Browser cache
How to Clear Your Browser's Cache on a Computer
Your browser keeps copies of pictures and other parts of the web pages you visit, so that the pages open faster the next time. These copies are called the cache. Clearing the cache deletes the copies, and the browser gets new ones from each website the next time you open it.
Why you might clear it
People usually clear the cache for one of these reasons:
- A website's help page, or a support person for that website, asked you to clear your browser's cache.
- A web page keeps showing something old after the website changed it, such as an old picture.
Clearing the cache does not remove viruses, and it does not stop scam warnings, pop-ups or notifications, so a warning on a web page is not a reason to clear it. If a web page says your computer has a virus or tells you to call a number, see Fake virus warnings & tech support in the Scam Hub. To stop a website's notifications, see Stop unwanted notifications on a computer, also in the Scam Hub.
What clearing only the cache changes
The steps for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge clear only the browser's copies, which both browsers call Cached images and files. When you clear only these:
- You stay signed in to websites, and the passwords your browser saved stay saved.
- Your browsing history, the list of websites you visited, stays.
- A page you open again may take a little longer to appear the first time, while the browser gets new copies. As you keep using websites, the browser keeps new copies again.
In Safari on a Mac, the History menu and the Privacy settings cannot clear only these copies. Safari's steps below also delete the cookies of the one website you choose, so you may need to sign in to that website again.
Leave the other boxes empty
In Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, the window you use to clear the cache also lists other things the browser keeps, each with a box. Some boxes already have a check mark when the window opens. Before you delete anything, make sure that only Cached images and files has a check mark. The boxes to leave empty include:
- Cookies and other site data. Websites use these to remember that you signed in. Deleting them signs you out of most websites.
- Browsing history, the list of websites you visited.
Clicking a box adds or removes its check mark. The small words under a box may include a link with the words sign out. Do not click that link: clearing the cache does not need it, and it signs you out of the browser.
Steps for your browser
This page has steps for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Safari. Click the name of the browser you use for that website to open its steps. Windows 11 comes with Microsoft Edge, and a Mac comes with Safari. If you are not sure which browser you use, look at its picture in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen or in the Dock: Google Chrome is a red, yellow and green circle with a blue center, Microsoft Edge is a blue and green wave, and Safari is a blue compass.
Google Chrome on Windows 11
- Click Start, the Windows symbol at the bottom of the screen.
- Click the search box, type Google Chrome, then click Google Chrome in the results.
- Click the three dots standing one above the other at the top right of Chrome, then click Delete browsing data. A Settings tab opens with a window named Delete browsing data.
- Near the top of the window, click All time. If you do not see All time, click More, then click All time.
- In the list of boxes below the times, click each box that has a check mark, except Cached images and files, so that its check mark goes away. These are usually Browsing history, Cookies and other site data and Download history. If Cached images and files has no check mark, click it.
- Check that only Cached images and files has a check mark, then click Delete data at the bottom right of the window. If the button says Delete from this device, click that. The window closes, and Chrome shows Deleted for a moment.
- Close the Settings tab using the small X on that tab.
Google Chrome on a Mac
- Click Finder (the blue smiling face) in the Dock, the row of app icons along the edge of the screen.
- In the menu bar at the top of the screen, click Go, then Applications.
- Find Google Chrome in the window and click it twice quickly to open it.
- Click the three dots standing one above the other at the top right of Chrome, then click Delete browsing data. A Settings tab opens with a window named Delete browsing data.
- Near the top of the window, click All time. If you do not see All time, click More, then click All time.
- In the list of boxes below the times, click each box that has a check mark, except Cached images and files, so that its check mark goes away. These are usually Browsing history, Cookies and other site data and Download history. If Cached images and files has no check mark, click it.
- Check that only Cached images and files has a check mark, then click Delete data at the bottom right of the window. If the button says Delete from this device, click that. The window closes, and Chrome shows Deleted for a moment.
- Close the Settings tab using the small X on that tab.
Microsoft Edge on Windows 11
- Click Start, the Windows symbol at the bottom of the screen.
- Click the search box, type Microsoft Edge, then click Microsoft Edge in the results.
- Click the three dots at the top right of Edge, then click Settings.
- Click Privacy, search, and services, then click Clear browsing data. Scroll down if you do not see it.
- Beside Clear browsing data now, click Choose what to clear. A window named Delete browsing data opens.
- Under Time range, click the menu, then click All time.
- In the list of boxes, click each box that has a check mark, except Cached images and files, so that its check mark goes away. Scroll down the list in the window to see every box. If Cached images and files has no check mark, click it.
- Check that only Cached images and files has a check mark, then click Clear now. The window closes.
- Close the Settings tab using the small X on that tab.
Safari on a Mac
Safari's History menu and its Privacy settings cannot delete only the cache. Clear History, in the History menu, deletes your browsing history together with the cookies and other data of every website you visited in the time you choose, so it may sign you out of those websites.
These steps delete the data Safari keeps for one website, including its copies and its cookies. Other websites do not change. You may need to sign in to that website again afterwards, so before you begin, make sure you know your password for it.
- Click Finder (the blue smiling face) in the Dock, the row of app icons along the edge of the screen.
- In the menu bar at the top of the screen, click Go, then Applications.
- Find Safari in the window and click it twice quickly to open it.
- Click Safari beside the Apple menu at the top of the screen, then click Settings.
- Click Privacy at the top of the Settings window.
- Click Manage Website Data. A list of websites appears after a moment.
- Click the search box in that window and type part of the website's address as it appears in the address bar when you visit it, such as example for example.com.
- Click the website in the list, then click Remove. The website disappears from the list. Do not click Remove All, which deletes the data of every website in the list. If you click it by mistake, click Cancel in the message that appears.
- Click Done, then close the Settings window using the red button in its upper-left corner.
After you clear it
Open the website again. If its page is still open in a tab, click that tab, then click the circular arrow near the address bar to load the page again. The browser gets new copies from the website as the page loads.