In today’s internet-conjoined world, clearing your browser cache with some regularity is a very wise idea – mainly for security reasons, but also to free up system memory to improve device and browser performance/functionality. In a nutshell, cache refers to locally stored files that are called upon by your browser to speed up the loading of web pages.

If you don’t clear your cache periodically, you’ll likely wind up with a ton of memory-clogging files (most of which will have become outdated and obsolete by the websites you visit). There’s also a higher risk of being extensively tracked around the internet (by third party cookies) and falling prey to malware, snoopers and other ominous online threats.

Now that we’ve covered the why, here’s how you can simply clear your cache (in all major browsers):

 

Edge

Click the ‘THREE DOT’ icon from the top right > then SETTINGS > PRIVACY & SERVICES in the left tab > CHOOSE WHAT TO CLEAR from the bottom right > check the boxes for items to delete > finally click CLEAR NOW.

 

Firefox

Click the ‘THREE LINE’ icon from the top right > OPTIONS > then PRIVACY & SECURITY from the left tab > followed by CLEAR DATA in the COOKIES & SITE DATA section > check the box next to CACHED WEB CONTENT > finally click CLEAR.

 

Internet Explorer

Click the TOOLS (‘GEAR’) icon from the top right > hover over SAFETY, then click DELETE BROWSING HISTORY > check box next to TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES & WEBSITE FILES > click DELETE.

 

Safari

Simply click DEVELOP from the menu at the top, followed by EMPTY CACHES.

 

Chrome

Click the ‘THREE DOT’ icon from the top right > SETTINGS from the menu > then ADVANCED at the bottom > CLEAR BROWSING DATA > check the box next to CACHED IMAGES & FILES > finally click CLEAR DATA.

 

Opera

Click the SETTINGS (THREE LINE) icon from the top right > scroll down and click CLEAR BROWSING DATA > check the item boxes you want to delete > finally click CLEAR DATA.