Clearing the Cache

Deleting your browser's cache content

Why should you clear your cache?

Clearing your cache ensures when you visit web pages you view the most recent content. It also frees space on your computer otherwise taken up by unnecessary cache files. For information on what a broswer cache is, click here.

How to clear your cache

Internet Explorer | Firefox | Chrome | Safari

• Internet Explorer

Although Internet Explorer tends to use the term "Temporary Internet Files," this is the same thing as the browser cache. To clear it, follow these steps:

1. In your browser's menu, click "Tools" and then "Internet Options"
2. Under the "General" tab locate the "Browsing History" section and click the "Delete" button
3. Select "Temporary Internet Files" as the history to delete and press the "Delete" button
4. Depending on how full your cache is, a progress window may pop up indicating how long it will take to delete all the files - this shouldn't take longer than a couple of minutes
5. Click the "OK" button once this process is completed and exit out of Internet Explorer
6. Open Internet Explorer and resume browsing as normal

Alternatively you can use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Del to bring up the "Delete Browsing History" window and then complete the steps starting from step three.

For more information view the Microsoft Support page on cache cleaning.

• Mozilla Firefox

To clear the cache in Firefox, follow these steps:

1. At the top of the browser click the "Firefox" button or "Tools" depending on your computer, and then click "Options"
2. Select the "Advanced" panel and click the "Network" tab
3. Locate the "Offline Storage" section press the "Clear Now" button
4. Click "OK" to close the window
5. Refresh the page and resume browsing as normal

Alternatively you can use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Del to bring up the "Delete History" window, select "Cache" and then press "Delete."

For more information view the help page on cleaning the cache in Firefox.

• Google Chrome

To clear the cache in Chrome, follow these steps:

1. Click the wrench in the upper right hand corner and hover over "Tools" in the drop down menu that appears
2. Select "Clear Browsing Data" and make sure the "Empty the Cache" box is checked
3. Choose how far back to delete cache files under the drop down menu
4. Press the "Clear Browsing Data" button
5. Refresh the page and resume browsing as normal

Alternatively you can use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Del to bring up the "Clear Browsing Data" window, tick the "Empty the Cache" box and complete steps three to five.

For more information view the Google Chrome support article on cleaning the cache.

• Safari

To clear Safari's cache, follow these steps:

1. If using Windows, make sure the top menu is visible by clicking the "Settings" button on the far upper right and selecting "Show Menu Bar" before clicking "Edit"; if using Mac OS X click the "Safari" menu button
2. Click "Empty Cache" from the drop down menu that appears
3. Press the "Empty" button
4. Refresh the page and resume browsing as normal

Alternatively you can use the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+E to bring up the "Empty Cache" window and then select "Empty."

Safari's support page also explains how to clear the cache.

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