How to Delete Temporary or Cache Files in an Internet Browser

1. Click the menu icon "⋮" icon and select "Settings" (See Chrome Figure 1).

   
   

   Chrome Figure 1

2. Click "Search Settings", then type "cache" and select "Clear browsing data" (See Chrome Figure 2).

   
   

   Chrome Figure 2

3. Click the drop-down next to "Time range" and select "All time" (See Chrome Figure 3).

   
   

   Chrome Figure 3

4. Click "Clear data" (See Chrome Figure 4).

   
   

   Chrome Figure 4

Delete History/Cache

1. Click the "..." menu icon (See Edge Figure 1).

   
   

   Edge Figure 1

2. Click "Settings" (See Edge Figure 2).

   
   

   Edge Figure 2

3. Select "Search Settings", then type "cache" and click "Choose what to clear" (See Edge Figure 3).

   
   

   Edge Figure 3

4. Click the drop-down next to "Time range" and select "All time" (See Edge Figure 4).

   
   

   Edge Figure 4

5. Click "Clear now" (See Edge Figure 5).

   
   

   Edge Figure 5

Enable/Disable the Automated Process

To enable "Clear browsing data on close", follow these steps:

1. Click the "..." menu icon (See Edge Auto Clear Figure 1).

   
   

   Edge Auto Clear Figure 1

2. Click "Settings" (See Edge Auto Clear Figure 2).

   
   

   Edge Auto Clear Figure 2

3. Select "Search Settings", then type "cache" and click "Choose what to clear every time you close the browser" (See Edge Auto Clear Figure 3).

   
   

   Edge Auto Clear Figure 3

4. Toggle on the data that will be deleted upon exit (See Edge Auto Clear Figure 4).

   
   

   Edge Auto Clear Figure 4

   • Browsing history: Clears the list of visited sites stored in this browser.
   • Download history: Clears the list of files downloaded from this browser.
          It does not delete the files themselves, just the list in the browser.
   • Cookies and other site data: Clears the website-specific cached files stored in this browser.
   • Cache images and files: Clears the general online image cache stored in this browser.
   • Passwords: Clears the passwords stored only in this browser.
     
   • Autofill form data: Clears the cache of forms and credit card data stored in this browser.
     
   • Site permissions: Resets the site-specific permissions stored in this browser.

Version 78 (Pre-New Edge Versions)

1. Click the "..." menu icon.
2. Click "Settings".
3. Click the "Lock" icon or "Privacy & Security" (See Edge Legacy Figure 1).
       Depending on the version of Edge installed, it may display as just the lock icon or the lock icon with Privacy & Security.
   

    or 
   Edge Legacy Figure 1

4. Select "Clear Browsing Data" in the right pane.
5. Click "Choose what to clear" (See Edge Legacy Figure 2).

   
   

   Edge Legacy Figure 2

6. Select the data to be cleared and click the "Clear" button (See Edge Legacy Figure 3).

   
   

   Edge Legacy Figure 3

7. Close and relaunch Edge.
       If a message comes up stating "Some items could not be cleared", reboot the computer and perform steps 1-7 from this section again.

Previous Versions (Early Windows 10)

1. Click the "..." menu icon.
2. Click "Settings".
3. Select "Clear Browsing Data" in the right pane.
4. Click "Choose what to clear" (See Edge Legacy Figure 2).

   
   

   Edge Legacy Figure 2

5. Select the data to be cleared and click the "Clear" button (See Edge Legacy Figure 3).

   
   

   Edge Legacy Figure 3

6. Close and relaunch Edge.
       If a message comes up stating "Some items could not be cleared", reboot the computer and perform steps 1-6 from this section again.

Enable/Disable the Automated Process

To enable "Clear browsing data on close", follow this steps:

1. Click the "..." menu icon.
2. Click "Settings".
3. Click the "Lock" icon or "Privacy & Security" (See Edge Legacy Auto Clear Figure 1).
       Depending on the version of Edge installed, it may display as just the lock icon or the lock icon with Privacy & Security.

    or 
   Edge Legacy Auto Clear Figure 1

4. Select "Clear Browsing Data" in the right pane.
5. Click "Choose what to clear" (See Edge Legacy Auto Clear Figure 2).

   
   

   Edge Legacy Auto Clear Figure 2

6. Locate the "Always clear this when I close the browser" section.
7. Toggle the slider on/off based on the desired setting (See Edge Legacy Auto Clear Figure 3).

   
   

   Edge Legacy Auto Clear Figure 3

1. Click the "" settings icon and select "Internet options" (See IE Figure 1).

   
   

   IE Figure 1

2. Click "Delete" in the "Browsing history" section (See IE Figure 2).

   
   

   IE Figure 2

3. Select the data to be deleted and click "Delete" (See IE Figure 3).

   
   

   IE Figure 3

4. Click "OK" to close "Internet Options" (See IE Figure 4).

   
   

   IE Figure 4

5. Close and relaunch Internet Explorer.

Enable/Disable the Automated Process

To enable "Clear browsing data on close", follow these steps:

1. Click the "" settings icon and select "Internet options" (See IE Auto Clear Figure 1).

   
   

   IE Auto Clear Figure 1

2. Check "Delete browsing history on exit" and click "Ok" (See IE Auto Clear Figure 2).

   
   

   IE Auto Clear Figure 2

1. Click the "☰" menu icon and select "Settings" (See Firefox Figure 1).

   
   

   Firefox Figure 1

2. Click "Privacy & Security".
3. Scroll down to "Cookies and Site Data" and click "Clear Data" (See Firefox Figure 2).

   
   

   Firefox Figure 2

4. Select the data to be cleared and click "Clear" (See Firefox Figure 3).

   
   

   Firefox Figure 3

5. Click "Clear Now" from the pop up window (See Firefox Figure 4).

   
   

   Firefox Figure 4

6. Scroll down to "History" and click "Clear History" (See Firefox Figure 5).

   
   

   Firefox Figure 5

7. Click the drop-down next to "Time range to clear" and select "Everything" (See Firefox Figure 6).

   
   

   Firefox Figure 6

8. Select the data to be cleared and click "Ok" (See Firefox Figure 7).

   
   

   Firefox Figure 7

1. Click "History" and select "Clear History" (See Safari Figure 1).

   
   

   Safari Figure 1

2. Click the drop-down next to "Clear" (See Safari Figure 2).

   
   

   Safari Figure 2

3. Select "all history" from the list (See Safari Figure 3).

   
   

   Safari Figure 3

4. Click "Clear History" (See Safari Figure 4).

   
   

   Safari Figure 4

Keywords: Edge, Explorer, Safari, Chrome, Apple, Mac, Browsers, Internet, Temp, Temporary