How To Clear Cache Or Browsing History Tutorial

How To Clear Cache

How to clear cache is a tutorial that explains what cache means, why it is important, the frequency at which you need to perform this browser clean up and the exact steps for how to clear cache in three of the most popular browsers that are used by most everyone on the world wide web.

What is Cache?

Cache is a term that relates to your browsing history. Each browser keeps a record of pages you visit in what is called a history. This Cache or Browsing History is stored so that when you return to pages you have visited they will load easier as some of their information has been stored by your browser. This is beneficial when there are web pages that you visit every day or at least on a regular basis to help improve your experience as a user of each particular browser. Up front this sounds great and is definitely a benefit for most users. This tutorial will show you how to clear cache in the top three browsers.

So why do you need to know how to clear cache?

Websites are always changing by adding new content or upgrading. To ensure that you have the newest up to date material it is important to know how to clear cache. Sometimes the cache or browsing history will get so backed up that you will begin to see old or outdated pages that are no longer accurate. This is especially true if you are working on a website or trying to view a webpage that was recently edited or changed. This is one of the most important times to know how to clear cache. The cache will load a saved version of the page in your browser and you will not see the new change. When having trouble viewing pages or when a site that you use a lot begins to load slowly, it can be a sign that the cache has too much information to allow new versions to be saved. This is why it is important to know how to clear cache.

How often should I clear the browsing history?

Determining how often to clear your cache is dependent on what type of user you are. For someone who maybe visits a couple of sites a day or only gets on their computer a few times a week and is not very active, then that person would only need to clear the browsing history on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. However, if you are a very active individual when it comes to surfing the web, or if you work on your own website and view your pages constantly, then it is better to clear your cache every two to three weeks to ensure that you are seeing the most accurate data. No matter how frequently you use up the storage space on your browser, everyone should know how to clear cache and remove old browsing history no matter which browser you choose to utilize.

What happens when I clear or delete my browsing history?

Now that you understand why you need to know how to clear cache, you may wonder what will happen when you actually delete the history from your chosen browser. When you perform the steps to clear or delete your browsing history for your browser, the information is completely deleted and removed and will no longer be available to you. If there is a particular site or web page that you need to keep or remember, then it is recommended that you bookmark the site, save it to your favorites or otherwise mark the URL down somewhere so that you will have it for your own use later before you clear the cache. Once it is gone, it is gone and will no longer be available for review. Don’t worry, this is a good thing, like house-cleaning for your browser. When you learn how to clear cache properly and know what data to remove and what data to keep depending on your personal needs, you will find your browsing experience will always stay at its best.

How to Clear Cache in Internet Explorer:

Learning how to clear cache in Internet Explorer is easy and can be done in a few easy steps. First, look up at the top of the Internet Explorer browser to the left and you will see several tabs that read: File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools and Help. Click on “Tools” and a drop down menu will appear. The first item in this drop down menu is “Delete browsing history..”. You can either click this link or reach the same place by holding “Cntrl + Shift + Delete” on your keyboard. A new pop up window will appear that will give you check boxes to choose which data you would like to remove from the cache storage and which data you would like to keep. Options that are available are:

1. Preserve Favorites website data

2. Temporary Internet files and website files

3. Cookies and website data

4. History

5. Download History

6. Form data

7. Passwords

8. ActiveX Filtering and Tracking Protection data

Two very important items to pay attention to for most browser users are number 1 and 7. Checking number 1 will save your Favorites so that they are handy with the click of a button without having to remember the full URL or for easier connection. Number 7 should not be checked, because this is the data that keeps all the passwords that you asked your browser to save for you as a matter of convenience.

How to Clear Cache in Firefox:

Understanding how to clear cache or browsing history in the Mozilla Firefox browser is very similar to Internet Explorer. The location is also located at the top in the main tabs. The tabs will read across as: File, Edit, View, History, Bookmarks, Tools and Help. This time you will click on “History”. After you click on History, the drop down menu will appear and you will click on “Clear Recent History”. This will open up a pop up window with choices on which data you wish to remove or save. If you do not see the list showing in the pop up window, click on the text that says “Details” or the up/down arrow right beside it. This will then display your options. These options will include:

1. Browsing & Download History

2. Form & Search History

3. Cookies

4. Cache

5. Active Logins

6. Offline Website Data

7. Site Preferences.

The biggest items that you will want to be sure to clear here are “Browsing & Download History”, “Form & Search History”, “Cookies” and “Cache”. This will ensure that the bulk of the repetitive content is removed to prevent glitches in your viewing and ensure that you are receiving an accurate view of the web pages that you are browsing.

How to Clear Cache in Google Chrome:

This last section will show you how to clear cache in Google Chrome which has a slightly different layout. You won’t automatically see the standard options of File, Edit, View, etc. at the top left of your screen. When you open Google Chrome you will instead look to the top right of the window where you will see an icon that looks like three bars stacked on top of one another. This is the settings icon. When you click on the icon, a drop down menu will appear and you will look for the item that says “History”. This time, instead of a pop up window, the browser will open up a new tab showing all of the sites and web pages that you have visited since the last time that the cache was cleared. These are grouped by the day and date that you viewed them. At the bottom of the page there is a link to view older entries if you need to search for an item that is not immediately shown. Here you have two main options shown at the top of the page which are “Clear browsing data..” and “Remove selected items”. The second button is not immediately available. The option to “Remove selected items” is useful for someone who wishes to remove only certain items from their recent history. Generally that would be useful if you are working on your website and need a clean refresh of pages to view newly updated information to ensure that everything is working and showing exactly as you want it to be. To fully clear your cache, you will choose the first button which is shown as “Clear browsing data..”. Once you choose the first option, the pop up window will then appear with your choices of which data you would like to remove or keep, and the time period you would like to remove it from. Available time slots that you can choose from are: the past hour, the past day, the past week, the last 4 weeks, or the beginning of time. For this tutorial we recommend you choose the beginning of time to erase the entire cache history. The data that can be selected or deselected for removal is:

1. Clear browsing history

2. Clear download history

3. Delete cookies and other site and plug-in data

4. Empty the cache

5. Clear saved passwords

6. Clear saved Autofill form data

7. Clear data from hosted apps

8. Deauthorize content licenses

Once you have made your selections then you will click the “Clear browsing data” button at the bottom of the pop up window. Otherwise, you can click the “Cancel” button and just close out the pop up window until you are ready to remove all of the data that you need to remove.

Knowing how to clear cache in all three browsers will help you ensure that you always have up to date information and a clean, smooth running browsing experience.