Browser cache can slow down your web browser and the system as well. It also occupies the space on your hard disk. Leaf through this article to understand how to clear the cache.
By learning to clear the cache, you are freeing up space on your computer’s memory. Thus, enabling it to perform well and also safeguarding your system against security and privacy threats. Your browser stores all the information you access with it and sometimes an overload of this data can cause the browser and machine to slow down. Information regarding web pages, downloaded content, images, texts, and other files are stored in it and it needs to be cleared on a regular basis. Typically, this information is stored in a folder called ‘Temporary Internet Files’. Here are some of the browsers and steps to clear cache from them.
Internet Explorer
- Open Internet Explorer and click on the ‘Tools’ menu. Choose the ‘Delete Browsing History’ menu.
- Alternately, open Internet Explorer and press ‘Ctrl + Shift + Delete’. This will open the ‘Delete Browsing History’ window.
- Tick against the option that says ‘Temporary Internet Files’.
- Now click on ‘Delete’ to clear the cache.
Mozilla Firefox
Follow these instructions if you are using version 3.6 or higher
- Open Firefox and click on the ‘Tools’ tab. Select ‘Clear Recent History’.
- Alternately, you can also open the ‘Clear Recent History’ window by opening Firefox and pressing ‘Ctrl + Shift + Delete’.
- You need to select ‘Everything’ from the box beside the option ‘Time Range to Clear’.
- Click on ‘Details’ and then select ‘Cache’.
- By pressing ‘Clear Now’ you are clearing the cache from Firefox.
Note that this method will only work for version 3.6 or higher. For older versions follow these instructions.
- Open Firefox and click on the ‘Tools’ tab. Select ‘Clear Private Data’.
- You can also open the ‘Clear Private Data’ window automatically by opening the browser and then pressing ‘Ctrl + Shift + Delete’.
- Select the box next to ‘Cache’ and then click on ‘Clear Private Data now’.
Google Chrome
- Open Chrome and click on the Tools menu.
- Click on ‘Options’. In the new window that opens, select the ‘Under the Hood’ tab and then select ‘Clear Browsing Data’.
- Select the box next to ‘Empty the Cache’ and then click on ‘Clear Browsing Data’.
- You can also set the time period for deletion by selecting the appropriate option from the drop-down box.
Macintosh
If you are using Mac, the process will be slightly different.
- If you are using Safari 3.0 or higher, go to a non-LexisNexis page on Safari.
- Click on ‘Safari’ menu and then on ‘Empty Cache’.
- You will see a window to confirm your decision. Click on the ‘Empty’ button.
If you are using Safari 4.0, you must follow the same steps. But, instead of ‘Empty Cache’ option you will see ‘Reset Safari’.
- If you are using Firefox 3.5 or higher on Macintosh, go to a non-LexisNexis page and click on ‘Tools’ in the menu bar.
- Select ‘Clear Recent History’ and select ‘Everything’ from the drop-down box beside the ‘Time Range to Clear’ option.
- Open the drop-down box under ‘Details’ and select ‘Cache’.
- Click on ‘Clear Now’ and then click on OK.