CapCut can balloon to several gigabytes because it keeps a working cache, every draft you have ever opened, and the full-resolution videos you exported. To clear the cache, open CapCut, tap Settings (the gear), then Clear cache — that part is safe and never touches your projects. To reclaim the bigger gigabytes you also need to delete old drafts and exports you no longer need, which is a separate, manual step.

TL;DR

  • CapCut's cache holds previews, thumbnails, and temporary render files — clearing it is safe and frees space fast.
  • Drafts and exported videos are the real space hogs; CapCut keeps them until you delete them by hand.
  • iPhone: clear in-app cache first, then Settings > General > iPhone Storage > CapCut > Offload App to remove the app while keeping documents.
  • Android: Settings > Apps > CapCut > Storage > Clear cache for the safe wipe, Clear storage only as a last resort.
  • Back up any export you care about to Photos or cloud before deleting drafts — clearing storage cannot un-delete your work.

What is actually using all that space in CapCut?

Three things, and they are not equal. The cache is temporary: cached video frames, effect previews, downloaded fonts and stickers, and render scratch files. The drafts are your editable projects, and each one stores its own copy of the source clips, so a single draft can be hundreds of megabytes. The exports are the finished videos CapCut rendered out; depending on your settings these may also be saved to your Photos library, meaning you could be storing the same video twice.

Clearing the cache reclaims the temporary layer instantly. The drafts and exports stay, because CapCut treats them as your work.

How do I clear the CapCut cache on iPhone?

Start inside the app, because iOS cannot reach CapCut's internal cache on its own. Open CapCut, tap the Settings gear (top-right of the home screen), scroll to Clear cache, and confirm. This removes previews and scratch files without deleting a single project.

If the app is still huge afterward, the cache was not the problem — your drafts and exports are. Delete the ones you no longer need (see below), then offload the app to clear any remaining iOS-level bloat: Settings > General > iPhone Storage > CapCut > Offload App. Offloading deletes the app binary but keeps your documents and data, so your drafts survive and the icon stays on your Home Screen for one-tap reinstall.

How do I clear the CapCut cache on Android?

You have two layers. For the safe one, use the in-app Settings > Clear cache the same way as on iPhone. For a deeper wipe, go to Settings > Apps > CapCut > Storage > Clear cache — this removes the temporary files and leaves your account, drafts, and exports intact.

There is also a Clear storage (or Clear data) button on that same screen. Avoid it unless you are truly resetting the app: it wipes everything, including drafts, and signs you out. Treat it as a factory reset for CapCut, not a cleanup step.

How do I delete old CapCut drafts and exports safely?

In CapCut, open the home screen where your projects are listed. Long-press a draft (or tap the ⋮ menu on it) and choose Delete. Each draft you remove frees the source clips bundled inside it. For exports, check both CapCut's own export list and your Photos app — the rendered file usually lives in Photos, so the version sitting inside CapCut may be a duplicate you can remove.

The rule is simple: keep what you are still editing, archive what you are proud of, delete the rest. If a finished video matters, save it to Photos or a cloud drive first, confirm it is really there, and only then delete the draft.

What CapCut and iOS do natively, and where they stop

CapCut's Clear cache is genuinely useful, and iOS will offer to Offload large apps automatically if you enable it. But both stop at the cache and the app binary. Neither will ever decide your drafts or exports are disposable, because to them, that data is your work. The judgment call about which projects are dead and which are alive is yours alone — no automatic tool makes it for you.

What clearing the cache cannot do

Clearing the cache will not recover the multi-gigabyte chunk that drafts and exports occupy, and it will not de-duplicate the videos already copied into your Photos library. Just as importantly, deleting a draft or Clear storage is permanent — there is no trash can. Back up every export you want to keep before you start, and verify the backup before you delete anything.

For the photo-and-video side of the same problem, see how to find and delete large videos on iPhone without deleting photos, and if you want smaller exports going forward, how to compress videos on iPhone without losing quality.

FAQ

Will clearing CapCut's cache delete my projects?

No. The in-app Clear cache and the Android Clear cache button only remove temporary previews and render files. Your drafts and exports are stored separately and are untouched. The only buttons that delete projects are Delete on a specific draft and Android's Clear storage.

Why is CapCut still gigabytes after I cleared the cache?

Because the cache was never the main cost. Each draft bundles its own copy of the source clips, and old exports add up too. Open your project list, delete drafts you have finished with, and remove exports already saved to Photos. That is where the gigabytes actually are.

Is it safe to offload CapCut on iPhone?

Yes. Offload App removes only the app code, not its documents and data, so your drafts come back when you reinstall. It is the safest way to reclaim space if the app's footprint stays large after an in-app cache clear.

When you want all of this handled in one place, Cleanor for iPhone finds the duplicate videos, oversized exports, and app bloat that editor apps leave behind, so you can free up iPhone space without guessing what is safe to delete.