How to fix Path of Exile (PoE) Cache cleanup in progress error

The new Path of Exile Necropolis league is officially live, but some players are running into a pesky error preventing users from getting in. Even though this error has been around for years, the PoE Cache cleanup in progress error seems to be affecting more players than usual. Here is how to fix the Path of Exile Cache cleanup in progress error so you can get into the game.

Stuck on Cache Cleanup in Progress

The most common way to fix the Cache cleanup in progress error is to start by restarting Path of Exile. However, there’s some other fixes that have worked as well.

When you launch Path of Exile for the first time after a big update, like a brand new league, it will perform a number of steps to prepare your game files for the new update. One of these steps states Cache cleanup in progress. This might take a while. While it’s true this process can take a while, it’s also very possible that the game gets stuck on this progress and therefore freezes and will not progress. Here’s how you can fix when your PoE is stuck on the Cache cleanup in progress screen:

1. Wait just a few minutes. It’s true this process can take a while. However, if it’s been longer than five minutes, it’s definitely stuck and it’s time to move on to the next step.
2. Restart the game. Oftentimes this process is technically completed but for some reason gets stuck in a loop before moving on to the next step. A simple restart of the Path of Exile client will fix the issue if this happens.
3. Verify a stable internet connection. This process requires an internet connection to complete. Make sure the game servers are online by double-checking the PoE Twitter and double-check with your ISP to make sure there is no outage. If you are on a wireless connection, try switching to a hardwired one.
4. Reinstall Path of Exile. Unfortunately, if you’ve done all of the above and still get the issue, it’s likely some files got corrupted which is causing the holdup. Uninstall and reinstall the game completely which will fix the issue.
5. Use an SSD over an HDD. This obviously isn’t an ideal solution since it takes time and money to set this up, but most users that have the Cache cleanup in progress error for a long time are using an HDD. SSD’s don’t seem to have the issue.