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How to clear your cookies and cache

Written by Emma Smith

Cookies store information about your login status and site preferences, while cache stores files and images to speed up page loading. To start completely fresh, you'll need to clear both.

Completely clear cookies and cache

To fully reset your browser data, follow the instructions below for your browser.

Google Chrome

  1. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) in the upper right corner

  2. Go to HistoryHistory (or press Ctrl+H on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Y on macOS)

  3. Click Clear browsing data (or press Ctrl+Shift+Del on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Shift+Del on macOS)

  4. Select a time range (choose "All time" for a complete reset)

  5. Check both:

    • Cookies and other site data

    • Cached images and files

  6. Click Clear data

Alternative: Use Incognito mode
If you want to test without using cached data or cookies, open an Incognito window (Ctrl+Shift+N on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Shift+N on macOS).


Firefox

  1. Click the three-line menu (≡) in the upper right corner

  2. Go to Settings (or Preferences on macOS)

  3. Select Privacy & Security from the left sidebar

  4. Scroll to the Cookies and Site Data section

  5. Click Clear Data

  6. Check both:

    • Cookies and Site Data

    • Cached Web Content

  7. Click Clear

Alternative: Use Private Browsing
To test without cookies or cache, open a Private Window (Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Shift+P on macOS).


Safari

  1. From the Safari menu, choose Preferences (or press Cmd+,)

  2. Go to the Privacy tab

  3. Click Manage Website Data

  4. Click Remove All to clear cookies

  5. To also clear cache:

    • If you don't see a Develop menu in the menu bar, go back to Preferences → Advanced and check "Show Develop menu in menu bar"

    • Click DevelopEmpty Caches (or press Opt+Cmd+E)

Quick clear shortcut:
Press Opt+Cmd+E to instantly clear cache, then manually remove cookies through Privacy settings.


Microsoft Edge

  1. Click the three-dot menu (⋯) in the upper right corner

  2. Go to Settings

  3. Select Privacy, search, and services from the left sidebar

  4. Under Clear browsing data, click Choose what to clear

  5. Select a time range (choose "All time" for a complete reset)

  6. Check both:

    • Cookies and other site data

    • Cached images and files

  7. Click Clear now


Opera

  1. Click the Opera menu (O icon) or press Alt+P to open Settings

  2. Go to Privacy & security from the left sidebar

  3. Click Clear browsing data

  4. Select a time range (choose "All time" for a complete reset)

  5. Check both:

    • Cookies and other site data

    • Cached images and files

  6. Click Clear data

Alternative:
From the Easy setup menu (the toolbar icon), you can also access Clear browsing data quickly.


Quick reload (cache only)

The following keyboard shortcuts will reload a page and bypass the cache, but will not clear cookies. These are useful for seeing updated images and files, but won't reset your login state or site preferences.

Google Chrome

  • Windows/Linux: Ctrl+F5, Shift+F5, Ctrl+Shift+R, or Shift+Click Reload

  • macOS: Cmd+Shift+R or Shift+Click Reload

Firefox

  • Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Shift+R, Ctrl+F5, or Shift+Click Reload

  • macOS: Cmd+Shift+R or Shift+Click Reload

Safari

  • macOS: Shift+Click Reload or Opt+Cmd+R

Microsoft Edge

  • Windows: Ctrl+F5

Opera

  • Ctrl+F5, Shift+F5, or Shift+Click Reload


For developers

Disable cache in Chrome/Edge

  1. Open Developer Tools (F12 or Ctrl+Shift+I)

  2. Click Settings (gear icon or F1)

  3. Check Disable cache

Note: Cache is only disabled while DevTools is open. This does not affect cookies.

Disable cache in Firefox

  1. Open Developer Tools (F12)

  2. Click Settings (gear icon)

  3. Under Advanced settings, check Disable HTTP Cache (when toolbox is open)

Note: This does not affect cookies.

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