Participating Frequently

Premiere 26.3 creates new media cache for every project

Forum|Forum|21 hours ago
August 7, 2026
5 replies
57 views

I'm experiencing an issue after updating Premiere Pro from version 26.0 to 26.3.2

I have a pretty beefy SFX library with over 1,000 sound effects. Whenever I generate the audio cache for it, it takes around 10 minutes because of how large it is. My workflow has always been to cache it once, set the Media Cache preference to "Do not delete cache files," and then reuse that cache across multiple projects for the rest of the month. That way, I don't have to sit through another 10-minute cache generation every time I start a new project.

However, after updating to 26.3.2, Premiere started generating a brand-new cache. At first, I assumed it was just because I had updated the software, which would have been understandable. But then it happened again... and again. Every new project creates another cache as if the existing one doesn't exist.

I thought I was going crazy until I downgraded back to 26.0. As soon as I did, the problem disappeared. The cache was reused exactly as expected, just like before.

So what's going on, Adobe? I thought newer updates were supposed to make the software more stable, not introduce bugs like this.

And that's not the only issue. Since updating to 26.3.2, the Home screen also takes around 10 seconds to load, whereas it only took about 2 seconds in 26.0.

HomosolusAuthor

Participating Frequently

Can you guys at least try to reproduce before marking it ‘needs more info’?

KatieToo

Community Manager

@Homosolus Posts marked with ‘Needs more info’ simply means we asked for more information yes but the issue is still being researched currently. Not to worry! :) I was in fact coming back here to move it to ‘Investigating’, these are just a part of our forums and team’s tracking. It can still be interacted with, searched, etc.

Apologies for any confusion that brought.
Thanks!
Katie

KatieToo

Community Manager

Hi @Homosolus

Thanks for the detailed version comparison about your issue, and that makes a lot of sense why you do that. Sorry for any frustrations! May we ask a quick few more details to try to help like computer specs if Mac (what macOS?) or if Windows 11/10 and what driver version/build, etc. with our bug report details.

The fact that the same SFX library was reused correctly in Premiere v26.0 but appears to be processed again for every new project in v26.3.2 is useful information, along with the workaround (for now) being that you can go back to v26.0.

Could you clarify which type of cache Premiere is regenerating?

Waveform/peak files (.pek) most likely
Conformed audio (.cfa)
Other media-cache files (.ims)
Project metadata cache files (.prmcd2)

Please also confirm that the following locations are identical across the projects:

Media Cache Files
Media Cache Database
Audio Previews under the project’s scratch-disk settings

Can you recall if you get any kind of status, error, or message while Premiere’s processing it again in v26.3.2?

The slower Home screen may be a separate issue, and let us know whether the delay occurs: before the recent project list appears, when selecting a recent project, or both. I’m wondering if it’s before that list loads.

Much appreciated,
Katie

HomosolusAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi @KatieToo ,

Thanks for looking into this.

Here are my system specs:

OS: Windows 11 Pro 25H2
GPU: RTX 3070
Driver: NVIDIA Studio Driver 610.88

Regarding the cache, it's specifically the waveform/peak (.pek) files that Premiere keeps regenerating.

I can also confirm that all of the following locations are identical across all of my projects:

Media Cache Files
Media Cache Database
Audio Previews (Scratch Disk)

That's why this behavior stood out to me. Nothing in my workflow has changed, and the exact same SFX library is reused across every project. (Media Cache location is on the same disk as Premiere installation)

In Premiere Pro 26.0, the waveform cache is generated once and then reused correctly across all projects, which is exactly how I expect it to work. In 26.3.2, however, every new project regenerates the waveform cache from scratch, even though the existing cache files are still there and the "Do not delete cache files" option is enabled.

I don't receive any error messages or warnings while it's processing. Premiere simply starts generating the waveform cache again as if it's never seen those files before. I’ll add how my pek folder looks like after importing same assets across 3 different projects. Premiere seems to not ‘remember’ same audio and creates duplicate pek files.

As for the slower Home screen, the delay happens before the Recent Projects list appears. In 26.0 it took around 3 seconds to load, but in 26.3.2 it's closer to 10 seconds before the Home screen is fully usable.

KatieToo

Community Manager

Hi there @Homosolus just wanted to update you that our team was able to recreate this issue and we’ll be filing a bug report ticket with screenshots and all these details.

To note, I’ve also updated this post to ‘Acknowledged.’ We’ll return here with an update on that once that information is available or if engineers need anything further.

Really appreciate your time and effort spent reporting on this issue, and it will help other users as well. Keep using your workaround of v26.0, in the meantime.

Thank you!
Katie

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