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How do I clear my web browser cache?

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User Notice: This guide is provided for reference only. Technical support will not be available except to the Brookhaven laboratory user community.

In order to speed up web browsing, web browsers are designed to download web pages and store them locally on your computer's hard drive in an area called "cache". The cache contains a kind of travel record of the items you have seen, heard, or downloaded from the Web, including images, sounds, Web pages, even cookies. Typically these items are stored in the Temporary Internet Files folder.

When you visit the same page for a second time, the browser speeds up display time by loading the page locally from cache instead of downloading everything again. This sometimes results in less than current versions of web pages being displayed. When the cache fills up, performance can slow down and your hard drive may run out of space.

You should periodically clear the cache to allow your browser to function more efficiently. If you believe that you have a less than current version of a page, please see the following steps listed below to clear the cache in your browser.
 

Clearing Browser Cache on Windows

Microsoft^® Internet Explorer 4.0

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click Tools in the upper toolbar.
3. Click Internet Options to open Internet Properties.
4. Click the General tab
5. Click Delete Files under "Temporary Internet Files".
6. Check Delete all offline content.
7. Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
8. Click Apply and then OK.

or

1. Click Start, select Settings and Control Panel.
2. Double-click Internet Options to open Internet Properties.
3. Click the General tab
4. Click Delete Files.
   NOTE: Do not select Delete Cookies. Delete Cookies removes all the cookies stored on the computer.
5. Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
6. Click OK.
   
   Direct Microsoft Support Page

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click Tools in the upper toolbar.
3. Click Internet Options to open Internet Properties.
4. Click the General tab
5. Click Delete Files under "Temporary Internet Files".
6. Check Delete all offline content.
7. Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
8. Click Apply and then OK.

or

1. Click Start, select Settings and Control Panel.
2. Double-click Internet Options to open Internet Properties.
3. Click the General tab
4. Click Delete Files.
   NOTE: Do not select Delete Cookies. Delete Cookies removes all the cookies stored on the computer.
5. Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
6. Click OK.
7. Close Window.
   
   Direct Microsoft Support Page

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click Tools in the upper toolbar.
3. Click Internet Options to open Internet Properties.
4. Click the General tab
5. Click Delete Files under "Temporary Internet Files".
6. Check Delete all offline content.
7. Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
8. Click Apply and then OK.

or

1. Click Start, select Settings and Control Panel.
2. Double-click Internet Options to open Internet Properties.
3. Click Delete Files.
   NOTE: Do not select Delete Cookies. Delete Cookies removes all the cookies stored on the computer.
4. Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
5. Click OK.
6. Close Window.
   
   Direct Microsoft Support Page

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click Tools in the upper toolbar or click on the Tools icon.
3. Click Internet Options to open Internet Properties.
4. Click the General tab
5. Click Delete under "Browsing History".
6. Click Delete Files under "Temporary Internet Files".
7. Click Yes on the Delete Files dialog box.
8. Click Close and then OK.

or

1. Click Start, select Settings and Control Panel.
2. Double-click Internet Options to open Internet Properties.
3. Click Delete under "Browsing History".
4. Click Delete Files under "Temporary Internet Files".
5. Click Yes on the Delete Files dialog box.
6. Click Close and then OK.
7. Close Window.
   
   Direct Microsoft Support Page

Mozilla Firefox

1. Click Tools in the upper toolbar and select Options.
2. Click the Privacy Icon.
3. Click Clear across from the Cache option.
4. Click Ok.
5. Exit and re-launch the browser.

Mozilla 1.7

1. Open Mozilla
2. Click on Edit in the upper toolbar and Select Preferences.
3. Click the Advance category.
4. Expand Advance category and click on Cache.
5. Click the Clear Cache option.
6. Click Ok.
7. Exit and re-launch the browser.

Netscape Communicator / Navigator 4.0

1. Click Edit in the upper toolbar and select Preferences.
2. Click Advanced.
3. Click Cache.
4. Click Clear Memory Cache.
5. Click Clear Disk Cache.
6. Click OK.

Netscape Communicator / Navigator 6.0

1. Click Edit in the upper toolbar and select Preferences.
2. Click Advanced.
3. Click Cache.
4. Click Clear Memory Cache.
5. Click Clear Disk Cache.
6. Click OK.

Netscape Communicator / Navigator 7.0

1. Click Edit in the upper toolbar and select Preferences.
2. Click the Triangle next to Advanced to expand it.
3. Click Cache.
4. Click Clear Cache.
5. Click OK.

Netscape Communicator / Navigator 8.0

1. Click Tools in the upper toolbar and select Options.
2. Select Privacy under Options on the left side of the screen.
3. Click Cache.
4. Click Clear Cache.
5. Click Clear.
6. Click OK.

Clearing Browser Cache on Macintosh

Safari 1.0 for Macintosh OS X

1. Open Safari.
2. Click on Safari in the upper toolbar and Select Empty Cache.
3. Click Empty on the Are you sure message box.
4. Exit and re-launch the browser.

Firefox for Macintosh OS X

1. Open Firefox
2. Click on Firefox in the upper toolbar and Select Preferences.
3. Click the Privacy Icon.
4. Click Clear across from the Cache option.
5. Click Ok.
6. Exit and re-launch the browser.

Mozilla 1.7 for Macintosh OS X

1. Open Mozilla
2. Click on Mozilla in the upper toolbar and Select Preferences.
3. Click the Advance category.
4. Expand Advance category and click on Cache.
5. Click the Clear Cache option.
6. Click Ok.
7. Exit and re-launch the browser.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, 4.01, 4.5, & 5.0 for Macintosh

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click Edit in the upper toolbar and select Preferences.
3. Click the arrow beside Web Browser.
4. Click Advanced.
5. Click Empty Now.
6. Click Ok.
7. Exit and re-launch the browser.

Last Modified: March 19, 2008
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