How To Clear Cache In Internet Explorer

Learn how to clear cache in Internet Explorer to remove the temporary files which are saved by the browser while connected to the internet. They are the history of every file encountered while online. The files include all images, audio, pages and cookies encountered and are stored by the browser. These files are not actually temporary since they are saved until manually deleted. Learning how to clear cache in Internet Explorer will avoid excessive files, freeing up memory and speeding up the browser.

Things you will need:

• A computer with Internet Explorer

1. Open Internet Explorer. When the browser window is open you will see the menu bar at the top listing "File," "Edit," "View," "Favorites," "Tools" and "Help."
2. Click on “Tools.” A drop-down box will appear with a list of options. The last one listed is "Internet Options"
3. Click on Internet Options. A pop up window titled “Internet Options” will open. At the top of this window there are seven tabs. The first tab “General” is the default and will be visible in the pop up window when the window is opened. If the "General" tab doesn't have highlighting on the top edge of the tab it isn't open. Continue to the next step.
   
4. Click on the "General" tab. There are five sections in this window and the second section is “Browsing History.” In "Browsing History" section there are two buttons, “Delete” and “Settings."
5. Click the “Delete” button. Another pop up window “Delete Browsing History” will be visible. There will be seven choices with boxes on the left. Some of the boxes have green checkmarks and some boxes are empty. The options are: Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, History, Form Data, Passwords or InPrivate Filtering data. The very top option is to Preserve Your Favorites, which will retain the temporary files and cookies of your favorite websites to retain preference and display faster.
6. Click on each of the boxes you want to be deleted until a green checkmark appears. Clicking on an empty box will enable the option and a green checkmark will appear. If the box already has a green check and is enabled, then clicking on it will de-select it from the items to be deleted. When all the items that are to be deleted have green checks then proceed to the next step.
7. Click the “Delete” button. A pop up window “Delete Browsing History” will appear with an animation of files flying out of a folder and into a recycle bin. When all the files have been deleted the pop up window will disappear.
8. Click the “OK” button. This will complete the task, close the popup window and the normal browser window will be visible.

Here's an alterative way to clear cache in Internet Explorer:

1. Click on “Start.” It is located on the "Task Bar" on the lower left hand side of the screen. A pop up window will appear with several options. On the right “Control Panel” will be listed.
2. Click on “Control Panel” A pop up window titled "Control Panel" will appear with a lot of different settings for the computer. Look for “Internet Settings.” It is an icon of a little computer.
3. Click on “Internet Settings." A popup window titled “Internet Properties” will appear. The default tab “General” will be visible. If the tab isn't highlighted indicating the "General" tab is open then click on the "General" tab to open it and make it visible. Continue following the same steps listed above starting at step number four.

Tips:

• Clearing cache will delete the temporary files but will not delete any cookies.
• The sequence of steps outlined above are for Internet Explorer 8.0. Other versions of Internet Explorer may vary slightly.