how to clear your browser cache

How to Clear Your Browser Cache (All Major Browsers)

By in Beginners Guide

WordPress might be one of the most popular and easy-to-use content management systems on the web today, but that doesn’t mean that it’s immune to problems.

When you’re building a blog or an eCommerce website with WordPress, there’s a chance that you’ll encounter a few performance issues over time. Sometimes, issues with your plugins or an error with your content delivery network causes these problems. Other times, all you need to do to overcome your performance issues is to simply clear your browser cache.

A browser cache is the technology used by most popular web browsers like Firefox, Safari, and Chrome to save static information from your website on a user’s computer. When your cache is working properly, it delivers better user experiences to your customers by making sure that your website can load in record speed. However, when something goes wrong with the cache, it can begin to slow down your site’s performance instead.

Today, we’re going to show you how to clear your browser cache in all major web browsers and get your WordPress site running correctly again.

What is a Web Browser Cache?

A web browser cache is technology used by web browsers to save visitor data on a user’s computer. Essentially, the browser cache downloads static files into a computer, so that pages can load quickly on your customer’s devices. The logic behind this is that downloading static files from a WordPress hosting server or CDN will take a lot more time than reusing the resources that already exist on a user’s computer.

Most browsers won’t cache complete web pages unless they’re told to do so via the code implemented by web developers. Instead, these browsers focus on static content like JavaScript, images, and stylesheets. Because a cache won’t always collect full information from a web page, there’s a chance that content can become corrupted causing the site to load more slowly.

Knowing how to clear your browser cache is one of the easiest ways to speed up site performance regardless of which browser you’re using.

1. How to Clear Your Browser Cache in Google Chrome

More than 310 million people worldwide rely on Google Chrome as their primary web browser today. If you need to clear a web browser cache, there’s a good chance that you’ll be starting with Google Chrome.

To do this, begin by launching the browser on your computer and clicking on the three dot menu in the top right of the page. From here, you’ll need to click on the “More tools” option, and then “Clear Browsing Data.”

clear browser history in google chrome

The Chrome Settings page will launch a popup that’s titled “Clear browsing data.” Here, you’ll need to select “cached images and files” and choose a time-range option such as “All Time.” Doing this will clear your entire browser cache.

select cache images and files in google chrome

You can also clear your cookies and other site data at the same time. However, remember that doing this will log you out from all other websites you’re signed into.

Click Clear data to finish clearing the cache in your Google Chrome browser, and you’ll be ready to restart your browser (just close it and open it again).

2. How to Clear Your Browser Cache in Safari

Google Chrome might be the ultimate browser of choice for the PC operating system – but what about if you’re using a Mac? In that case, there’s a good chance that you’ll be reliant on Safari.

To clear a browser cache in Safari, open the browser on your computer, then go to the “Safari” option in the top menu. This will open a drop-down menu where you can click on “Clear History”.

clear browser history in safari

When the popup appears, you’ll be able to select a time range for when you want to remove your cache files. Or, you can choose “All History” from the Clear drop-down menu if you want to get rid of everything.

Click on “Clear History” to delete all of your temporary data, including your cookies, cache, and temporary site information.

clear history in safari

If you want to clear your web browser cache on Safari without getting rid of your cookies and other data, you can do this from the Developer menu.

Go into the Safari “Preferences” tab on the top menu and you’ll see a settings dialog box which you can use to switch to the Advanced tab. Clicking the advanced tab to Safari will open the Develop menu on the top bar of your browser.

show develop menu in safari

Next, click on the Develop menu and select Empty Caches. This allows Safari to delete your browser cache without getting rid of cookies and temporary data.

empty cache in safari

3. How to Clear Your Browser Cache in Firefox

Firefox might not be quite as popular as Google Chrome, but that doesn’t mean it’s not one of the most appealing web browser options on the market today. In fact, Firefox is the number one choice for around 13.45% of the market today.

If you’re using Mozilla’s browser and want to clear the cache, launch it on your computer and click on the hamburger menu in the top right of the screen to select “Options”.

clear browser history in mozilla firefox

You’ll see the Firefox settings page next, which you can use to switch to the Privacy and Security tab.

privacy and security in mozilla firefox

Scroll down to the section labeled “History” and click on the button that says, “Clear History.”

clear history button in mozilla firefox

When you do, Firefox will ask what kind of information you want to get rid of. For example, you can clear browsing and download history, active logins, form and search history, cookies, and of course, your cache.

Select the data you want to clear and click “Clear Now.”

clear cache in mozilla firefox

4. How to Clear Your Browser Cache in Edge

Microsoft Edge is currently the default browser downloaded onto Windows 10 computers. Although many people switch to an alternative browser, Edge is still a popular choice for many users.

To clear your Edge browser cache, start by opening the Edge browser on your computer, and clicking the three-dot menu in the top of the screen. Select the “Settings” option.

clear cache in Microsoft edge

Next, click the “Privacy & security” and then “Choose what to clear” buttons.

choose what to clear Microsoft edge

Doing this will give you a popup panel which you can use to clear out the browsing data that you no longer want on your browser. Select the Cached data and files option. You can also add the Cookies and Website data option if you want to.

data browsing clear options in Microsoft edge

Click on the “Clear” button to clear out your cache.

How to Clear Your Browser Cache in Opera

Opera is one of the lesser-known options for people who generally don’t like the Edge, Safari, or Chrome experiences. However, there are still a large number of people using Opera to browse the internet.

If you want to clear your browser cache on Opera, then you’ll need to start by opening the browser and clicking on the menu icon in the top right of the page.

Then, click on the option that says, “History” and “Clear browsing data.”

clear browser history in opera

You’ll see a popup on the screen. From here, you can select the time range from the drop-down menu. Then, check the box next to the cached images and files option, and then click on the “Clear data” button. Opera will then empty your cache.

clear cache in opera

How to Clear Your Browser Cache in Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer is probably the least preferred web browser available today. It started off as the default web browser, but quickly lost its appeal when users found it to be slow and clunky. Even Microsoft replaced Internet Explorer for most users with their Windows 10 update, by introducing Edge. However, if you still use Internet Explorer, then you’ll need to know how to clear your browser cache.

To start, open the Internet Explorer browser and click on the gear icon at the top right of the page. Click on Safety, then “Delete Browsing History” next.

clear browsing history in internet explorer

You’ll need to uncheck the option the allows you to “Preserve Favorites website data” and check “Temporary Internet Files” too. You can also check the cookies option if you want to.

clear cache in internet explorer

When you’re ready, click “Delete.”

How to Clear Your Browser Cache

There you go! Now you know how to clear your browser cache regardless of which browser you might be using. When you’re experiencing problems with your WordPress website, this is one of the quickest and easiest ways to get things running smoothly again.

Though sometimes you will need to take extra steps to get your WordPress website back into perfect condition again, the browser clearing trick can work more often than you’d think. So, it makes sense to give this option a try before you spend excess time or effort on anything else.

Want another quick way to speed things up? Check out this tutorial on how to resizes images in WordPress for faster loading times and continue improving the user experience for your site visitors.

Have you ever cleared your browser cache? Which browser do you prefer to use and why? We’d love to hear all about it in the comments below!

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