Introduction

Clearing your internet browser’s saved data is something you should do on occasion for various reasons – improving your browser’s performance, troubleshooting issues with a particular website, managing sensitive information, etc. Two types of browser data, cache and cookies, are defined below.

• Cache – A collection of temporary files that your browser has downloaded from websites you’ve previously visited. This is done to speed up your browsing experience in the future when re-visiting those sites by decreasing necessary load time.
• Cookies – Information stored on your computer from websites you’ve visited. Examples may include personal identifying information, your login status on the site, your preferred language, etc. This is done to give you a more personal browsing experiencing when revisiting those sites later.

See below for information on clearing cache and cookies on the four major browser – Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari.

Chrome

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Instruction for Chrome

1. Open the Chrome browser.
2. Toward the top right corner, click More (  ) > Delete browsing data. A new window will appear.
3. Click into the Basic tab.
4. Use the Time range dropdown menu to select All time.
5. Check the box next to Cookies and other site data.
6. Check the box next to Cached images and files.
7. (Optional) Check the boxes next to other data you’d like to delete. For example, stored passwords, form data, etc.
8. Click Delete data.
9. Close and quit the Chrome browser.

Edge

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Instructions for Edge

1. Open the Edge browser.
2. Toward the top right corner, click the Options (  ) button and select Settings.
3. In the lefthand menu, select Privacy, search, and services.
4. Scroll to the “Delete browsing data” section.
5. Next to “Clear browsing data now”, click Choose what to clear.
6. In the Time range dropdown menu, select All time.
7. Check the box next to Cookies and other site data.
8. Check the box next to Cached images and files.
9. (Optional) Check the boxes next to other data you’d like to delete. For example, stored passwords, form data, etc.
10. Click Clear now.
11. Close all open Edge browser windows and tabs.

Firefox

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Instructions for Firefox

1. Open the Firefox browser.
2. Toward the top right corner, click the Menu button (  ).
3. Select History > Clear Recent History…. A new window will appear.
4. In the When dropdown menu, select Everything.
5. Check the box next to Cookies and site data.
6. Check the box next to Temporary cached files and pages.
7. (Optional) Check the boxes next to other data you’d like to delete. For example, stored passwords, form data, etc.
8. Click Clear.
9. Close and quit the Firefox browser.

Safari

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Instruction for Safari (Note: This process will clear all browser data, not just cache and cookies.)

1. Open the Safari browser.
2. In the top menu bar, click on Safari, then select Settings.
3. Select the Privacy option.
4. Click Manage Website Data....
5. Click Remove All.
6. In the popup window that appears, click Remove Now.
7. Click Done.
8. Quit Safari by pressing Command+Q on your keyboard.