No no, we’re not talking about your wallet. :) We’re talking about the memory in your browser.

Why would you want to do this?

Well, most often it’s because you’re looking at a website that should have updated changes, but no matter how many times you refresh the page, it still looks the same. Added along with this frustration almost 90% of the time is the added insult that most everyone in the free world can see the new site except you.

This is (most often) caused by a time-saving function every browser takes advantage of (and it really is a time-saver, most of the time) called “cacheing”. Your browser stores a website locally (on your computer), so that the next time you look at the site, it doesn’t have to waste time downloading every single image, word, and multimedia piece from the page. Sometimes, however, the cache gets in the way of the browser downloading a new/updated version of a website, which is why all you see is the old one.

So – how do you “clear your browser’s cache”? Well – that depends on what system you’re on, and what browser you’re using -

On a PC -

Microsoft® Internet Explorer 7.0

1. Click Start and select Settings, then Control Panel.
2. Double-click Internet Options.
3. Click the General tab.
4. Click Delete under the Browsing History section.
5. Click Delete Files in the Delete Browsing History dialog box.
6. Click OK.
7. Click Close.
8. Close and relaunch your browser.

Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0

1. Click Start and select Settings, then Control Panel.
2. Double-click Internet Options to open Internet Properties.
3. Click Delete Files.
4. Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
5. Click OK.

Netscape® Navigator 9.X

1. Click Tools and select Options.
2. Click the Privacy.
3. Click Clear Now under the Private Data section.
4. Check the box Cache and Clear Private Data Now.
5. Click OK.
6. Close and re-launch your browser.

Firefox 2.0

1. Click Tools and select Options.
2. Click the Advanced icon and click the Network tab.
3. Click Clear Now under the Cache section.
4. Click Ok.
5. Exit and relaunch the browser.

Firefox 1.5

1. Click Tools and select Options.
2. Click the Privacy icon.
3. Click the Cache tab and click Clear Cache Now.
4. Click Ok.
5. Exit and relaunch the browser.

Firefox 1.0

1. Click Tools and select Options.
2. Click the Privacy Icon.
3. Click Clear next to the Cache section.
4. Click Ok.
5. Exit and relaunch the browser.

On a Mac -

Safari 2.0 for Macintosh

1. Click the Safari menu and selectEmpty Cache.
2. Click Empty on the Are you sure message box.
3. Exit and relaunch the browser.

Safari 1.x for Macintosh

1. Click the Safari menu and selectEmpty Cache.
2. Click Empty on the Are you sure message box.
3. Exit and relaunch the browser.

Firefox 2.0 for Macintosh

1. Click the Firefox menu and select Preferences.
2. Click the Advances icon and click the Network tab.
3. Click Clear Now under the Cache section.
4. Click the X in the top left corner to close the Advanced window.
5. Exit and re-launch the browser.

Firefox 1.5 for Macintosh

1. Click the Firefox menu and select Preferences.
2. Click the Privacy icon and click the Cache tab.
3. Click Clear Cache Now.
4. Click the X in the top left corner to close the Privacy window.
5. Exit and re-launch the browser.

More often than not, this fixes the problem. If it doesn’t, you may want to also try the following -

If you’re on a PC – try flushing your local DNS Cache:

Go to Start > Run > enter command > OK

Then, type: ipconfig /flushdns & hit ENTER
If your old site has been hosted on a local server (within your office), or if your ISP (internet service provider) does not flush their DNS often, the problem may persist. See more on how to remedy these problems in another post.

Cas Johnson is the Lead Web Developer at Absolute Marketing Group in Moorhead, Minnesota. She volunteers her time for the FMVA, enjoys being a wife and mom, and attempts to keep edible plants alive through the short Northern summer.