Today's Buzz: Internet Explorer's Download Cache size

Our item last time on the sometimes unexpectedly large size of Internet Explorer's Download Cache generated a large-sized reader response. Here are the highlights:

Download Manager Options Preferences As pointed out by many readers, if you go to Edit/Preferences/Receiving Files/Download Options, you will find two choices: "Remember the last XX completed downloads" and "Immediately remove items after they have been downloaded." Choosing the latter item, or keeping the former item to a minimum number can help keep down the size of the Download Cache.

Download Manager window Similarly, as pointed out by Jon Gotow: If you cancel a download in progress or it gets interrupted due to a disconnect or system crash, the data so far downloaded likely remains in the Download Cache file, so that you can pick up where you left off when you resume the download. If this happens often (and especially if you never return to complete the download), this can account for a burgeoning Download Cache file. The solution is to go to the Download Manager (from the File menu), select all the files (or at least all the partially downloaded files) and delete them. Alternatively, you can simply delete the entire Download Cache file from your disk; Explorer will create a new one the next time you launch it.

Download Cache file Bertrand Landry-Hétu found that simply making the Download Cache a locked file prevented it from changing size.

But still... Despite all of this, readers continue to complain that their Download Cache grows to enormous sizes even though they download very little and have no partially downloaded files. Deleting the Download Cache only leads to it rapidly growing in size again. Conversely, some people who download many files have a very small Download Cache size. In my view, there is still something a bit odd going on.

Shinichi Hashimoto adds: "When I try to download a large file and cancel it before it has been completed, the Cache file grows larger than before - even after I delete the file from the Download Manager list."

Derick Bowlin notes: "I have found that if I download a QuickTime video or VR document, or even a PDF file, and read/view it from within IE4, then the Download Cache file grows by the size of the read/viewed file."