How to Clear a Browser's Cache on a Mac

One reason the World Wide Web is often called the World Wide Wait is because your browser keeps too much information in memory. You can adjust that. Here's how.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Modems
• Internet Access
• Web Browsers

1. In Microsoft Internet Explorer, click on the Edit menu, then select Preferences, followed by Web Browser, then Advanced.

2. On Netscape Navigator/Communicator, click on the Edit menu, then select Preferences, followed by Advanced, then Cache.

3. Empty the cache (for either browser) by clicking on the Empty button. You can also raise or lower the cache size (you can even set it to zero).

Tips & Warnings

• The cache keeps copies of recently viewed Web pages on your hard disk. Instead of reloading a page every time, the browser just uses the cached version, which is very fast. (However, it also won't include any material added to the page since you last viewed it.) When the cache gets large, it can cause performance problems. But if you delete the cache completely, your computer will have to reload every Web page in a session, which might also slow things down.

[riprock57]

on 6/3/2007 If you are using the Safari Web browser, choose "Empty Cache..." from the Safari menu.