Home → General Topics → Clearing Temporary Internet Files → Clearing browser cache
2.1. Clearing browser cache
Temporary internet files, also referred to as the browser cache, are files that are stored on your computer by your internet browser (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox). Temporary internet files contain web page content that is stored on your hard disk for quick viewing. These files allow internet browsers to download only the content that has changed since you last viewed a web page, instead of downloading all the content for a page every time it is displayed. The purpose of temporary internet files is to speed up the loading of websites that you visit frequently by keeping copies of the web pages and graphics on your computer. Since the temporary internet files are stored on your hard drive, the amount of space these files use will increase over time. Periodically deleting these files will help clear up unnecessary file storage on your hard disk.
Android
- Start your browser.
- Tap
Menu, and then tapMore. - Select
Settings. - Under "Privacy settings", select
Clear cache,Clear history, orClear all cookie dataas appropriate, and then tapOKto accept (orCancelto cancel) the deletion.
Chrome
- In the browser bar, enter: chrome://settings/clearBrowserData
- Select the items you want to clear (e.g.,
Clear browsing history,Clear download history,Empty the cache,Delete cookies and other site and plug-in data).From theObliterate the following items from:drop-down menu, you can choose the period of time for which you want to clear cached information. To clear your entire cache, selectthe beginning of time. - Click
Clear browsing data.
Firefox
- From the
ToolsorHistorymenu, selectClear Recent History.If the menu bar is hidden, pressAltto make it visible. - From the
Time range to clear:drop-down menu, select the desired range; to clear your entire cache, selectEverything. - Click the down arrow next to "Details" to choose which elements of the history to clear. Click
Clear Now.
Internet Explorer 9 and 8
- Click
Tools, and selectDelete Browsing History.... - Deselect
Preserve Favorites website data, and selectTemporary Internet files,Cookies, andHistory. - Click
Delete.
Internet Explorer 7
- From the
Toolsmenu in the upper right, selectDelete Browsing History.... - To delete your cache, click
Delete files....To delete your cookies, clickDelete cookies....To delete your history, clickDelete history.... - Click
Close, and then clickOKto exit.
Mobile Safari for iPhone OS (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad)
To clear cache and cookies:
- From the home screen, tap
Settings, and then tapSafari. - At the bottom of Safari's settings screen, tap
Clear cookies and data, orClear CookiesandClear Cache. Confirm when prompted.
To clear history:
- From the home screen, tap
Safari. - At the bottom of the screen, tap the
Bookmarksicon. - In the lower left, tap
Clear. - Tap
Clear History.
Safari
- From the
Safarimenu, selectReset Safari.... - From the menu, select the items you want to reset, and then click
Reset. As of Safari 5.1,Remove all website datacovers both cookies and cache.