Very often on the Internet you can meet the question: "How to clear the computer’s cache?" This wording immediately reveals a novice user who has heard somewhere that in this way it is possible to improve computer performance, but does not quite understand what is being discussed. Well, even the most advanced specialist once started from scratch and was on “You” with computer technology. The expression "clear the computer cache" is incorrect, if only because the central processor really has a cache memory (two- and three-level), but the user cannot intervene in its work, and there is no reason to. Speaking about clearing the cache, most often they mean making certain adjustments to the functioning of the used web browsers. We’ll talk about them and together we’ll figure out how to clear the computer’s cache .
When viewing any Internet page in a browser, it automatically saves a part of the received information on the hard drive in a special directory - this is its cache. Why is such a mechanism necessary? Everything is explained quite simply: re-opening the page, part of the information is not downloaded from the network, but taken from the cache. This not only saves traffic, but also significantly increases the speed of work.
What exactly is stored in the cache directory? It depends on the algorithm of the browser, but in most cases it’s wallpapers, backgrounds (themes and styles), openable flash clips, etc. By the way, this allows you to extract the desired clip from the cache, the save function of which is not available or blocked.
It would seem that some advantages. But, as always, it does not do without a "fly in the ointment." Imagine a situation that, by the way, is quite common: upon re-opening the page, the cache mechanism worked and substituted some previously loaded elements. But during the time between these two openings of the resource, the page managed to refresh (new style), and the browser “does not know” about it. Obviously, the user simply will not see the changes until all the elements of the page are reloaded from the server. One solution is to figure out how to clear the computer’s cache. After performing such an operation, the browser will re-read information about the visited resources. For example, if a familiar page on a social network is no longer displayed correctly, then knowing how to clear the computer’s cache will not be superfluous, because it can help restore the PC’s performance.
You can clear the cache in the popular Google Chrome as follows: by clicking on the wrench symbol in the upper right corner, go to “Tools” and select “Delete browsing data”.
It is equally easy to understand how to clear the computer cache in relation to the Windows Explorer integrated into the Windows. Open the "Tools" menu in the browser and follow the "Internet Options". Here you can delete the browsing history. By the way, the “Options” button next to it allows you to more flexibly configure the operation of the caching subsystem.
In Firefox, follow the "Tools" menu path and select "Erase Recent History." Clicking on “Details” displays a list of saved items: select “Cache” and “Clear”.
In the Opera browser, clearing cache entries is also available to every user. The fastest way to get to the menu is by pressing the key combination Ctrl + F12. Here you need to select the “Advanced” tab and proceed to the “History” item. There are two buttons "Clear" - for the dialed addresses and for the cache. Select and click.
By the way, Opera, like many other browsers, has an improved caching mechanism. For example, you can not worry about the infinite growth of the folder of saved items, since its size can always be limited. A convenient function to clear all stored data when exiting the browser is also implemented everywhere. In fact, it allows you to hide traces of their work on the network. And the ability to automatically update saved page elements makes it much less likely to resort to clearing the cache.
An equally effective way to clear the cache is to use CCleaner. Following the path “Cleaning - Applications”, we indicate what exactly in browsers must be deleted, and we perform the specified operation.