When is the last time you cleared your cache? Do you know what cache is? Do you know how to clear your cache? If the term cache eludes you, you’re probably in good company. It’s pronounced ‘cash’, yes, just like Johnny, and not ‘cashay’ as if you were from West Los Angeles.
Some of you may have a deep understanding for what cache is, and some may have heard it but wondered a little what it might be. Here are my thoughts on cache and what I feel is important to know about it, without getting all technical on you.
By the way, you can go about your lives never having to know the inner-workings of cache and be just fine. There are some things you might want to know though, like how to get rid of it! So read on if you want to know more about cache.
What is Cache?
In my own terms, cache is a temporary place to keep a copy of information for faster retrieval on the second request for said information. You might guess that I would continue on to say that information in this context is nearly anything you want it to be. It could be a stretch to say that moving the coffee brewer closer to you is no different than saving a web page onto your local computer so that the next time you need another cup, or need to visit that web page again, it’s cached for quicker delivery.
And that’s exactly it. Cache is nothing more than a mechanism that allows you to surf faster because the resources the page needs (images, the html page) are already available on the computer you are working on. The page doesn’t need to reach out across the Internet to get that picture or other things.
Here’s another way to think of it. Imagine you visit a particular site every day. This site has a banner graphic across the top that is quite large, and every time you visit, it takes a while for the large header image to travel across the wires every time. That sucks. Really, it does.
If that header graphic was stored on your computer, the browser you are using could be set up to detect that you’ve visited this page before, and that large graphic is sitting right over here next to us. Why bother to download it again when we have it right here!
Your browser can also be set up to detect when the graphic files are different and download the image to refresh your cache.
Most browsers are pre-configured to store some information into cache for quicker access to repeat data.
Why Clear or Delete the Cache?
Well, because sometimes you just get some wacky things happening. Many times while developing a web site I’ll find that it’s good to clear the cache every now and then to get a fresh perspective on the site. Once I clear the cache, I know that everything will be coming straight from the server in brand spanking new form and function.
Sometimes you just get to a point where things aren’t acting like they should. Perhaps you start getting errors with some of the web sites you work on, where there probably shouldn’t be an error. When this starts happening to me, the first thing I do is clear my browsers cache and restart the browser. If the same error happens again, then I know it isn’t due to an outdated or corrupt copy of information in the cache. If clearing the cache rectifies the issue, good deal.
How to Clear or Delete your Cache
With the number of browsers floating around the world, and the number of versions, and also the number of blogs already demonstrating how to clear your cache, instead of regurgitating the information for you, here are a couple videos that should help you figure out how to clear your cache.
Firefox
Internet Explorer
Chrome
Most all browsers are set up with nearly the same menu systems and concepts, so the above videos should be good enough for anyone to figure out how to clear their cache in the browsers.
Understanding the simple concept of what cache is and how it’s used by browsers to increase your surfing speed will help you in the future. No longer will someone say to you ‘clear your cache’ and leave you thinking they wanted to rob you, but walked off instead. No, cache is a good thing and helpful, but from time to time, things can go haywire and you’ll need to delete your cache.
As always, if there are further questions please feel free to ask!
Wayne John is a health coach for people that want to lose weight, gain weight, improve athletic performance, or simply maintain a healthy lifestyle. Wayne has lost over 55 pounds and improves his current health every day by using simple, straight-forward techniques that anyone can integrate into their lives to achieve the same. Contact Wayne today to realize your own health and fitness goals, or get started now by completing and submitting the free Wellness Profile. He also has been developing websites since 1995 and programming solutions for clients even longer. He'd rather be outside having fun in the sun though.
I wish I had this on hand to send to some clients over the past 5 years! You explained it really clearly.
In the past, I often had clients who had problems while we were in the process of developing their site. I would email them advising that the amendments had been made and are ready for review, only to get a reply email saying they are not seeing any changes. It took me a while to work out that they were seeing the cached information!! That was when I started to change the test site URL… and it made my life so much easier. If I had this back then, I would have been sending it to clients every time we started a new website
There are so many little things that occur during the development process, you could base a whole blog around it. I’m sure there are plenty already though.
Yeah, I wish I had this a few years back too…
Ahhhh. I was still wondering WHY I should clear my cache because SPEED is my middle name but MANZ cleared it up beautifully. Now, I STILL want speed, and will stick with speed, until something “comes up”.
I’ve just watched the video for internet explorer, and I like the feel of knowing what I’m doing…. Can I delete my cookies too?
Ooooh Btw, if you have any sage advice on quickening start-up I will do three cartwheels for you! I actually went through each running process and searched its function… ugh. They were all important….
Yeah, you can clear your cookies. When you do though, expect to hit every site as if they don’t know about you. Most sites will keep identifying information (non-important stuff to anyone else normally, but useful to the site itself) to create a personalized experience “Hello blah”
If you want to quicken your startup, you might check out msconfig. msconfig allows you to specify what’s loaded on it’s startup tab. Also check out your startup folder in your start bar.
Be careful with msconfig though, there are things in there that could screw things up.
Check this out for walkthroughs: http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/
I love how simple you make this sound!
I’ll try the net squirrel, thanks Wayne!
Well, I don’t mean to make it sound easy, but if that encourages others to step outside their comfort zone, I’ll take it. All it really takes is persistence and a desire to learn more and more right?
Is there any way to tell the difference between a cache problem and a server problem? Sometimes I get an error message after having just been to a site and returning a few seconds later. Plus it’s always nice to know when the geeks are going to do maintenance on the server.
I’ll have to look into tweaking the msconfig…start just takes eons it seems.
As an SEO, I never think of my own computers laptop as being cached…when I hear the term I always think of the almighty Google…as in when was the last time Google Cached your site…
http://74.125.45.132/search?q=cache:wWlSl6siWRYJ:www.waynejohn.com/+waynejohn.com&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
Demeur, if you open a different browser and get the same results, I’d say that would be a clear indication that the problem is on the server side, and not a cache issue. In other words, if you see the same issue in IE and Firefox, it’s most likely a server issue.
I agree with you on the maintenance too.
Hi, my valued friend…
I am Vanea Bell from Romania and i’m very, very depressed… I have two little blogs in Blugger and i write some poems… But i can’t do that anymore…! :’( I don’t know why… I don’t know how… But my blogs are blocked…! And my Blogger dashboard gives me an error message… :’( Please, if, if you want to take a small part of my pain from me, because it hurts so much… Knowing that my poems are lost and i don’t have where to writte anymore… I want my original blogs back… :’( I just want Google to tell me why my blogs are blocked… Why… :’( I will do anything… I will raise anything from my blogs… Only to have them back…! :’( They don’t helped me… Please you do it, whoever you are… Or just write to me, to make me feel a little better… :’( I give you my e-mail… belldeblue@gmail.com
My friend, my blocked sites are: http://www.belldeblue.blogspot.com and http://www.bb-bell.blogspot.com . Please… Please, HELP ME! Please…
Darn, I’m really sorry to hear that, but I just visited your blogs and they seem fine. If you don’t see them from where you are, I suspect that the problem is more geographic than an issue with your blog itself. maybe.
I’m glad that you felt I could help you, and I probably could now that I found @blogger on Twitter, but I don’t see the problem. I even added myself to follow your blog.
Let me know if you see that happen again, and I’ll see what I can do for you. Take care!
I found some step by step screenshots on how to clear your cache on http://www.refreshyourcache.com.
Thanks for your submission to the Thirty-Third edition of the Blog Carnival: Blogging. Your post has been accepted and its http://thatsblog.com/?p=195
-ThatsBlog.com
Hi Frank, thanks for dropping that link, good information there. I always thought it best to start a fresh browser as well, after clearing cache. Perhaps it’s just habit on my part, but do you think it’s necessary on some browsers?
Thanks for the info. I see the word cache but i never bother to check what does it mean. Now i know what it is
This is somewhat an O.T., how can we correct an IP address that has been marked as a spammer? My friend was very angry when a message just popped up saying about the blockage when he did not even know what spamming is. He is just new to forum and blog posting. Is this a case of cache not cleared?
Anne, contact the web master of the site that your friend is having issues with. This is not a case of having to be cleared.
Thank you for explaining the cache and how to clear it so clearly. I wasn’t aware of any reasons to clear it, nor did I really know what it was for. Now I do =]
Also I want to add that I like how the middle of this page scrolls while the Feedback button on the right side stays in place. That’s pretty cool. I bet it’s a trick you can explain easily too… -Ben
Well, yeah, actually. It came like that. haha I only added the code they gave me.
Will clearing/deleting cache effect my computer? I mean “harm” something? Is it VERY important?
Twitter: waynejohn
says:
Clearing your cache will not harm anything. It might cause you to re-login to every site you ever visited and logged into and then saved credentials for…but no harm.
i have googlechrome i dont know how to delete the cache
Twitter: waynejohn
says:
I updated this post to include Chrome, enjoy!
I still don’t know what “cache” is. I’ll just keep strolling through websites until I get a clear definition since my website suddenly wants me to “clear cache” and the definition seems to refer to so many things, it never clearly is defined. It’s not simpls to learn WordPress and I should have gone with blogspot which is SO simple in comparison. Here I am, 8 months into blogging and my traffic is much more than I expected and not one site can define cache, so I suppose leaving it there is the best thing I can do since for all I know I could be deleting my entire site, because no one can define this mysterious word.
You mention, “wacky” things happening. That could be anything! If by wacky you mean no images can be placed in my posts (suddenly), yup, it’s pretty wacky alright, but the definition of wacky is still undefined because that could mean anything too. I’m off to my 10th or 11th attempt at defining, “cache” and will Google “wacky” too just in case it’s another word for erasing the memory on my site.
The Gods are laughing today. I am not. Must run and look for this sacred definition….
Twitter: waynejohn
says:
You, sir, have a different problem than this post is speaking about. The cache I wrote about here is in regards to you and your browser…not you and your website.
Your browser will store pages to your hard-drive so that when you visit the same page, the browser can grab from your local hard drive, rather than make a trip across the internet to grab the same page. It’s quicker…but sometimes you need to clear your cache to get new versions of these pages.
Your website cache however, is different. Your website is caching pages to the server…so that when a user visits your site, your website doesn’t need to go through all the gyrations of building the page…instead, it can just pull a file from disk and serve it to the user.
I’d need to know more about how you’re set up to help you with that. Let me know if you’d like some assistance with this.
In my own way, I’m confused as to the difference between cache and cookies, as it sounds like they do the same thing. Please explain.
Twitter: waynejohn
says:
A quick google might answer that, but the short answer is that cookies are files placed on your system by a site so that they can recognize you when you return (as one example), whereas cache is something your browser does to improve your browsing speed when moving from page to page.
how do i clear the cache from my xbox360?
Twitter: waynejohn
says:
Sorry, no clue. Hit google!
Thank you very much for the easy to understand meaning of cache, and yes I was not pronouncing the word correctly so thanks for that also. You were a big help.
Twitter: waynejohn
says:
lol, you’re welcome! Thanks for giving me a smile, glad it helped!
Does the amount of RAM you have on your computer affect the cache? Meaning, can you clear your cache more often if you have 2G’s of RAM versus 512?
Twitter: waynejohn
says:
Has absolutely nothing to do with cache in this context.
I think cache is very important for those who are desperate for site’s speed!
Twitter: waynejohn
says:
I think you might be missing the point a little…or your message is lost in translation perhaps.
Cache can cause some interesting things, not all good. I built an online store last week and once i moved it to my main domain i couldn’t upload pictures anymore. Several hours later someone suggested to clear my browser cache. That did the job and the upload went fine after that, even though i have no idea why.
Only problem is i don’t like clearing my cache because i have tens of passwords saved, some of which i don’t remember anymore. You wouldn’t believe how many password resets i requested last week.
Twitter: waynejohn
says:
Kinda like myself. I find it convenient to not have to type my username and password in every time I visit a site. But, eventually you have to, and hopefully I can remember how to get back in to some sites that force me to use a name or password that is outside my normal routine.
When you clear the cache is losing your downloaded pictures, and whatnot supposed to happen. I cleared the cookies, and cache from my phone and it deleted all the photos, and videos I had on it. Its just a regular smart phone, no touch screen.
I understand the importance of caching, but it can be a bit frustrating having to explain to clients over and over why they had to refresh to see their sites changes – and that more importantly, it’s not my fault!
Twitter: SearchlightsFLA
says:
Really great overview of cache. I’ve been hit by the cache monster a few times as well. FireFox is a particularly notorious culprit. Hitting F5 on your keyboard is supposed to force a browser to ignore the cached version of a site and pull the updated version from the site itself. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve chased nonexistent code problems because of the FF cache.
There are three other caches involved with web browsing that should be cleared every now and again. Java cache, flash cache, and your computers actual DNS cache.
If you have never cleared your java cache you may be suprised how bloated it is. Same goes for Flash. Clearing the flash cache is tricky since there is no actual interface to flash on your computer. You have to search for clear flash cache to get the adobe online tool.
Thanks for the tips bud. I use to have a lot of trouble with my first site when I would make changes and didn’t clear the cache I wouldnt see those changes. But, on the other computer I would. It was so annoying. Those were the newbie days
I was well aware about the cache but never bothered to clear it and now with this article, I understand it fully and will clear cache at regular intervals in future. Thanks for the nice details.