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How to clear browser cookies and cache

If you are having issues signing into a website, clearing your browser cookies and cache may resolve the sign-in issue

What are browser cookies and cache?

A cookie is a small piece of information a website saves on your device so it can remember you—like keeping you logged in or remembering what's in your shopping cart.  Clearing cookies will log you out of most websites. If you only want to clear cookies for one site (not everything), most browsers let you do this by clicking the padlock/site info icon in the address bar and managing cookies from there.

A cache is a temporary storage spot where your device or browser keeps copies of things you've seen before, like images or pages, so it can load them faster the next time. Unlike clearing cookies, clearing cache usually won't log you out of sites—it'll just make the first page load after clearing a bit slower since everything has to download fresh.

This article is provided by BusinessHub Pty Ltd subject to the Important Note in the footer. 

How do you clear browser cookies?

To clear cookies, the steps depend on your browser:

Chrome

  1. Click the three dots (top right) → Settings
  2. Privacy and security → Clear browsing data
  3. Choose a time range (or "All time")
  4. Check "Cookies and other site data"
  5. Click "Clear data"

Firefox

  1. Click the three lines (top right) → Settings
  2. Privacy & Security
  3. Under "Cookies and Site Data," click "Clear Data"
  4. Check "Cookies and Site Data," click "Clear"

Safari (Mac)

  1. Safari menu → Settings (or Preferences)
  2. Privacy tab → "Manage Website Data"
  3. Click "Remove All" (or search for a specific site to remove just that one)

Edge

  1. Click the three dots (top right) → Settings
  2. Privacy, search, and services
  3. Under "Clear browsing data," click "Choose what to clear"
  4. Check "Cookies and other site data," click "Clear now"

On mobile (iOS/Android), it's usually in the browser app's Settings → Privacy → Clear Browsing Data/History.

How do you clear browser cache?

Here's how, by browser:

Chrome

  1. Three dots (top right) → Settings
  2. Privacy and security → Clear browsing data
  3. Choose a time range (or "All time")
  4. Check "Cached images and files" (uncheck cookies if you only want cache)
  5. Click "Clear data"

Firefox

  1. Three lines (top right) → Settings
  2. Privacy & Security
  3. Under "Cookies and Site Data," click "Clear Data"
  4. Check "Cached Web Content" only, click "Clear"

Safari (Mac)

  1. Safari menu → Settings (or Preferences)
  2. Advanced tab → check "Show features for web developers" (if not already)
  3. Develop menu (top menu bar) → Empty Caches

Or more simply: Safari → Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data → Remove All (this clears cache and cookies together, no separate cache-only option in newer versions)

Edge

  1. Three dots (top right) → Settings
  2. Privacy, search, and services
  3. Under "Clear browsing data," click "Choose what to clear"
  4. Check "Cached images and files" only, click "Clear now"

On mobile:

  • iOS Safari: Settings app → Safari → Clear History and Website Data (clears both cache and cookies together)
  • Android Chrome: Chrome app → three dots → History → Clear browsing data → select "Cached images and files"