Cookies and cache

Just want to clear your cookies and cache? Skip to the solution.

Cookies

Websites can place cookies on your device. A cookie is a piece of text that the site can use to remember things as you move from page to page, like the items in your shopping basket.

When you log into a website, it may use a cookie to remember this so you don’t have to log in again every subsequent time.

A cookie can only be retrieved by the site that made it. For example, if you tell the BBC your postcode to get a local weather forecast, this can’t then be disclosed to other sites.

Cookies cannot harm your device, but they sometimes get a bad name because they can be used to build a picture of your interests to show you targeted adverts.

Cache

Something else that accumulates when you visit websites is a cache. It stores parts of pages so the browser doesn’t have to repeatedly download them.

For example, every article on Wikipedia includes the Wikipedia logo. After you look at one article, the logo is cached and doesn’t need downloading again when you look at more articles. This makes browsing faster.

Problems and diagnosis

Occasionally, a website may not work properly because of a problem with its cookies or cached parts. For example:

When this happens, it’s worth trying the site in ‘private’ or ‘incognito’ mode, which temporarily isolates it from previous cookies and cache:

Google Chrome on a computer

  1. Click the menu ⋮ (three dots, top right).
  2. Click New Incognito Window.

Safari on a Mac

  1. Click the File menu.
  2. Click New Private Window.

Visit the website again and try whatever wasn’t working before. If it now works, chances are the problem was related to cookies or cache. You’ll now want to solve this by clearing the cookies and cache.

Solution

Needing to clear cookies and cache occasionally is not a cause for worry, but note that you’ll be logged out of any website accounts you use. In other words, next time you visit those sites you’ll need your password.

Google Chrome on a computer

  1. Click the menu ⋮ (three dots, top-right).
  2. Choose Delete browsing data.
  3. Set the time range to All time.
  4. Tick Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files.
  5. Click Delete data.

Safari on a Mac

  1. Click the Safari menu (top left of the screen).
  2. Click Clear History.
  3. Set the time range to All History.
  4. Click Clear History.

Safari on an iPhone or iPad

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Safari (it’s quite far down the list).
  3. Tap Clear History and Website Data.
  4. Select All history.
  5. Tap Clear History.