Streaming Folder > Holding data since 2021

[Anonymously]

Hi there! I came across some posts mentioning that the Streaming folder holds temporary cache files that should cycle through automatically. However, I noticed that my \\ChannelsDVR\Streaming folder had grown to over 200GB, with files dating back to 2021.

When I tried clearing the cache using the “Clear Cache” button in the Transcoder settings via the GUI, it only showed 54MB available and cleared just the contents of \\ChannelsDVR\Streaming\cache.

That function didn’t touch the bulk of the data stored directly in \\ChannelsDVR\Streaming, which includes folders like channels-cache-#### and ch###-dTVE-NAME-IP####.

Is this expected behavior, a known bug, or is there a fix or setting I’m missing to prevent this folder from continuing to grow unchecked? I ended up manually deleting over 20,000 files — around 200GB — dating up to yesterday’s date.

Logs have been submitted as **b399c06a-963a-4972-8f9a-b50fbbbcc645

Thanks for any insights!

[chDVRuser]

There have been many discussions about this.
Here are a couple ones to look at

Channels Streaming Folders

The Channels DVR streaming folders as folders and files going back to 07/2020. This folder is taking up some 15GBs of harddrive space. Is this folder safe to be cleaned out? To free up a little harddrive space. Here is a screenshot of one of 758 folders that seem to be stored there? Thank You [cache]

Streaming (cache) directory

This directory is 20 gigabytes, and it continues to grow. There are files in here from months ago. What's correct way to clean it up, just delete it? Will this directory continue to grow indefinitely?

[Anonymously]

Yup, I saw all of those posts before submitting mine, but none of them really address the elephant in the room: Is this actually expected behavior?

From what I’ve read, it doesn’t sound like this is normal — which makes me wonder, what’s the proper way to deal with it? Is there a fix or setting to prevent the folder from growing indefinitely, or is manual cleanup currently the only option?

[chDVRuser]

The Streaming/m3u8 folder contains video indexes for your recordings, so should be left alone.

Sounds like they had some bugs in the past that prevented automatic cleanup, so those folders and files will still be there.

I would just delete them and if they continue to accumulate, report the issue.

Channels Streaming Folders

Any folders starting with ch or file are temporary and can be deleted. I think there were bugs in the past where they were not getting cleaned up on certain platforms.

[Anonymously]

That was my concern as well. For now, I guess I’ll just have to keep an eye on it manually.

I am curious, though — why was the Clear Cache option added to the GUI if it doesn’t include the main Streaming folder? It feels a bit misleading, since the average user would assume that using that option fully manages the cache, when in reality a massive amount of data can continue building up unchecked.

[chDVRuser]

@Anonymously

For now, I guess I’ll just have to keep an eye on it manually.

That's what I'm doing.
I just deleted everything in the Streaming folder, except for the m3u8 folder.
I then created a text file in the Streaming folder named
2025-06-01 v2025.05.31.0551 Deleted cache.txt containing a note to myself
Deleted all folder and files except for the directory m3u8

[eric]

@fancybot

v2025.06.01.1944

• IMPROVED: clean up Streaming cache directory on DVR startup

This should automatically clean it up now when the DVR starts.

[chDVRuser]

Question. When will these cache folders get deleted?
I've been running 2025.06.01.1944 and 2025.06.01.2212 for the last three days.
I had deleted the cache folder before updating to 2025.06.01.1944.
I now have 10 folders in the cache folder, each containing a 0 byte transcoder.log file.

Settings > Advanced > Transcoder doesn't show any cache to clear.

Restarted Channels DVR curl -XPUT http://192.168.1.4:8289/updater/force/restart and they're still there.
Restarted the container and they're still there.
Now 11 folders in the cache folder and one in the hls folder

Settings > Advanced > Transcoder still doesn't show any cache to clear.

[chDVRuser]

After checking again today, here is the behavior I observed.

The folders Streaming/hls/channel-cache-* appear to be created while recording or playing a HLS source and are deleted after a recording finishes or after you stop playing the channel.

The folders Streaming/cache/file# appear to be created when playing back recordings.
Most of the time these are left with a 0 byte transcoder.log file.
The only way I've found to clear them is when Settings > Advanced > Transcoder shows cache to clear and I clear it.

[eric]

@chDVRuser

When will these cache folders get deleted?

After 14 days of the last time that recording was streamed, when the recording is deleted, or when the total size of the cache directory exceeds 16GB.

[chDVRuser]

@eric
Thank you!
I always appreciate your detailed explanations.

I've marked the release as solved, even though I'm not the OP, since most users don't bother responding.

[Anonymously]

Im the OP and have not had a chance to test things on my end yet.

[chDVRuser]

No problem. Thanks for responding.
If it doesn't fix your issue, just uncheck the Resolved post.
Most users are drive-by-posters and never bother to post back after being offered assistance in this Community User Forum. I figure if they don't respond, the community advice offered fixed their issue.
It's a thankless job helping some users here and we're just paying users like everyone else.

[Anonymously]

Still testing but it appears either this update in particular or the fact that I had manually deleted the temp files first now causes any recorded playback to stutter and struggle with my current quality settings.

Will provide logs after attempting to play todays recordings soon.

[chDVRuser]

Shouldn't affect playback of recordings, unless you deleted the Streaming/m3u8 folder which contains the video index for each recording. If you did that, just go to a recording and Regenerate Video Index on it before playing it.

• What device are you using to playback a recording
• Are you viewing local or remote
• What is your current quality setting and delivery method
• Is it transcoding, remuxing or playing direct