---
title: "Managing Large Cache Render Tables in Drupal"
date: "2026-08-31T23:11:30+00:00"
summary: "Prevent Drupal's cache_render table from filling your disk. Learn how to truncate or selectively delete cache entries to manage database size."
image:
type: "article"
url: "/acquia-cloud-platform/help/93856-managing-large-cache-render-tables-drupal"
id: "2983a190-29cb-4d8e-98cb-1bfac3b422d1"
---

Table of contents will be added

Issue
-----

On Drupal sites, the `cache_render` table and overall database rapidly increase in size and fill the disk space.

Cause
-----

Drupal uses a robust and thorough caching API. Render caching is enabled by default for elements such as pages, entities, blocks, and views. Items in this cache do not expire

Resolution
----------

Upgrade to the latest version of Drupal core. If an upgrade is not possible, apply one of the following mitigation options

Mitigation options
------------------

If an upgrade to the latest version of Drupal core is not possible, or if the `cache_render` table remains large, you must manage its size manually through one of the following methods:

*   Occasionally truncate the `cache_render` table
*   Selectively delete items from the `cache_render` table based on created date

### Truncate the cache\_render table

To run the command from a MySQL command prompt, enter the following command:

    truncate table cache_render;

### Selectively delete items from the cache\_render table based on created date

From a MySQL prompt, run:

    SELECT COUNT(expire) as 'EXPIRE' from cache_render WHERE created < 'TIMESTAMP';

 Replace `TIMESTAMP` with the date in Unix Epoch time. Select one of the following options to obtain the date for "yesterday" in Unix Epoch time:

    date -v -1d +'%s'
    expr `date +'%s'` - 86400

To determine the number of involved rows, run the following command from a MySQL prompt:

    SELECT COUNT(expire) as 'EXPIRE' FROM cache_render WHERE created < '1491593775';
    +---------------+
    | count(expire) |
    +---------------+
    |         27022 |
    +---------------+

To modify the timestamp or delete the rows, use the following command to delete all rows from the `cache_render` table created before a specific date:

    DELETE FROM cache_render WHERE created < 'TIMESTAMP';