How To Clear Your Browser Cache

In the current age of technology, your every move online is tracked and saved. If you share a computer, other people can see which websites you have been visiting. Your internet history is stored and saved for convenience. When you visit a new website, it has to download every aspect of that website for the first time. When you revisit the website, it will already have downloaded and saved certain aspects. This means that when you go back to a site you have previously visited, it doesn’t take as long to load. However, it is always a good idea to clear your browser cache frequently.

There are many reasons why clearing your browser cache is a good idea. Whilst storing data helps to increase how quickly pages load, over time it could cause issues. The longer you leave your cache to build up, the more data it stores. This could start to slow down the performance of your computer. It could also mean pages that have been updated don’t display properly, as your computer is trying to load a version that no longer exists.

Clearing your browser cache is a simple, but important task to undertake regularly. In this post we are going to show you how to clear your cache from the most commonly used browsers.

Desktop Browsers

Google Chrome

To clear your browser cache in Google Chrome, you will need to click the three little dots stacked vertically in the upper right hand corner, next to the navigation bar. Select the Settings option from the drop-down menu, this will open up a new page. Scroll down to the Security and Privacy section and click on the Clear Browsing Data button. This provides you with a few options, allowing you to clear your history, cookies and other site data, or cached images and files. Google also allows you to select a time period to delete data. From as little as the last hour, all the way up to deleting everything.

If you are logged into Chrome with a Google Account, there is a chance that your history has been synced to My Activity. This feature tracks all of your activity from any devices that you are logged into your Google account. To get rid of your history and data from this, you need to go to your My Activity page, select the menu in the top left corner and click on Other Google Activity. When on this page, under Web & App Activity, click Manage Activity. This will open up a new window, providing you a range of options. One option is choosing how often you wish to delete data automatically. It also gives you the option to turn off the inclusion of Chrome activity, so that this does not track and save all of your data.

Microsoft Edge

In order to access the menu in Microsoft Edge, you will again need to click the three dots next to the navigation bar. A menu will then appear from the side of the screen. Select the Privacy & Security tab, and then press the Choose What to Clear button. This will provide you with a tick list of what you can choose to clear. Unlike Chrome, you cannot select a time period to clear, however Microsoft does provide an option to always clear the options you have ticked every time you close the browser.

Safari

If you use the Safari browser on a macOS, there are two simple ways to clear your cache. One way is by clicking on Clear History in the History Menu. This not only clears your history, but clears your cookies and data cache as well. A pop-up menu will appear, allowing you to choose how far back you wish to clear.

The second way is click Safari in the top left corner, choose Preferences Menu and select Advanced. This will allow you to see the Develop Menu in your menu bar. From the develop menu, you can select Empty Caches.

Firefox

On the latest version of the Firefox browser, click on the menu in the top right hand corner of the application and select Options, then select Privacy and Security from the side menu. Scroll down until you see Cookies and Site Data, where you have the option to Clear Data. Clicking this button will allow you to clear either your cookies and site data and your cached web content.

If you were to click on Manage Data, this will allow you to select the websites that you wish to remove any saved data from. Firefox also allows you to delete any cookies and saved data when you close the browser.

Mobile Browsers

Google Chrome

The Google Chrome browser is available on Android and iOS. Both use the same process for clearing your cache. Open up the browser, click the three little dots in the top right hand corner and select History. This will show you a list of all the websites you have visited whilst using cognito mode, including history from any other Chrome browsers that are logged into the same google account.

At the top of this list you will need to press the Clear Browsing Data option. As on desktop, you will be provided with the option to choose which data, and how far back you wish to clear. Once you have selected what you want cleared, press the Clear Data button at the bottom of the screen.

Safari

Clearing your browser cache on an iPhone or iPad Safari browser is as simple as clearing it on desktop. Open your Settings, go to Safari and press Clear History & Website Data. Not only does this clear your history, but also your cookies and cached data. If you have your device connected to iCloud, this will also clear your history from there and any other device’s that are connected to the account.

Firefox

The Firefox browser is available on both Android and iOS, though the way you clear your cache on them is slightly different.

On Android, the menu for Firefox is found in the upper right hand corner of the screen, represented by three dots stacked vertically. Similar to Chrome, select the History option, which will provide you a list of all of the websites you have visited. By pressing Clear Browsing History at the bottom of the screen, you will be asked if you are sure you want to clear your history.

For iOS, select the menu in the bottom right corner and select Settings. Scroll down until you see the Privacy section where you can select Data Management. Here, you have the option to turn off collection of any browser data caching, cookies, or even any history of sites you visit. To clear what you already have, select Clear Private Data at the bottom of the screen.