To clear your cache, press Ctrl + Shift + Delete on Windows or Cmd + Shift + Delete on a Mac in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, tick only Cached images and files (in Firefox, Temporary cached files and pages), choose a time range, and confirm — that deletes the stored copies of page images and scripts so the browser downloads fresh ones, and nothing else. Safari is the exception: on a Mac its cache-only command hides in a developer menu, and on an iPhone cache, cookies and history are cleared together from the Settings app. Clearing the cache alone does not sign you out and does not delete saved passwords — those live under separate checkboxes.
Quick paths:
| Browser | Quick path |
|---|---|
| Chrome (computer) | Three dots (More) > Delete browsing data — or Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Delete |
| Chrome (Android / iPhone) | Three dots (More) > Delete browsing data |
| Safari (Mac) | Safari > Settings > Advanced > tick Show features for web developers, then Develop > Empty Caches |
| Safari (iPhone) | Settings > Apps > Safari > Clear History and Website Data |
| Firefox (computer) | Menu > Settings > Privacy & Security > Clear browsing data — or Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Delete |
| Edge (computer) | Settings and more > Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Choose what to clear — or Ctrl + Shift + Delete |
What the cache is
The cache is your browser’s store of reusable page parts. As Google’s Chrome Help puts it, the cache remembers parts of pages, like images, to help them open faster during your next visit — instead of downloading the same logo, stylesheet and script files every time, the browser keeps local copies and reuses them. Microsoft’s description for Edge is the same idea: cached images and files are copies of pages, images and other media content stored on your device.
That store becomes the problem in two situations. The first is staleness: a site updates its files, but your browser keeps serving older copies, so the page renders with a mix of new and old parts — broken layout, missing images, a button that does nothing. The second is accumulation: months of stored files take up local storage, which matters most on a phone. Clearing deletes those copies, so the next visit is a first visit again — which is why Google warns that some sites can seem slower right after a clear.
Cache, cookies and history differ
Almost every confusion about this job comes from the clearing screen itself, which lists several kinds of data side by side as if they were one thing:
- Cache — stored copies of page files (images, scripts, stylesheets). Clearing it forces fresh downloads. It does not sign you out of anything.
- Cookies and other site data — small records a site saves to remember you: your sign-in session, preferences, cart. Clearing these signs you out and resets site settings. It is a separate job, with its own steps — see how to delete cookies.
- Browsing history — the list of pages you have visited, with dates and times. A record, not page content; clearing the cache leaves it untouched unless you tick it too.
- Passwords and autofill — saved sign-ins and form data, stored separately in the browser’s password store, behind their own checkbox in Chrome, Edge and Firefox.
So the rule for a cache problem is narrow: tick the cache line, untick everything else. The moment you also tick cookies, the job changes from “show me the fresh version of this page” to “forget who I am on every site” — rarely the first step.
What you lose, and what you don’t
Clear only the cache and the effects are modest. First visits run slower while each site rebuilds its local copies — expected, not a sign something went wrong. Some storage comes back; on a phone it can be noticeable, on a desktop usually less than people hope. And nothing about your identity changes, because sign-ins, preferences and carts are held in cookies and site data, not in the cache. A cache-only clear does not touch saved passwords, bookmarks, history, downloads or extensions.
Two warnings apply. First, sync: in Chrome, if sync is on, clearing can apply across your synced devices, and Microsoft gives the same warning for Edge — to clear only the device in front of you, turn sync off first. Second, Safari on iPhone has no cache-only button in its main flow: Clear History and Website Data removes history, cookies and cache together, so there a “cache clear” done the obvious way will sign you out. The route that keeps your history is below.
Chrome
On a computer
From Google’s own clear cache and cookies page:
- Open Chrome and click More (the three dots, top right), then Delete browsing data. The shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + Delete (Mac) opens the same dialog directly.
- Choose a time range — Last hour for a problem that just started, All time for a full clear.
- Tick Cached images and files only. Untick Cookies and other site data and Browsing history unless you mean to clear those too.
- Click Delete data.
On Android and iPhone
On Android, open Chrome, tap More (three dots) to the right of the address bar, tap Delete browsing data, choose a time range (open More options for the full list of data types), tick Cached images and files, untick the rest, and tap Delete data. On an iPhone or iPad, tap More, then Delete Browsing Data, choose a time range, tick Cached images and files, and confirm. Do not confuse the Android route with the system-level Settings > Apps > Chrome > Clear storage, which wipes far more of the app’s local state. Chrome on an iPhone is a separate store from Safari on the same phone — clearing one does nothing to the other — and if the phone itself is full, browser cache is only one small part of it, as iPhone storage full: system data shows.
Safari
On a Mac — cache only
- Open Safari and choose Safari > Settings, then click Advanced.
- Tick Show features for web developers at the bottom of the pane. A Develop menu now appears in the menu bar. (Older macOS versions label the same checkbox “Show Develop menu in menu bar.”)
- Choose Develop > Empty Caches. Once the menu is enabled, Cmd + Option + E does the same thing.
That command empties the cache and nothing else — cookies, history and sign-ins stay where they are — which makes it the right first move for a page that renders wrong in Safari. The broader clear is separate: Apple’s Safari guide documents Safari > Settings > Privacy > Manage Website Data, where you can select one or more websites and click Remove, or click Remove All. Apple warns that removing this data may sign you out or change website behaviour, because this route removes cookies along with cached data. History > Clear History is the third route: pick how far back, and the history for that period goes with its site data.
On an iPhone
From Apple’s iPhone support page, the main route clears history, cache and cookies together: go to Settings, tap Apps, then select Safari; tap Clear History and Website Data; confirm the timeframe, then tap Clear History. Apple notes this does not change your AutoFill information. What does not survive is your signed-in state, because the cookies go with the cache.
To clear cookies and cache but keep your history, Apple gives a second route on the same page: Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced > Website Data, then Remove All Website Data and Remove Now — clearing, in Apple’s words, the data used for tracking and to save login information, so it still signs you out; it just spares the history list. If either button is greyed out, Apple says there is either no data to clear or web content restrictions are set in Screen Time.
Firefox
On a computer
From Mozilla’s own “How to clear the Firefox cache” page:
- Click the menu button (three lines, top right) and select Settings.
- Select the Privacy & Security panel.
- In the Browsing data section, click Clear browsing data. (In some versions this button sits under Cookies and Site Data and is labelled Clear Data…)
- Next to When:, choose Everything for a full clear, or a shorter period for a recent problem.
- Make sure only Temporary cached files and pages is ticked. Mozilla is explicit on this point: leave the other items unselected if you want to keep them.
- Click Clear.
The shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + Delete (Mac) opens the same dialog. Mozilla also lets you set Firefox to clear the cache automatically when it closes — reasonable on a shared machine, unnecessary for most people, because a cache emptied every session can never do its job. On a phone, the route is menu > Settings > Delete browsing data on Android (tick Cached images and files) and menu > Settings > Data Management on an iPhone (turn on Cache only, then Clear Private Data).
Microsoft Edge
On a computer
From Microsoft’s Edge support page:
- Select Settings and more (the three dots, top right), then Settings, then Privacy, search, and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, select Choose what to clear next to Clear browsing data now. The shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Delete opens this pane directly.
- Under Time range, choose a range — All time for a full clear.
- Tick Cached images and files only. Microsoft’s own table lists passwords and autofill form data as separate entries — leaving them unticked leaves them alone.
- Select Clear now.
Heed Microsoft’s sync warning: signed in with sync on, the clear applies across your synced devices; to clear only this device, turn sync off first under Settings > Profiles > Sync. On a phone, the same job is menu > Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data.
When clearing the cache helps — and when it doesn’t
Clearing the cache is a targeted fix, and Google frames it exactly that way: it can resolve loading or formatting issues, give you the most up-to-date version of a site, and free up local storage. Do it when a page shows an old version after the site has updated, when a page loads broken for you while working for other people, or when browser storage has grown enough to matter on a phone.
It will not fix a slow internet connection, a website that is down for everyone, an account problem on the site’s side, or a page broken by an extension — for that last one, try the page in a private window first. If a support team asks you to clear your cache, doing it once, cache-only, is a fair test; repeating it for the same fault means the fault is elsewhere, and a picture of what you actually see will help more than a third clear — on a Mac, how to screenshot on Mac covers the quick ways to take one.
As for how often: there is no schedule worth following. Routine clearing mostly buys slower first visits in exchange for nothing, because a healthy cache is not a problem. Clear it when a symptom points at it, or when storage is tight.
Frequently asked questions
Does clearing the cache delete my passwords? No — not if you clear the cache only. In Chrome, Edge and Firefox, saved passwords sit behind their own separate checkbox in the same dialog, and are removed only if you tick it. In Safari, Empty Caches does not touch passwords, and on an iPhone Apple states that clearing history and website data does not change your AutoFill information. What clearing cookies costs you is the sign-in itself: you will be signed out and need the saved password to return.
Will clearing the cache sign me out of websites? A cache-only clear, no. Sign-ins are kept in cookies, not in the cache, so ticking only the cache line leaves every login as it was. The exceptions are bundled clears: Safari on iPhone’s Clear History and Website Data removes cookies with the cache, and any clear where you also tick cookies will sign you out.
What is the difference between clearing cache and clearing cookies? The cache stores copies of a site’s files; cookies store the site’s memory of you. A stale or broken page points at the cache; a login loop points at cookies. If you are not sure which is at fault, clear the cache first, and move on to cookies only if the problem survives.
Why does the page still look wrong after I cleared the cache? Most often because the problem was never the cache: the site itself, an extension, or the cookies are responsible. Try the page in a private window; if it works there, remove that one site’s cookies and site data rather than clearing everything again.
Can I clear the cache for just one website? Partly. Chrome has no cache-only button for a single site. A hard refresh — Ctrl + Shift + R (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + R (Mac) — reloads that page without using its cached files, and you stay signed in. Deleting that one site’s stored data goes further and removes its cookies too, so it signs you out of that site only. In Safari on a Mac, Manage Website Data lets you remove one site at a time, with the same sign-out effect.
This article is general information, based on the browser makers’ own support pages linked above and checked in November 2026. Menu names change as browsers update — if a step does not match what you see, update the browser first, and follow the same-named item in its privacy settings.