# Dvc import and cache

**URL:** <https://discuss.dvc.org/t/dvc-import-and-cache/2660>\
**Category:** Questions\
**Created:** [December 12, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://discuss.dvc.org/t/dvc-import-and-cache/2660 "2025-12-12T19:39:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Moki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Moki](https://discuss.dvc.org/u/Moki)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://discuss.dvc.org/t/dvc-import-and-cache/2660/1 "2025-12-12T19:39:34Z")

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Hello,

I would like to ask about a few scenarios and confirm DVC’s behaviour.

Let’s say I `dvc import` a directory `images/` (which contains image files) from a data registry. I will thus have  
`images/`  
`images.dvc`  
in my workspace (WS), and the contents of `images/` will be cached.

In which of these cases is the cache used to retrieve the directory instead of re-downloading it?

**Case 1:**

`images/` is missing from the WS and `dvc import` is run. _(would `dvc pull` be more appropriate here?)_

**Case 2:**

`images`/ and `images.dvc` are missing from the WS and `dvc import` is run.

**Case 3:**  
A file is deleted from the `images/` directory in the WS and `dvc import` is run again. _(`dvc pull` again?)_

Now lets’s say I run `dvc unfreeze images.dvc` and `images/` is used as a dependency for a stage `stage1`, which has `always_changed=True`.

**Cases 4, (5), 6:**  
Same as **Cases 1, 2 ,3** , but `dvc repro` is run. _Case 5 fails according to my attempts._

My understanding is in that all these cases (and whether the cache is in the WS or shared), since the data itself already exists in the cache, it should be retrieved from the cache. But I haven’t been able to reliably verify this yet, that’s why I’m asking.

Thank you in advance.