---
title: Configure file caches
linkTitle: Caches
description: Configure file caches.
categories: []
keywords: []
---

This is the default configuration:

{{< code-toggle config=caches />}}

## Purpose

Hugo uses file caches to store data on disk, avoiding repeated operations within the same build and persisting data from one build to the next.

`assets`
: Caches processed CSS and Sass resources.

`getresource`
: Caches files fetched from remote URLs via the [`resources.GetRemote`][] function.

`images`
: Caches processed images.

`misc`
: Caches miscellaneous data.

`modulegitinfo`
: Caches Git information for modules.

`modulequeries`
: Caches the results of module resolution queries.

`modules`
: Caches downloaded modules.

## Keys

`dir`
: (`string`) The absolute file system path where Hugo stores the cached files. You can begin the path with the `:cacheDir` or `:resourceDir` [tokens](#tokens) to anchor the cache to specific system or project locations.

`maxAge`
: (`string`) The duration a cached entry remains valid before being evicted, expressed as a [duration](g). A value of `0` disables the cache for that key, and a value of `-1` means the cache entry never expires. Default is `-1`.

## Tokens

`:cacheDir`
: (`string`) The designated cache directory. See [details][cachedir].

`:project`
: (`string`) The base directory name of the current Hugo project. This ensures isolated file caches for each project, preventing the `hugo build --gc` command from affecting other projects on the same machine.

`:resourceDir`
: (`string`) The designated directory for caching output from [asset pipelines](g). See [details][resourcedir].

## Garbage collection

As you modify your site or change your configuration, cached files from previous builds may remain on disk, consuming unnecessary space. Use the `hugo build --gc` command to remove these expired or unused entries from the file cache.

[`resources.GetRemote`]: /functions/resources/getremote/
[cachedir]: /configuration/all/#cachedir
[resourcedir]: /configuration/all/#resourcedir