How to clear your web browser cache

Web browsers cache a lot of data - they can store cookies, pages, images, even DNS data locally on your device. Clearing everything out is the surest way to eliminate browser-related issues when trying to solve problems with logging in, seeing stale pages, or page not found errors.

First, try a hard refresh

If the problem is one page showing out-of-date content, you usually do not need to clear anything. A hard refresh reloads the page you are on while ignoring the cached copy, and leaves every other site alone:

• Windows - hold Ctrl and press F5 (or Ctrl + Shift + R)
• Mac - hold Cmd and Shift and press R

If that does not help, or the problem affects more than one page, clear the cache properly using the steps for your browser below.

Here is how you reset the temporary/cached data for the most common browsers.

Edge (PC)

1. Click the three dots icon (Settings and more) and then Settings
2. Select Privacy, search, and services from the left-hand menu
3. Under Clear browsing data now, click Choose what to clear
4. Set Time range to All time, ensure Cached images and files is ticked (you can select other options here too if you wish) and click Clear now

Firefox (PC & Mac)

1. Click the hamburger menu item and then click Settings
2. Click Privacy & Security from the left-hand menu
3. Under Cookies and Site Data, click the Clear Data... button
4. Ensure Temporary cached files and pages is ticked and click Clear

Chrome (PC)

1. Click the three dots icon at the top right and then Delete browsing data
2. Set the time range to All time, ensure the Cached images and files box is ticked and click Delete data

Chrome (Mac)

1. Click the Chrome menu in the menu bar and then Delete Browsing Data...
2. Set the time range to All time, ensure the Cached images and files box is ticked and click Delete data

Clearing your browser's DNS cache

Browsers keep their own DNS cache, separate from the one your operating system keeps, so a change to a domain can still show the old address after you have flushed your computer's DNS cache and cleared the cache above.

• Chrome - go to chrome://net-internals/#dns and click Clear host cache
• Edge - go to edge://net-internals/#dns and click Clear host cache

Firefox and Safari clear theirs when you quit and reopen the browser.

Safari (Mac)

1. Click the Safari menu in the menu bar and then Settings...
2. Click the Advanced tab and tick Show features for web developers
3. Click Develop in the menu bar and select Empty Caches