Emptying the buffers cache We can signal the Linux Kernel to drop various aspects of cached items by changing the numeric argument to the above command. To free pagecache: # echo 1 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches To free dentries and inodes: # echo 2 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches To free pagecache, dentries and inodes: # echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches If you ever want to empty it you can use this chain of commands. [root@localhost]#free && sync && echo 1 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free total used free shared buff/cache available Mem: 16266516 5208028 8793132 96412 2265356 10509976 Swap: 8269820 0 8269820 total used free shared buff/cache available Mem: 16266516 5209212 10645992 96412 411312 10582088 Swap: 8269820 0 8269820 ...