Other: Relocate Google Earth cache to a different partition or drive

Google Earth relies on having two types of caches: a memory cache and a disk cache. While using Google Earth, these caches store bits and pieces of different kinds of data: terrain, Street View and map data. A few minutes toying around on Google Earth can result in quite a bit of data in the disk cache. For SSD users (where unnecessary writes isn’t the best thing to do to an SSD) as well as the users who are looking to conserve disk space, moving the cache to a bigger, non-SSD drive or partition can be beneficial.

Here’s how to go about moving the cache:

1. Open Google Earth. Once there, navigate to the File menu, and choose Server Sign Out.
2. Navigate to the Tools menu, then choose Options. Once the Options menu appears, look for the Cache tab. Click it, and within the Cache tab, choose the ‘Delete cache file‘ button.
3. Locate the cache folder. It is in this location: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\LocalLow\Google\GoogleEarth. Right-click on the folder and ‘cut’ it.
4. Next, paste the cache folder into the desired drive or partition. Be sure you know the exact path. For example, my system has an SSD drive for the system (Windows installation + programs) and a mechanical drive for my files, which is denoted as the H: partition. I made a folder on the root of my mechanical drive “H:\” named GoogleEarthCache. So, my path in this instance would be “H:\GoogleEarthCache”, but yours may differ.
5. In a command window with administrative privileges, we’re going to link to the moved cache folder. Do this by entering in, keeping the quotes and replacing <username> with your username, and changing the path of the destination:mklink /J “C:\Users\{username}\AppData\LocalLow\Google\GoogleEarth” “H:\GoogleEarthCache\GoogleEarth”

The cache will then be relocated to the drive or partition of your choice.

Tagged: cache, disk space, Earth, Google, Google Earth, partition, solid state drive, SSD