Purge all cached Cypress binaries:

   npx cypress cache clear

Related Guides

• Learn about deleting Playwright browser cache.
• How to clean up npm cache.
• Check if you can clean node_modules.