This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Why are files in Firefox 33 cache directory different size than saved files on desktop

  • 1 reply
  • 1 has this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

more options

In previous versions of Firefox I used the cache directory to extract videos, flash files and hidden images, that were not saved in folder and a HTML Document file on desktop. For Example the opening image of a YouTube Video can not be extracted and saved from Firefox but is stored in the cache directory. To find these files without going through them one at a time, I would copy the cache folder on a desktop folder and then use Double Killer to delete the same size files in both the cache and the saved files in the desktop file folder. The files that are left behind in the cache folder are those that did not save to the desktop file and folder. I can then double check to see if I can find the videos, flash or images from the remaining files. I have updated to Firefox 30.0.3. The problem now is that the files in the cache are different in KB size from the saved files on the desktop folder. The dimensions of a saved image are the same but the size of the file differ. Now I can not use Double Killer to delete files and have to go through the whole cache directory one by one to find files that were not saved. Why did the Firefox developers changed the cache directory? Do I need to revert to a previous version of Firefox or is there a way that I can change the cache directory of Firefox 33.0.3 and the size that it stores files. Would also like to know what add-on gives the best quality screenshot with flash. Thanks for this support. Apart from this cache problem I find Firefox easy to use and the best web browser.

In previous versions of Firefox I used the cache directory to extract videos, flash files and hidden images, that were not saved in folder and a HTML Document file on desktop. For Example the opening image of a YouTube Video can not be extracted and saved from Firefox but is stored in the cache directory. To find these files without going through them one at a time, I would copy the cache folder on a desktop folder and then use Double Killer to delete the same size files in both the cache and the saved files in the desktop file folder. The files that are left behind in the cache folder are those that did not save to the desktop file and folder. I can then double check to see if I can find the videos, flash or images from the remaining files. I have updated to Firefox 30.0.3. The problem now is that the files in the cache are different in KB size from the saved files on the desktop folder. The dimensions of a saved image are the same but the size of the file differ. Now I can not use Double Killer to delete files and have to go through the whole cache directory one by one to find files that were not saved. Why did the Firefox developers changed the cache directory? Do I need to revert to a previous version of Firefox or is there a way that I can change the cache directory of Firefox 33.0.3 and the size that it stores files. Would also like to know what add-on gives the best quality screenshot with flash. Thanks for this support. Apart from this cache problem I find Firefox easy to use and the best web browser.

All Replies (1)

more options

Current Firefox 32+ releases use a new cache service named Cache2 and this cache service works differently. Files in the cache2 folder are special files that also store the meta data apart from the actual file data that you see on the about:cache page if you click an item.