How to clear your cache & why you may need to

The cache is a tool used by your web browser that makes the loading of websites faster.  Elements on a webpage that appear on multiple pages within a single site such as your school’s logo, are stored in your browser’s cache. This is actually a local folder on your hard drive that stores these often used files. This makes your web browsing faster because it’s faster to load an image from your hard drive than it is to download it from a remote server.  The browser will just use the file saved in the cache every time you go to a new page on the site. This saves the time needed to download the file and reduces the use of network bandwidth. Caches make web browsing faster and more efficient.

When a site has undergone updates, new files may conflict with the files saved in your cache. For example, if a site updates the “logo.jpg” file on a site this will conflict with the logo file that is store in the cache and may still show the old logo. The browser may not be able to tell the difference between the new logo and old logo. The browser can also become confused if a file that controls the operation of something on the site is stored in the cache and that file is updated. The browser may reference the cached file which can result in buggy behavior. You can read more about caches and clearing them here.

Chrome:

1. On your browser toolbar, click More .
2. Point to More tools, and then click Clear browsing data.
3. In the “Clear browsing data” box, click the checkboxes for Cookies and other site and plug-in data and Cached images and files.
4. Use the menu at the top to select the amount of data that you want to delete. Choose beginning of time to delete everything.
5. Click Clear browsing data.

FireFox:

1. Click the menu button  and choose Preferences.
2. Select the Advanced panel.
3. Click on the Network tab.
4. In the Cached Web Content section, click Clear Now.

Safari:

1. Click Safari in the upper left hand side of your screen. In the menu that appears, click Preferences.
2. In the window that appears, click the Privacy tab. Click the button Remove All Website Data.
3. Click Remove Now in the pop up window that appears.

Internet Explorer 9 and Higher

1. Select Tools (via the Gear Icon) > Safety > Delete browsing history….
   If the menu bar is hidden, press Alt to make it visible.
2. Deselect Preserve Favorites website data, and select:
   • Temporary Internet files or Temporary Internet files and website files
   • Cookies or Cookies and website data
   • History
3. Click Delete. You will see a confirmation at the bottom of the window when the process is complete.
4. Quit all browser windows and re-open the browser.

Opera

1. Click on the Opera button in the top left corner > Settings > Delete Private Data.
   Note: You can also access this menu by holding Ctrl + Shift + Delete.
2. Click on Detailed Options to show the rest of the options. Make sure only the following are checked: Delete temporary cookies.