Your web browser quietly stores a growing cache of images, scripts and site data to help pages load faster next time. Over months of everyday browsing, this cache can swell to several gigabytes, and paradoxically an overgrown cache can start slowing pages down rather than speeding them up. Clearing it out periodically keeps browsing snappy and frees disk space.
Key takeaway: Clearing your browser's cache every so often frees disk space and can fix slow-loading or oddly behaving websites, with no downside beyond needing to log back into some sites.
Before you start: Clearing cookies alongside your cache will sign you out of most websites, so you'll need to log back in afterwards. If you just want to clear cache and keep yourself signed in, untick the cookies option in each browser below.
Clearing cache in Google Chrome
- Open Chrome and click the three dots menu in the top-right corner.
- Go to Delete browsing data (or type chrome://settings/clearBrowserData into the address bar).
- Choose the Advanced tab and set the time range to All time for a full clean.
- Tick Cached images and files, and optionally Cookies and other site data if you're happy to be signed out of sites.
- Click Delete data.
Clearing cache in Microsoft Edge
- Open Edge and click the three dots menu, then go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services.
- Under "Clear browsing data", click Choose what to clear.
- Set the time range to All time, tick Cached images and files, and optionally cookies.
- Click Clear now.
Clearing cache in Mozilla Firefox
- Open Firefox and click the three-line menu icon, then go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
- Scroll to Cookies and Site Data and click Clear Data.
- Tick Cached Web Content, and optionally Cookies and Site Data.
- Click Clear to confirm.
Tip: If a specific website is behaving oddly, loading old content or showing layout errors, clearing just that browser's cache is often a faster fix than restarting your whole PC.
How often should you do this?
There's no need to clear your cache daily. Doing it every couple of months, or whenever you notice your browser feeling sluggish or your storage running low, strikes a good balance between reclaiming space and keeping the day-to-day convenience of a working cache.
Clearing cache doesn't mean losing your history
It's worth knowing that clearing the cache and cookies described above is separate from clearing your browsing history. If you only tick "Cached images and files" and leave "Browsing history" unticked, your list of previously visited sites stays exactly as it was – only the stored copies of page content are removed, freeing space and forcing fresh, up-to-date versions to load next time.
Tip: All three browsers let you clear cache for a single site rather than everything at once, via their site-specific settings pages, which is handy if only one website is misbehaving and you'd rather not lose your cache elsewhere.
Keeping this simple maintenance task on your radar, alongside broader storage clean-ups like Disk Cleanup and Storage Sense, helps ensure your browser stays quick and your disk space stays under control, without ever needing any third-party "cleaner" software.
Frequently asked questions
- Will clearing my cache delete my saved passwords?
- No, saved passwords are stored separately from cache and cookies in all three browsers, so clearing browsing data as described here won't remove them.
- Will pages load slower right after clearing my cache?
- The very first visit to each site afterwards may load slightly slower as the cache rebuilds, but this is temporary and only affects that first load.
- Does clearing cache free a meaningful amount of disk space?
- It varies by how much you browse, but a cache that's built up over many months can easily reach several gigabytes across all your browsers combined.