How to Clear Browser Cache and Cookies on Android

If you want to clear the web browser cache, cookies, and other data on your Android smartphone, follow this guide.

You probably use your Android smartphone every day to surf the web. As a result of the operation, the device is filled with data accumulated during surfing sessions. This data has several functions, the main of which can be classified as cache and cookies. This helps improve the speed at which the browser loads pages by keeping things on the sites you visit frequently as well as some of your preferences, such as keeping you signed in to the sites.

However, cookies can also be used by websites to track you, most commonly to provide you with personalized advertising. In addition, the larger your browser’s cache, the more likely it is to be corrupted by data from sites you no longer visit and certain tracking cookies.

In fact, it doesn’t hurt to come and erase this data from time to time to keep your browser clean so that it works optimally and, ideally, keeps as few tracking cookies as possible.

On Android, the procedure for clearing the cache and cookies may vary depending on the phone and browser you are using. Below are the procedures to be followed for Google Chrome, Samsung Internet and Mozilla Firefox.

Google Chrome

You can clear Google Chrome cookies and cache by clicking the “More”button in the upper right corner of the browser with the icon with three small vertical dots, and then clicking “History”and “Clear browsing data”. You can also access it from the Chrome settings menu, “Privacy and security”, then “Clear browsing data”.

Chrome also offers basic and advanced settings for clearing browsing history, cookies and site data, and cached images and files. You can set the date period to choose what you want to remove from the last 24 hours or up to the last 4 weeks. Clicking “Advanced”will also allow you to remove saved passwords, autofill data, and site preferences. After choosing what you want to delete, click on the “Clear data”button and everything will be deleted without confirmation. So be careful.

Samsung Internet

Unlike Google Chrome, to delete the cache and cookies on the Samsung Internet, you need to go to your phone’s settings and not directly to the browser.

Once the settings are open, click “Apps”, then go to Samsung Internet, click on this line, and then on “Storage”.

At the bottom of Storage, you have options to clear cache and clear data. Clicking on “Clear Cache”will immediately clear the cache, but “Clear Data”will display a warning window, all application data will be permanently deleted, including files, settings, accounts, and databases. This alternative is brutal to say the least, and will at least force you to start over, just like you did in the beginning with Samsung Internet.

Mozilla Firefox

As with Google Chrome, you can clear cookies and cache directly from the Firefox app. To do this, click the Plus button to the right of the address bar, again indicated by an icon with three small vertical dots. Then tap Settings and scroll down to Delete Browsing Data.

Of the three browsers featured here, Firefox gives you the most options in the Delete Browsing Data menu, allowing you to delete existing tabs, browsing history and site data, site permissions and even your Downloads folder, as well as cookies, cached images and files.

While it’s not possible to select a date range like in Chrome, you can be more specific about what type of data you want to delete, unlike Samsung, which only lets everything disappear.

And Firefox offers an additional option for those who don’t want to save their data immediately after launching the application. There’s an option in Settings called “Clear browsing data on close”that tells Firefox to delete all browsing data every time you exit the app. This is useful if you want to keep your browser clean and, for example, to prevent your browsing history from falling into the wrong hands.