How to Clear Browser Cache on iPhone and iPad.
If your favorite web browser on your iPhone or iPad isn’t displaying sites correctly or is behaving unusually, it’s most likely an outdated web cache. Clearing it may help resolve the issue, as this action forces the browser to retrieve up-to-date site data on subsequent visits.
Read on to learn how to clear the cache in all major browsers – Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and more – for iPhone and iPad.
Clear Safari Cache on iPhone and iPad
If you use the native Safari browser on your iPhone or iPad, you have several ways to clear its web cache. Review them and choose the most suitable method.
Clear browser cache via Safari
The Safari History screen provides a built-in option to clear the entire browser cache or only recently cached site data.
1. Tap the Bookmarks icon in Safari.
2. Click the History tab (if not already selected by default) and click Clear.
3. Select a time interval for clearing the browser cache. Available options are All Time, Today and Yesterday, Today and Last Hour.
Clear browser cache in settings
Another way to clear the browser cache in Safari is to use the Settings app on iOS and iPadOS. Use it if the browser does not load or crashes immediately on startup.
1. Open the Settings app on your iOS device.
2. Scroll down and tap Safari.
3. Scroll down and click “Clear history and website data” > “Clear history and data”.
Clear cache by site
If the problem is related to a specific website, Safari provides a way to clear the cached data for that website only.
1. Open the Settings app and tap Safari.
2. Scroll down and click More > Website Data.
3. Swipe left on the site and click Remove.
Tip. You can also use the “Delete all website data” option at the bottom of the screen to clear your entire browser cache. Unlike the methods above, it will not delete your browsing history.
Do you keep encountering site-related issues in Safari on your Mac? Learn how to clear cache, history, and cookies in Safari on Mac.
Clear Browser Cache in Google Chrome
When you use Google Chrome to browse the web on your iPhone or iPad, you can choose between completely clearing the browser’s cache or deleting cached data for a specific period of time.
1. Open the Chrome menu (tap the three dots icon).
2. Select Settings.
3. Click Privacy > Delete browsing data.
4. Click “Time Range” and select a time period: “Last hour”, “Last 24 hours”, “Last 7 days”, “Last 4 weeks” or “All the time”. /gap>.
5. Tap the categories next to Cookies, Site Data, and Cached Images and Files. Click “Browsing History” if you also want to delete your browsing history.
6. Click “Clear browsing data”.
Clear the Browser Cache in Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox for iPhone and iPad allows you to clear the entire browser cache or freshly cached data only for certain sites.
Clear all browser cache
1. Open the Firefox menu (tap the icon with three stacked lines).
2. Click Settings.
3. Click Manage Data.
4. Check the boxes next to Cache, Cookies, and Offline Website Data.
5. Click “Clear personal data”.
Clear cache for specific sites
1. Open the Firefox menu and click Preferences.
2. Click Manage Data.
3. Click Website Data.
4. Click to mark the site or sites you want to remove.
5. Click Clear Items.
Clear the Browser Cache in Microsoft Edge
If you’re using Microsoft Edge on your iPhone or iPad, you can clear the browser cache or cached data for predefined time ranges. The process is similar to clearing the cache in Google Chrome.
1. Open the Edge menu (tap the three dots icon).
2. Select Settings.
3. Click Privacy & Security.
4. Click “Clear browsing data”.
5. Click “Time range” and select a time period: “Last hour”, “Last 24 hours”, “Last 7 days”, “Last 4 weeks” or “All the time”. /gap>.
6. Select the categories Cookies and other site data and Cached images and data.
7. Click Clear Now.
Clear the Browser Cache in Opera
Clearing the cache in Opera on iPhone or iPad is relatively easy compared to other browsers.
1. Open the Opera menu (tap the icon with three stacked lines).
2. Click Settings.
3. Click “Clear browsing data”.
4. Select the categories Cookies and site data and Cached images and files.
5. Click Clear.
Clear the Browser Cache in Brave
Brave allows you to clear the entire browser cache or only locally cached data for certain sites only.
Clear all browser cache
1. Open the Brave menu (tap the three dots icon).
2. Click Settings.
3. Click Brave Shields and Privacy.
4. Scroll down to the Clear Personal Data section.
5. Check the boxes next to Cache and Cookies and Site Data.
6. Click “Clear data now”
Clear cache for specific sites
1. Open the Brave menu and click Settings.
2. Click Brave Shields and Privacy > Manage Website Data.
3. Swipe left on the site and tap the Trash icon.
Try to Avoid Slowing Things Down
Clearing the local web cache completely can slow things down as your browser has to reload all site data from scratch. In addition, you must re-login to each site that you previously visited.
Because most browsers offer more flexibility in managing local site data, you can prevent this by limiting the amount of cache purge, focusing on individual sites, or shorter time ranges. You can also use the built-in private modes in each browser — like Safari’s private tabs or Chrome’s incognito mode — if you want to prevent site data from being cached in the first place.
How to Clear Browser Cache on iPhone and iPad
How to Clear Browser Cache on iPhone and iPad