Where is pip's cache in a virtualenv?

Question

Where is pip\'s cache when using a virtual environment? Is it the default cache? If so, won\'t those downloaded packages/wheels remain if you delete the virtual environment?

Answer 1

According to documentation pip caching

The default location for the cache directory depends on the Operating System

Answer 2

Pip uses the default cache indeed, whether you're working inside a virtualenv or not. This indeed means that after removing your virtualenv, any pip cache related to it is not removed.

Mind that the installed packages themselves are deleted, just not the download cache.

Why would that be a problem? I think this is expected behaviour, since you gain an advantage when installing the same package in another virtualenv later on.