In case you feel your web browser is giving you a jittery performance, and it's taking forever to load websites, the most common solution that you get is to clear the cache and cookies from your browser.
Is that effective? Well yes. Clearing cache and cookies from your browser can improve the performance of your browser exponentially. But, what exactly are cache and cookies and why does clearing them makes your browser perform snappier?
In this article, we discuss what cache and cookies are, along with how you can delete them from your browser. Take a look.
What Are Cache And Cookies?
The literal meaning of cache is a hidden space for storage. This is absolutely true in computing terms as well. Cache is a storage space in your browser; however, the only difference is that it is not so hidden. A browser’s cache is stored in a specific folder that is bundled with hundreds of other folders. These folders store web pages and several other elements including navigation panels, icons, photographs, and even HTML files.
The cache folder is not a rubbish folder as it is created specially to speed up your web browsing experience. Whenever you visit a website, your browser stores several elements of it in the cache folder so that the next time you visit the same page, your browser has to download a few elements less. This way, the load times of websites decrease. However, over time, too much cache gets accumulated in your browser that makes its performance choppy.
Cookies, on the other hand, are a different thing than cache altogether. Most websites today, make use of cookies to track and record your browsing patterns. For instance, if you just searched the web for a new laptop, you get the ads for specific laptops when you’re on other websites. This happens because that particular website recorded your browsing history via the cookies and sent it straight to Google, who later put the ads up whenever you surf the web. With time, a lot of cookies get accumulated in your browser and it becomes necessary to clean them up.
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How To Clear Cache And Cookies?
Different browsers have different ways to clear up cache and cookie memory, but you can find it on the same window from where you can delete your browsing history. If you’re using Opera web browser, simply search “opera://settings/clearBrowserData” on the search bar and you’ll be taken to a window where you can clean up your history along with the cache and cookie memory. In case of other browsers like Chrome and Firefox, visit the page where you can clear your history and you’ll find options to clear cache and cookies there itself.
Does Clearing Cache And Cookies Help In Speeding Up Your Browser?
To answer this in short, yes! The cache and cookies folder has a definite size and if it is filled to the brim, it will eventually bring down your browsing experience. Websites load slow and overall your browser underperforms. Clearing cookies and the cache is also a good idea before you make a payment for an online purchase. If you don’t do it, you might encounter the ‘Session Expired’ more often.
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