How to Clear Shader Cache on macOS 13 Ventura

Corrupted shader caches in macOS 13 (Ventura) can lead to severe graphical glitches, including visual artifacts, stuttering in games, missing textures, and interface flickering. While macOS manages Metal shader compilation automatically, dynamic caches can become stale or corrupted over time. This guide outlines the most effective, direct methods to clear system graphics caches, user-level Metal caches, and game-specific shader directories to restore smooth visual performance.

Method 1: Boot into Safe Mode (Clears System Graphics Caches)

The safest and most thorough way to clear macOS system-level graphics and kernel caches is booting into Safe Mode. macOS Ventura automatically purges temporary graphic cache files during this process.

For Apple Silicon Macs (M1/M2):

  1. Shut down your Mac completely.
  2. Press and hold the Power button until you see "Loading startup options."
  3. Select your startup disk.
  4. Press and hold the Shift key, then click Continue in Safe Mode.
  5. Log in to your Mac. Once at the desktop, restart your Mac normally.

For Intel-based Macs:

  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Turn on the Mac and immediately press and hold the Shift key.
  3. Release the key when the login window appears.
  4. Log in, then restart your Mac normally.

Method 2: Manually Delete User Caches in Finder

Many applications store compiled Metal shaders inside your user library. Deleting these allows the system to rebuild them from scratch.

  1. Close all running applications.
  2. Open Finder.
  3. Press Command + Shift + G to open the "Go to Folder" prompt.
  4. Enter ~/Library/Caches and press Return.
  5. Locate folders related to the problematic software or graphics frameworks (common culprits include com.apple.metal, browser folders, or specific game developer folders).
  6. Move the targeted folders to the Trash.
  7. Empty the Trash and restart your Mac.

Method 3: Clear Steam Shader Pre-Caching (For Gamers)

If graphical glitches occur specifically inside games launched through Steam, the corrupted shaders are likely stored within Steam's pre-caching directory.

  1. Open Steam.
  2. Go to Steam in the top menu bar > Settings (or Preferences).
  3. Select Downloads from the sidebar.
  4. Scroll to Shader Pre-Caching and toggle the feature Off, then toggle it back On to flush the cache.
  5. Alternatively, open Finder, press Command + Shift + G, and navigate to: ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/shadercache
  6. Delete the contents inside the shadercache folder and restart the game.

Method 4: Flush Disk and Memory Caches via Terminal

You can force macOS to purge inactive memory and disk cache layers using the Terminal command line.

  1. Open Terminal (located in /Applications/Utilities/).

  2. Type the following command and press Return:

    sudo purge

  3. Enter your Mac administrator password when prompted and press Return.

  4. Relaunch the application that experienced the graphical glitches.