How do I clear my browser cache?

What is a browser cache?

Each time you visit a website, your web browser will cache some of the data (that is, it stores it) to allow for quicker loading in future, so it doesn’t have to download the duplicate files all over again.

Sometimes this can cause issues where you’re making changes to your website. Still, your browser might not necessarily refresh that data straight away, so you may need to periodically clear your browser’s cache to get a ‘fresh’ copy.

How to clear your cache

When following the steps below, your browser may also offer options to clear stored passwords, etc. This is unnecessary for cache clears and may cause you some grief, so those options are best left unchecked.

Chrome

1. In the browser bar, enter the following and hit Enter: chrome://settings/clearBrowserData
2. Select the items you want to clear (e.g. Empty the cache and Delete cookies and other site and plug-in data).
   • You have the option to clear your cache for a specific period; to clear your entire cache, select the beginning of time.
3. Click Clear browsing data to confirm.

Safari

1. From the top Safari menu, select Preferences.
2. Click the Privacy tab, then Remove All Website Data. This will clear your cookies.
3. Then, click the Advanced tab and tick the Show Develop menu in the menu bar.
4. Lastly, click the Develop option in the top menu, then Empty Caches.

Firefox 3.5 (these steps are for Windows, it may vary in Mac and Linux releases)

1. From the Tools menu, select Clear Recent History.
2. From the Time range to clear: drop-down menu, select the desired range; select Everything to clear your entire cache.
3. Click the down arrow next to Details to choose what history elements to clear (e.g., check Cookies to remove cookies).
4. Click Clear Now.

Edge

1. In the browser bar, enter the following and hit Enter: edge://settings/clearBrowserData
2. Select the items you want to clear (e.g. Cached images and files and Delete cookies and other site data).
   • You have the option to clear your cache for a specific time. To remove your entire cache, select the beginning of time.
3. Click Clear Now to confirm.

Internet Explorer 8 and above

1. From the Safety menu in the upper right, click Delete Browsing History.
2. Deselect Preserve Favorites website data, and select Temporary Internet Files and Cookies.
3. Click Delete.

Internet Explorer 7

1. From the Tools menu in the upper right, select Internet Options.
2. Under Browsing history, click Delete.
3. To delete your cache, click Delete files.
4. To delete your cookies, click Delete Cookies.
5. Click Close, and then click OK to exit.