Published 2021-05-18 by TechNet New England
Clearing your browser cache solves a surprising number of web-related problems: pages not loading correctly, websites showing old content, login pages not working, and web applications behaving strangely. ## Google Chrome (Windows and Mac) 1. Open Chrome. 2. Press **Ctrl + Shift + Delete** (Windows) or **Command + Shift + Delete** (Mac). 3. The "Clear browsing data" dialog will open. 4. Set **Time range** to **All time**. 5. Check **Cached images and files**. You can also check **Cookies and other site data** if you want a more thorough clearing (this will sign you out of most websites). 6. Click **Clear data**. ### Alternative: Hard Refresh To reload a single page without clearing your entire cache: **Windows:** Press **Ctrl + Shift + R** or **Ctrl + F5** **Mac:** Press **Command + Shift + R** ## Microsoft Edge (Windows and Mac) 1. Open Edge. 2. Press **Ctrl + Shift + Delete** (Windows) or **Command + Shift + Delete** (Mac). 3. Set **Time range** to **All time**. 4. Check **Cached images and files**. 5. Click **Clear now**. ## Safari (Mac only) 1. Open Safari. 2. In the menu bar, click **Safari > Settings** (or press **Command + Comma**). 3. Click the **Privacy** tab. 4. Click **Manage Website Data**. 5. Click **Remove All** and confirm. ### Alternative: Develop Menu 1. In Safari, go to **Safari > Settings > Advanced**. 2. Check **Show Develop menu in menu bar**. 3. Close Settings. 4. In the menu bar, click **Develop > Empty Caches**. This clears the cache without affecting cookies or saved passwords. ## When to Clear Cache Clear your cache when: A website looks broken or shows old content. A web application is not working after an update. You are seeing a different version of a page than others. Your IT provider asks you to clear cache as a troubleshooting step. A website login page keeps failing even with correct credentials. Clearing cache is safe. You will not lose saved passwords (unless you specifically check that option). Websites may load slightly slower the first time after clearing because the browser needs to re-download images and files, but this is temporary.