In this post we will be looking at the meaning of cache and how to clear browser and App cache on iPhone.

INTRODUCTION

Browsing through various different websites and using interned-based apps on your iPhone tend to generate data called ‘cache’ which is stored directly into the internal memory. Although this data helps in reducing the tasks of loading the apps or websites’ resources from scratch, it can sometimes act as a bottleneck to your storage, especially on iPhones with storage capacity as low as 64GB. That said, to prevent running into any performance issues, you can easily get rid of the cached data on iPhone and enjoy more storage space for apps and media files. Here’s a quick guide on how to clear app-based and browser cache on your iPhone.

WHAT IS A CACHE?

Cache is the temporary storage of some data: parts of a website or image from the last time you visited, for example. It’s content from a website that is stored on your phone during a browser session to help the browser perform faster the next time you visit that page. Cache data can slow down your phone’s browsing performance since it takes up storage space in your device, so it’s good to clear it out regularly.

HOW TO CLEAR BROWSER CACHE ON IPHONE

Over a period of time, the browser cache can end up taking too much of your internal memory. Removing such cache memory can give you some precious storage for more apps and media files. Here’s how to clear the cache on various browsers available on iOS.

Safari: Clearing cache on Apple’s own inbuilt browser can be done through the settings app, just like other apps on iOS. Here’s the step-by-step process.
Go to your iPhone’s Settings: Open the Settings app on your iPhone to delete the cache in Safari. Keep in mind that this will close all open tabs in Safari and will likely log you out of any websites, prompting you to sign in again.
Select Safari: In Settings, scroll down until Safari comes up, tap on it to select it.
Find a button for Clear History and Website Data: Scroll down through the Safari options, until you find a button for Clear History and Website Data.
Confirm by pressing Clear History and Data: A confirmation will appear, press Clear History and Data to confirm. After confirming, the cache and cookies are deleted from your iPhone, but your autofill information should still be on your device.

Do note that as the option suggests, all your browser history along with cache and cookies will be removed as well. However, autofill data will still remain in place.

Google Chrome: Clearing cache on Google Chrome for iPhone is a bit different than Safari. As it’s a third-party app, we can utilize the in-app settings to remove the cache as well has cookies and browser history. The process is as follows.
Head over to Google Chrome app on your iOS device
Next, tap on the ‘3-dot’ menu present on the bottom right corner
Now from the options appearing over there, tap on ‘History’
Here you can select the time range of the data to be removed. Once done, there would be an option called ‘Clear browsing data’ at the bottom. Select it.
Confirm the prompt and all your cached data, media and files will be removed

Microsoft Edge: Microsoft Edge is yet another popular browser on iOS. Being a third-party app, removing the website cache can be done by going through various options. Here’s the step-by-step guide.
Open Microsoft Edge on your iPhone
Tap on the ‘3-dot’ menu at the bottom right corner
Now select the ‘Settings’ option
Next tap on the ‘Privacy’ option
Within the privacy settings, select the top most option called ‘Clear browsing data
Now checkmark the ‘cache’ option along with other types of data you want to remove from Edge browser such as history, cookies and saved passwords
Finally, hit the ‘Clear browsing data’ button at the bottom
It’ll ask for a confirmation prompt so select the ‘Clear’ option
With that, all your cache and other data will be removed from the browser

HOW TO CLEAR APP CACHE ON IPHONE

There are a couple of methods to remove app cache on iPhone. This is how they work:

Removing temporary app data: Some apps on iOS allow you to clear cache from the settings apps itself by click of a button. But to make this come into effect, the particular app needs to be launched at least once in order to clear its cache.
Open the ‘Settings’ app on your iPhone
Scroll through the Settings and find the app you want to clear the cache of
Select the app and once again scroll to the bottom of the page
Now here you’ll find a toggle named ‘Clear temp data on next start’
Turn it on and launch that particular app from the home screen to get rid of its cache.

Alternatively, you can also search for the app name within the settings itself to avoid the hassle of scrolling through the settings app.

Through the offload option

Another way of getting rid of some cache and freeing up some space on your iPhone is by using the offload option on certain supported apps. This option isn’t exactly an alternative to removing the app cache but rather deletes the app and gets rid of the temporary and hidden storage space taken up by the app. Moreover, all the user data and documents such as media files are not removed using this option but instead are stored in an archive. There’s the procedure for using the offload option.

Head over to the ‘Settings’ app on your iOS device
Scroll down to the ‘General’ settings
Now tap on the ‘iPhone storage’ option
Here you’ll find an extensive list of third-party apps. Select the one which you want to clear the cache of
Once the app storage page opens, here you’ll find an option called ‘Offload App’
Tap on it and confirm the prompt to offload the app from your iPhone

With that done, you’ll gain back some storage space. Now you can go ahead and reinstall that app from the App Store and start afresh. All the data will be restored once the installation i