How to Clear a Web Browser’s Cache and Cookies

A browser can store your history indefinitely by holding on to cookies and cache information from websites you visit. When your browser history falls into the wrong hands, a lot could go wrong — your security might be compromised, and you’ll lose privacy for the most part.

Of course, the good thing about this is you get to access once-visited sites faster the next time. But that also means anyone who gets a hold of your computer will know where you’ve been.

This guide will teach you how to get a grip on your browsing data by clearing your cache and cookies on your desktop browsers.

How to Clear Cache and Cookies on PC

Before you begin, quickly know that you can use this keyboard shortcut—Ctrl + Shift + Delete to clear your cache and cookies on your PC.

If this doesn’t work, then troubleshoot it with the steps below.

Google Chrome

To manage browser cookies and cache on Chrome when using a PC, do the following:

1. On your Chrome browser, click on the Tools menu (i.e., the three vertical dots) in the upper-right corner.

2. Go to History > History hamburger menu (i.e., the three horizontal parallel lines)

3. From the left-hand side on the following page, select Clear Browsing Data.

4. Set the Time Range to All Time, then tick the following:

• Cookies and other site data
• Cached images and files

Suppose you’d like to delete browsing and download history too —  Tick “Browsing history” and “Download history.”

5. Hit Clear Data.

Close and re-open Google Chrome to complete the process and save your changes.

Mozilla Firefox

To manage browser cookies and cache on Firefox when using a PC, do the following:

1. On your Firefox browser, click the hamburger (i.e., the three horizontal lines) menu in the upper right corner.

2. Head over to Options.
3. On the following page, select Privacy and Security.

4. Scroll down. Under the Cookies and Site Data box, hit Clear Data.

5. In the following Clear Data page, you’ll see two options only:

• Cookies and Site Data
• Cached Web Content

Tick them, and hit Clear.

Exit and enter the browser again for your changes to take effect.

Microsoft Edge

To manage browser cookies and cache on Microsoft Edge, do the following:

1. Click the Tools menu (i.e., the three horizontal dots) at the upper-right corner of your screen.

2. Go over to Settings > Settings hamburger menu (i.e., the three horizontal parallel lines)

3. Select Privacy, search, and services.

4. 4. Scroll down. Under Clear Browsing Data. Click Choose what to clear.

5. Then, set the drop-down arrow to All time.
6. Next, tick :

• Cookies and other site data
• Cached images and files

Remember to tick “Browsing history” and “Download history” if you want to erase your history too.

7. Hit Clear now.

Close and open the Microsoft Edge browser to save the changes.

How to Clear Cache and Cookies on Mac

Asides from the Apple Safari browser —  which is Mac’s native browser — every other external browser on Mac works following a similar pattern with the PC steps above.

Let’s explore how to clear your cookies and cache on browsers on Mac.

How to Clear Your Cache on Safari

To manage browser cache on Safari, do the following:

1. Click on Safari in the menu bar.

2. Select Preferences

 

3. Click the Privacy icon

4. Next, go down and select Manage Website Data.

This shows you a list of websites with stored information and cached files on your browser. You receive a warning that removing the data may improve your privacy but change how the website responds to you as well as log you out if you were previously logged in to those sites.

5. To delete one or more select website’s data, hold the command (CMD) key down, and then use your cursor to select the sites you want to delete.

And then click Remove and then Done.

5. If you want to clear all the cached data, click Remove All.

That’s it, you’ve cleared your Safari browser cache.

How to Clear Cookies on Safari

To manage cookies on Safari, do the following:

1. Click on Safari in the menu bar.

2. Click Clear History from the dropdown menu

3. From the options dropdown, choose the history to clear. The options are chronological—last hour, today, today and yesterday, or all history.

4. That’s it. Click Clear History and you’re done.

Google Chrome

To manage browser cookies and cache when using Chrome on Mac, do the following:

1. Click on the Chrome icon on the browser toolbar.

2. Click More Tools.
3. On the fly-out menu, select Clear browsing data.

4. From the drop-down menu, set the preferred time range to All Time.
5. Check these boxes:

• Cookies and other site and plug-in data
• Cached images and files.

6. Then, hit the Clear Data button.

Go back to the Chrome menu and select Quit to save browser changes.

Mozilla Firefox

To manage browser cookies and cache when using Firefox on Mac, do the following:

1. Click the Firefox hamburger icon on the menu bar.

2. Click Preferences (which is the same thing as Options on PC)
3. Select the Privacy and Security tab on the left.

4. Choose Clear recent history on the menu that appears.

5. Tick Cache and Cookies checkbox
6. Then, hit the Clear Now button.

Close the browser to save your changes.

And that’s it!

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