Clear Your Browser's Cache

Your internet browser's cache stores certain information (snapshots) of webpages you visit on your computer or mobile device so that they'll load more quickly upon future visits and while navigating through websites that use the same images on multiple pages so that you do not download the same image multiple times. Occasionally, however your cache can prevent you from seeing updated content, or cause functional problems when stored content conflicts with live content. You can fix many browser problems simply by clearing your cache. This article contains instructions with screenshots on how to clear the cache for all major browsers.

If you are unsure of what browser version you are currently using, you can visit whatbrowser.org to find out.

Steps

Chrome v10+

  1. Open the settings on Chrome. Click the menu icon in the upper right corner of the browser to the right. Click settings on the bottom of the menu.
    • A faster way to get there is to press Control+⇧ Shift+Delete on a PC, or if you're using a Mac ⇧ Shift+⌘ Command+Delete.
  2. From settings, click "Show advanced settings...". It's located at the very bottom of the settings section.
  3. Scroll to the privacy section and click "Clear browsing data".
  4. Select "Cached images and files". Uncheck all other options to avoid deleting browser history, cookies and other things you may wish to retain. Change "Obliterate the following items from" to "the beginning of time".
  5. Press "Clear browsing data". You are done!

Firefox 33

  1. Click the Menu button ("hamburger button" - the one with three horizontal lines) and then choose Options.
    • If Options is not listed in the menu, click Customize and drag Options from the list of Additional Tools and Features over to the Menu.
    • Note: If you're using the menu bar, choose Tools and then Options instead.
  2. Firefox for Mac: On a Mac, choose Preferences from the Firefox menu and then continue as instructed below. With the Options window now open, click the Privacy tab. In the History area, click the clear your recent history link.
    • If you don't see that link, change the Firefox will: option to Remember history. You can change it back to your custom setting when you're done. In the Clear Recent History window that appears, set the Time range to clear: to Everything. In the list at the bottom of the window, uncheck everything except for Cache.
  3. If you wish to clear other kinds of stored data, feel free to check the appropriate boxes. They will be cleared with the cache in the next step.
    • Don't see anything to check? Click the button next to Details. Click on the Clear Now button. When the Clear Recent History window disappears, all of the files saved (cached) from your Internet browsing activities in Firefox will have been removed.
    • If your Internet cache is large, Firefox may hang while it finishes removing the files. Just be patient - it will eventually finish the job.
    • Older versions of Firefox, particularly Firefox 4 through Firefox 33, have fairly similar processes for clearing the cache but please try to keep Firefox updated to the latest version if you can.

Safari for Mac OS X

  1. Once your browser is open, click the Safari menu and select Empty Cache...
  2. Click Empty.

Internet Explorer 9, 10, and 11

  1. Once your browser is open, click the gear icon at the top right to open the Settings menu. Then, select Safety and Delete Browsing History....
    • Or, alternately, you may simply press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Delete to open the Delete Browsing History window.
  2. Select Temporary Internet Files. You will also need to uncheck all of the other boxes, especially Preserve Favorites website data. This option makes the window also delete objects from websites in your Favorites folder, which is necessary to completely clear your cache.
  3. Click the Delete button near the bottom of the window to perform the operations (i.e. clear your cache by deleting temporary files).
  4. Your computer will work for a moment, and then the process will be complete. You've successfully cleared Internet Explorer 9's Cache!

Microsoft Edge

  1. Click the Edge Menu button (...) and select Settings. This will open the Settings sidebar.
  2. Click the "Choose what to clear" button. You'll find this under the "Clear browsing data" heading.
  3. Ensure "Cached data and files" is checked. This is usually selected by default.
  4. Review the list of items to be cleared. Everything that is checked will be removed, so review the list and select or deselect any of the items.
  5. Click "Clear" to delete the checked items. As long as "Cached data and files" is checked, your Edge browser cache will be deleted.

Safari for Windows

  1. Once your browser is open, click the gear icon on the top right.
  2. Select "Reset Safari..." This will prompt a screen to open.
  3. Select "Remove all website data" at the very bottom of the prompt. Check or uncheck any other categories you want reset.
  4. Click "Reset".

Internet Explorer 8

  1. Once your browser is open, click the Tools menu. Or, optionally you may simply press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Delete to open the Delete Browsing History window (and skip step 2)
  2. Click on Delete Browsing History...
  3. Select Temporary Internet Files.
  4. Click the Delete button near the bottom of the window to delete your temporary files (i.e. clear your cache).
  5. Set your cache to delete every time you close Internet Explorer. If you want the browser to automatically clear the cache whenever you close it, close the 'Delete Browsing History' window, select 'Internet Options' from the Tools menu, and check the 'Delete Browsing history on exit' checkbox.
    • Note: IE8 has a "feature" which retains some cookies even after you clear your cache if you do not UNCHECK the "Preserve Favorites Website Data." If you truly need to clear your cache, you will want to uncheck this!

Internet Explorer 7

  1. Open IE 7 and click the Tools menu. Click the Delete Browsing History link at the top.
  2. Under the Temporary Internet Files heading, click Delete files...
  3. Click Yes when you see the prompt asking if you are sure you want to delete all temporary files.
  4. Alternatively, clear your cache for just the current page you're visiting. Press and hold Ctrl on your keyboard, then Press F5 or click on the Refresh button (square button on the toolbar with opposite-facing arrows).

Firefox 30+

  1. Go to the most right button on the toolbar:
  2. Click the "Options" button (That one with a gear). The options dialog appears.
  3. Select the Advanced button and then the "Network" tab.
  4. After that push the "Clear Now" button inside the "Cached Web Content" section. Then restart or close and reopen Firefox.
  5. Another way to clear cache is pressing Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Delete to open the recent history window.
    • On a Mac, you can press ⇧ Shift+⌘ Command+Delete.
  6. Make sure "Details" is expanded, then select "Cache" from the list. Uncheck everything else.
  7. In the "Time Range to Clear" drop down, select "Everything".
  8. Select "Clear Now". Your computer will work for a moment, and the process will be completed.
  9. Restart or close and reopen Firefox. You've successfully cleared Firefox's Cache!

Firefox 4

  1. Go to "Clear Recent History":
    • On a PC, click the "Firefox" menu in the top left corner. Next, select the right arrow next to "History >", and click "Clear Recent History"
      • Or press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Delete to open the recent history window.
    • On a Mac, from the Tools menu, select "Clear Recent History…"
      • Alternately, you can press ⇧ Shift+⌘ Command+Delete.
  2. Make sure "Details" is expanded, then select "Cache" from the list. Uncheck everything else.
  3. In the "Time Range to Clear" drop down, select "Everything".
  4. Select "Clear Now". Your computer will work for a moment, and the process will be complete. You've successfully cleared Firefox's Cache!

Opera

  1. Once your browser is open, select the "Settings" menu and click "Delete private data".
  2. Make sure the "Delete entire cache" box is checked. Make sure any unwanted categories are left unchecked.
    • If you do not wish to delete cookies, saved passwords, etc., remove checks from them in the list.
  3. Press "Delete".

Mozilla SeaMonkey

  1. Once your browser is open, click the "Edit" menu and select "Preferences".
  2. In the left-side list, open the "Advanced" node and select "Cache".
  3. Click the "Clear Cache" button.

Konqueror

  1. Once your browser is open, click the Settings menu and select Configure Konqueror.
  2. Scroll down in the list of images and select Cache.
  3. Click Clear Cache.

BlackBerry 6.0

  1. From the BlackBerry Browser, press the BlackBerry button
  2. Choose Options
  3. Toggle on "Cache"
  4. Press "Clear Now"

Chrome v1 - v9

  1. Once your browser is open, select the Tools menu (the wrench in the upper-right corner) and select Options (Preferences on Mac).
  2. On the Under the Hood tab, click the Clear Browsing data... button.
  3. Select the Empty the cache check-box.
  4. You can also choose the period of time you wish to delete cached information using the Clear data from this period dropdown menu.
  5. Click the Clear Browsing Data button.

Safari on OS X Yosemite

  1. Open Safari.
  2. On the menu at the top, select "Safari".
  3. Toggle "Clear All Website History and Data".
    • 2 Methods: There are two methods mentioned in this article. The one mentioned first doesn't work anymore.

Safari for iOS, iPhone and iPad

  1. Click on Settings from the home page.
  2. Scroll down until you see "Safari." Click on it to bring up the option page.
  3. Click "Clear Cookies and Data."A popup box will appear. Click "Clear Cookies and Data" again to confirm your choice.

Android

  1. Open the browser.
  2. Tap the Menu Key.
  3. Click on the "More Options" button.
  4. Click on "Settings"
  5. Tap "Clear Cache." You'll then be presented with a verification menu. Tap "Okay" or "Clear Cache" again (depending on the version of your phone) to complete the process.

Warnings

Tips

  • You can use Portable Firefox from a USB flash drive, which will store the data (cache, cookies, etc.) on the portable device, rather than your computer's hard drive.
  • If you wish, you can disable the cache entirely in your browser's options panel by choosing the 'do not remember history' option or simply browse incognito. The cache is used to speed up access to websites by loading data from the local memory rather than downloading it, however you probably will not notice a difference from a high-speed internet connection.
  • Read more about how to use Ccleaner.
  • You may also want to clear your browser's cookies.

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