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Clearing Your Browsers Cache

Here’s a question and an “issue” I see all the time…

• ME: “Ok, your site has been re-designed and is up and running.  Please make sure to clear out your web browsers cache so you can see the latest version.”
• CLIENT: “I still can’t see the latest version, how do I clear my web browsers cache, and what is it?”

Of course, to me this seems like a simple thing to do, but most people don’t even know what your browser cache is.

Simply put, (and I say these exact words to my clients) “It’s little pieces of your website that are stored somewhere on your computer, so the next time you view your site it does not take as long to load.”

Each time you access a file through your web browser, the browser caches (i.e., stores) it. By doing this, the browser doesn’t have to newly retrieve files (including any images) from the remote web site each time you click Back or Forward. You should periodically clear the cache to allow your browser to function more efficiently.

A cookie is a file created by a web browser, at the request of a web site, that is then stored on a computer. These files typically store user-specific information such as selections in a form, shopping cart contents, or authentication data. Browsers will normally clear cookies that reach a certain age, but clearing them manually may solve problems with web sites or your browser.

A browser’s history is a log of sites that you visit. When you press a browser’s Back button, you are moving back one entry in the history log. Browsers will normally clear the history at regular intervals, but you may want to clear it manually for privacy.

How to clear your cache for the major web browsers:

Internet Explorer 8 & 9

1. Click Tools, and select Delete Browsing History… .
2. Deselect Preserve Favorites website data, and select Temporary Internet files, Cookies, and History.
3. Click Delete.
4. If you have not done this before, or have not done it in awhile, it may take a few minutes to complete.

Internet Explorer 7

1. From the Tools menu in the upper right, select Delete Browsing History…
2. To delete your cache, click Delete files… 
3. To delete your cookies, click Delete cookies…
4. To delete your history, click Delete history…
5. If you have not done this before, or have not done it in awhile, it may take a few minutes to complete.
6. Click Close, and then click OK to exit.

Firefox

1. From the Tools menu, select Clear Recent History
   1. If the menu bar is hidden hit your Alt key to make it visible
2. From the Time Range to Clear drop-down menu, select the desired range.
   1. To clear everything, just select Everything
3. Click the down arrow next to Details to choose which elements to clear
4. Click Clear Now

Chrome

1. In the browsers address bar type: chrome://settings/clearBrowserData
2. Select the items you want to clear
   1. Obliterate the following items from: Choose the date range to clear, or select the beginning of time to clear everything
3. Click Clear Browsing Data

Opera

1. From the Opera menu select Settings, then Delete Private Data
2. In the popup, select the items you want to clear then click Delete

Safari

1. From the Safari menu select Reset Safari
2. From the menu, select the items you want to reset, then click Reset
   1. 5.1 and up, Remove All Website Data covers both cookies and cache

Mobile Safari for iPhone, iPod Touch, & iPad

1. From the home screen, tap Settings then Safari
2. Tap Clear Cookies and Clear Cache from the bottom of the list, to confirm tap them both again

Android 2.3+

1. Start your browser
2. Tap Menu and then tap More
3. Select Settings
4. Under Privacy Settings select Clear Cache, Clear History, or Clear All then tap OK

You can also find more web browsers and screen shots by clicking here.