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If you want to improve your browsing experience, clearing your cache and cookies is a potential solution. Over time, these temp files and data can accumulate. The idea is to provide a better experience for the user, but it can also sometimes lead to slower performance, privacy concerns, and website errors.
Here’s what cache and cookies are, why you may want to purge them, and how to get the job done.
Key Takeaways
- Clearing cache and cookies can improve browser performance and privacy.
- Cache stores temporary files to speed up website loading times.
- Cookies store user data to remember preferences and track activity.
- Clear both cache and cookies to resolve browsing issues and free up storage space.
- You can clear the cache and cookies of any browser or any device.
What is a Cache?
A cache is a collection of temporary files stored by your browser to help websites load faster. Here’s why clearing cache can be beneficial:
Cookies are small files stored on your device by websites to remember information about your visit. The can track your activity and preferences to potentially improve your browsing experience. Here’s why you may want to clear them:
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the differences between cache and cookies.
| Aspect | Cache | Cookies |
| Functionality | Stores temporary files to speed up website load times | Stores user data to remember preferences and track activity |
| Storage | Takes up more space on your device | Takes up less space compared to cache |
| Browsing Impact | Improves loading speed by reusing stored files | Improves user experience by remember settings and login details |
Ready to clear your cache and cookies? Here’s how it’s done.
How to Remove Cache and Cookies on Desktop Browsers
First, we’ll cover how to clear Internet cache and cookies on your desktop browsers.
How to Clear Cache and Cookies on Google Chrome
- Open Google Chrome on your desktop.
- Next, click the three dots in the top-right corner of the window, and then select Delete Browsing Data from the drop-down menu.
Alternatively, press Ctrl+Shift+Del.
- You’ll now be on the Delete browsing data pop-up in Chrome’s settings. Select the boxes next to the Cookies and Cache options, and then click Delete data. You can also clear your browsing history here if you want.
Your cache and cookies are now cleared.
How to Clear Cache and Cookies on Firefox
- Open Firefox on your desktop.
- Click the Hamburger menu in the top-right corner of the screen, and then click Settings from the drop-down menu.
- Click Privacy & Security in the left-hand pane.
- Scroll down to the Cookies and Site Data group and click Clear Data.
- The Clear Data pop-up will appear. Check the boxes next to Cookies and Site Data and Cached Web Content, and then click Clear.
- Another pop-up will appear with a warning about clearing the data. Click Clear Now.
Your cache and cookies are now cleared.
How to Clear Cache and Cookies on Safari
- Open Safari on your desktop.
- Click Privacy in the header menu and then click Manage Website Data.
- Click Privacy in the header menu and then click Manage Website Data.
- In the next window that appears, click Remove All.
- A pop-up will appear asking you to confirm the action. Click Remove Now.
Your cache and cookies are now cleared.
How to Clear Cache and Cookies on Microsoft Edge
- Open Microsoft Edge on your desktop.
- Click the three dots in the top right corner of the screen, and then click Settings from the drop-down menu.
- Click Privacy, search, and services in the left hand pane, scroll down to the Delete browsing data group, and then click Choose what to clear.
- The Delete browsing data pop-up will appear. Check the boxes next to Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files, and then click Clear now.
Your cache and cookies are now cleared.
How to Remove Cache and Cookies on Mobile Devices
Now let’s cover how to erase cache and cookies on iOS and Android devices.
How to Clear Cache and Cookies on Safari for iOS
- On your iOS device, open the Settings app and tap Safari.
- Scroll down and tap Clear History and Website Data.
- In the pop-up menu, choose the timeframe you would like to clear, and then tap Clear History.
This will clear your Safari history, cache, and cookies.
How to Clear Cache and Cookies on Chrome for iOS
- On your iOS device, open Google Chrome and tap the three dots in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
- A menu will appear at the bottom of the screen. Tap Delete Browsing Data.
- Tap Cookies, Site Data and Cached Images and Files to select them, and then tap Delete Browsing Data.
- A message will appear asking you to confirm the action. Tap Delete Browsing Data again.
The cache and cookies are now cleared.
How to Clear Cache and Cookies on Chrome for Android
- On your Android device, open Google Chrome and tap the three dots in the top-right corner of the screen. In the menu that appears, tap History.
- Tap Clear Browsing Data at the top of the next screen.
- Tap the boxes next to Cookies and site data and Cached images and files to select them, and then tap Clear data.
Your cache and cookies are now cleared.
You don’t need to clear your cache and cookies very often, but there are some cases where you’ll want to.
- If your browser is running slowly or taking too long to load pages, clearing the cache can help. Over time, cached files accumulate and can slow down your browser. Removing these files allows your browser to fetch the latest versions of web pages.
- Also, for those concerned about privacy, cookies store information about your browsing habits and preferences, which can be used to track your online activity. Clearing your cookies can remove this tracking data.
- Clearing cache and cookies is also a good idea when troubleshooting website errors. Websites can sometimes display incorrectly or not function properly due to outdated or corrupted cache and cookies. Clearing these can resolve issues such as pages not loading correctly, login problems, and outdated content appearing. This forces the browser to download fresh data from the website.
The Bottom Line
Regularly clearing your cache and cookies is important for maintaining optimal browser performance and protecting your privacy. It helps resolve browsing issues, frees up storage space, and removes tracking data. Make it a routine part of your digital hygiene to keep things running smoothly.
