How to Clear Your Browser's Cache and Cookies

If a site won't load properly, try clearing just that site's data first. Clear everything only if that doesn't help, because it signs you out almost everywhere.

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Your browser keeps two kinds of data from the sites you visit:

• The cache holds copies of images and pages so sites load faster. Clearing it is harmless (pages load a little slower once) and fixes most glitches and out-of-date pages.
• Cookies and site data keep you signed in and remember settings like your cart or language. Clearing them signs you out of those sites.

Bookmarks stay, and so do saved passwords unless you tick that box. If you sync, clearing on one device can clear synced data on all of them.

On a computer, Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Cmd + Shift + Delete on a Mac) opens the clearing window in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave and Opera.

Google Chrome

On a computer (Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS)

1. Click More (three dots) > Delete browsing data, or press the shortcut above.
2. Choose a time range, from Last hour to All time.
3. Tick Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. Untick anything you want to keep.
4. Click Delete data.

Just one site: go to Settings > Privacy and security > Third-party cookies > See all site data and permissions (or type chrome://settings/content/all). Search for the site, select Delete next to it, and confirm.

On Android

1. Tap More > Delete browsing data, then More options.
2. Pick a time range (the default is 15 minutes), tick Cookies and site data and Cached images and files, and tap Delete data.

Just one site: open the site, tap the Page info icon at the left of the address bar > Cookies and site data, then tap Delete next to the stored data.

On iPhone and iPad

1. Tap More > Delete Browsing Data.
2. Set the Time Range, tap Browsing Data, select what to delete, and tap Confirm.
3. Tap Delete Browsing Data.

Google's help covers no way to clear a single site's data on iPhone.

If you're signed in to Chrome, you generally stay signed in to your Google Account after clearing cookies.

Microsoft Edge

On a computer (Windows, Mac, Linux)

1. Press the shortcut above, or go to Settings and more (three dots) > Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Clear browsing data > Choose what to clear. Shortcut: edge://settings/clearbrowserdata.
2. Choose a Time range.
3. Tick Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files.
4. Select Clear now.

Just one site: Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies > See all cookies and site data. Search for the site, open the arrow next to it, and select Delete.

Clear on exit: on the same Clear browsing data page, select Choose what to clear every time you close the browser and turn on what you want gone.

On Android, iPhone and iPad

1. Tap the menu (…) > Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data.
2. Pick a time range and the data types, then tap Clear.

The same screen has a Clear browsing data upon exit toggle; on Android it runs when you close Edge with Exit browser from the menu.

Apple Safari

On a Mac

1. Choose Safari > Settings, then click Privacy.
2. Click Manage Website Data.
3. Select one or more sites and click Remove, or click Remove All.

That window covers one site or all of them. To empty only the cache, turn on Show features for web developers under Safari > Settings > Advanced, then choose Develop > Empty Caches.

On iPhone and iPad

• History, cookies and cache together: open the Settings app > Apps > Safari > Clear History and Website Data, pick a timeframe, and tap Clear History.
• Cookies and cache, keeping history: Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced > Website Data > Remove All Website Data > Remove Now.
• Just one site: on that Website Data screen, swipe left on the site and tap Delete.

Safari has no clear-on-exit setting. Private Browsing tabs come closest: they don't keep cookies or history once closed.

Mozilla Firefox

On a computer (Windows, Mac, Linux)

1. Press the shortcut above, or go to Settings > Privacy and security and click Clear browsing data under Cookies and Site Data (about:preferences#privacy).
2. Next to When:, choose a range, up to Everything.
3. Tick Cookies and site data and Temporary cached files and pages.
4. Click Clear.

Just one site: open it, click the padlock in the address bar, and click Clear cookies and site data. For a site that isn't open, click Manage browsing data in the same settings section, search, and choose Remove Selected.

Clear on exit: tick Clear cookies and site data every time you close Firefox in the same section. For the cache too, under History choose Customize history, tick Clear history when Firefox closes, and pick items under Settings….

On Android

1. Tap the menu > Settings > Delete browsing data.
2. Tick what to clear, tap Delete browsing data, then Delete.

For a single site, open it, tap the padlock or shield icon in the address bar, tap Clear cookies and site data, and confirm. Delete browsing data on quit in Settings clears your chosen data whenever you close Firefox with Quit from the menu.

On iPhone and iPad

• Everything: menu > Settings > Data Management, choose the data types, then tap Clear Private Data.
• Just one site: Data Management > Website Data, select the site, and tap Clear Items.

There's no clear-on-exit option on iOS.

Brave

On a computer (Windows, Mac, Linux)

1. Press the shortcut above, or type brave://settings/clearBrowserData.
2. Pick a time range, tick Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files, and click Delete data.

Just one site: type brave://settings/content/all, search for the site, and use the trash icon.

Clear on exit: in the same window, open the Delete data on exit tab, tick what to clear, and click Save. On a Mac, quit Brave fully; closing the window isn't enough. Or set a site to wipe itself when its last tab closes: open Shields (the lion icon) > Advanced controls > Forget me when I close this site.

On Android

1. Tap the menu > Settings > Brave Shields & privacy > Delete browsing data.
2. Pick a time range and data types, then tap Delete data.

Just one site: tap Shred in the Shields panel or tab switcher to close that site's tabs and erase its data. Clear data on exit and Auto Shred automate it.

On iPhone and iPad

Brave for iOS has Shred too: long-press the tabs button for the current site. To clear everything, go to Settings > Shields & Privacy, choose the data types in the clear-data section, and tap Clear Data Now. Auto Shred in the same settings clears sites when their tabs close or Brave restarts.

Opera

On a computer (Windows, Mac, Linux)

1. Press the shortcut above, or go to Settings (Alt + P) > Privacy & security > Delete browsing data.
2. Choose a time range, tick Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files, and click Clear data.

Just one site: under Privacy & security > Site settings, open View permissions and data stored across sites, find the site, and delete its data.

Clear on exit: in Delete browsing data, open the On exit section, choose what to delete, and click Save.

On Android, iPhone and iPad

In Opera's mobile apps, open Settings and look for the clear-data option in the privacy section. Choose cookies and cached images and confirm. Opera's help documents only the desktop browser, so these menu names may differ slightly.

If something doesn't work

• Try the one-site route first. It fixes most broken pages and keeps you signed in everywhere else.
• For stale pages, a hard reload may be enough: Ctrl + F5 on Windows, Cmd + Shift + R on a Mac.
• Pick All time / Everything if a shorter range didn't help.
• Make sure you can sign back in before clearing cookies: passwords saved, recovery details current.
• Clear-on-exit only runs when the browser fully quits. On a phone, that means the browser's own Exit or Quit option, not swiping it away.