Clear your Android web browser’s cookies and cache to quickly clean out junk files

your android mobile phoneYour web browser pulls in tons of files, images, and data from the websites you visit every day, much of which doesn’t even need to be on your phone. Whether you use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Samsung Internet, you may find this data stored in cookies and cache useful. This will help you quickly load the websites you visit frequently and stay logged in to your account. That’s all well and good, but browser cookies and caches contain a lot of unnecessary information and can pose privacy risks.

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Why you should clear cookies and cache regularly

Much of what ends up in cookies and cache is just junk. Some of them may have come from websites you’ve only visited once. There seem to be others as well. Track your browsing history On an active basis, it helps serve you ads based on what you’re buying or streaming on the internet. For example, I constantly receive ads like this: buy glasses online After browsing through several stores and Amazon ads, I happened to see something that was at the end of my shopping cart.

For this reason, we recommend that you clear your cache from time to time. You can delete unnecessary data on your phone, especially if your phone’s cookies contain unknown data trackers. Clearing the cache can be a bit of a pain. You’ll have to log back into your favorite websites, but it’s a small price to pay to avoid having extraneous data build up on your phone.

The steps vary slightly depending on the type of phone and web browser app you’re using. Below, we’ll explain how to clear this data in Google’s Chrome browser (the default on many Android smartphones). google pixel line), Samsung’s Internet browser (often flip phone series) and Mozilla’s Firefox browser. Check out our separate guide to learn how. Clear the iPhone web browser cacheit’s also useful if you need to keep some Apple devices organized.

Google Chrome

To delete cookies and cache from within the Android version of Google Chrome, first Details button Tap the icon represented by a row of three dots in the top-right corner of your browser, then tap historyafter that Delete browsing data. Also accessible from Chrome setting menu, tap Privacy and security after that Delete browsing data.

Also available in Chrome basic and advanced Settings to clear Browsing history, Cookies and site data and Cached images and files. can be used time range Use the dropdown to choose whether you want to delete your entire history or a portion from the past 24 hours to the past 4 weeks. tapping advanced You can also access delete saved password, Autofill form data and Site settings. Once you have selected what you want to remove, tap the blue icon Clear data button. You may see additional prompts if Chrome determines a particular website is “important” to you. If so, you will have a chance to review it before clearing it. Otherwise, if you don’t see that prompt, Chrome will immediately start clearing it as instructed.

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samsung internet

There are two ways to clear cache and cookie data on your Samsung Internet browser. You can clear it from the browser itself or from your phone’s Settings app.

To clear it when using the Samsung Internet Browser app, first option button in the lower right corner represented by three horizontal lines. setting;Scroll down and tap Personal browsing data Then tap Delete browsing data Gets a menu of options to remove. can be cleared Browsing history, Forms and search history, cookies and site data, Cached images and files, password and autofill form in any combination. After tap Delete dataIf you select , you will be prompted to confirm your selection before deleting.

The browser app itself allows for the most customization of what is removed. If you would like to access similar options from your phone’s settings menu, setting tap the app appScroll down and tap. samsung internet after that Storage and cache.

[ストレージ]The screen displays the following separate options: clear cache and clear storage. tapping clear cache The cache will be deleted immediately, but clear storage A prompt will appear warning you that all data for the application will be permanently deleted, including files, settings, accounts, and databases. Although cookies are not specified, this “going nuclear” approach zaps any remaining data and allows you to restart your Samsung internet browser like new.

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Mozilla Firefox

Similar to Google Chrome, you can clear your cache from within the Mozilla Firefox Android app. To access this feature, more button It is located to the right of the address bar and is also represented by three vertical dots. Then tap setting and scroll down to Delete browsing data.

Of the three browsers discussed here, Firefox offers the most options. Delete browsing data Menus also allows you to delete existing menus open tabyour Browsing history, Site permissions and even you download folder. It also comes with those options Cookies and side data and Cached images and files.

While you can’t select a time range like you can in Chrome, you can be more specific about the type of data you want to delete.

read more: Browser privacy settings to change as soon as possible in Firefox, Chrome, and Safari

Firefox also has additional options for people who don’t want their browsing data to be retained after using an app. internal setting is Delete browsing data when exiting This option tells Firefox to clear these same combinations of settings every time you exit the application. This is a useful feature if you want to keep your browser tidy and avoid, for example, accidentally giving your browser history to someone who might have stolen or accessed your phone.