When it comes to fixing common WordPress errors the first thing you need to do is clear browser cache. However, due to the fact that you don’t need to clear cache for daily Internet use most people don’t know how to go about it. This is what we will be covering in this post.
Browser cache is the technology web browsers use to save website data on your computer so that the next time you open that website it opens faster. Browsers don’t cache complete web pages unless the developers tell them to do so using code. Browsers only save static content such as images, style-sheets and JavaScript. The problem with saving web data is that at times browsers are unable to tell which data is outdates and this leads to problems more so when it comes to WordPress logins. Here is how you can clear browser cache in various browsers.
Google Chrome
Being the most popular web browser it makes sense to start with it. To get started you need to launch Google Chrome and then click on the three dots located in the top right corner. Go to More Tools>>Clear Browser Data. You will be directed to the ‘Clear Browsing Data’ popup. Switch to Basic Settings then select ‘All time’ next to the time-range option. Select ‘Cached images and files’ as well as ‘Clear Cookies and other site data’ options and then click ‘Clear data’.
Mozilla Firefox
With Mozilla Firefox you need to launch the browser then click on the hamburger menu located on the top-right corner of the screen. Select ‘Preferences’ to open the Firefox settings page. You now need to switch to ‘Privacy and Security’ tab then select ‘Clear Data’ button. You will be asked to select the data you want to clear. Select ‘Cached Web Content’ and click ‘Clear’, all the cached web content will be deleted.
Microsoft Edge
Internet Explorer was replaced by Microsoft Edge as the default web browser in Windows 10. If you still use Internet Explorer, to clear browser cache you need to launch the browser and click the fear icon in the top right corner. Select Safety>>Delete browsing history… From the next screen uncheck ‘Preserve Favorites website data’ and select ‘Temporary Internet Files’. You also need to check ‘Cookies’. Click ‘Delete’ to clear the browser data.
If you are using Microsoft Edge, you should click the three-dot menu on the top-right corner of the screen then click on ‘Settings’. Next you should select ‘Choose what to clear’ button located under ‘Clear browsing data’. You will now be directed to ‘Clear browsing data’ panel. Select ‘Cached data and files’ and ‘Cookies and Website data’ options. Click ‘Clear’ and you are done.
Safari
This is the default web browser on Mac operating system. Open Safari web browser and click on ‘History>>Clear History… options from top menu. You will be asked to choose the time range. Select ‘All history’ from the ‘Clear’ dropdown menu. Click ‘Clear History’ and Safari will delete all the temporary data including cookies, cache and temporary website data.
To delete web data while maintaining cache you need to enable ‘Developer’ menu by going to Safari>>Preferences from the menu. You will get a dialog box. Switch to ‘Advanced’ tab to add ‘Develop’ menu. From here you need to click the Develop menu and click on ‘Empty Caches’ options. Doing so will only empty browser cache while saving cookies and temporary data.