Clearing the cache on a device refers to deleting some or all of what is being stored in your browser whether you’re using Microsoft Edge, Safari, Chrome, or Firefox. The more tabs you open on your computer and the more individual pages you open on your phone, the more data your browser is storing in its cache to keep those sites open and “remember” this data on subsequent visits. Data includes images, code, fonts, and other files to avoid re-downloading them each time you visit a new page within a website, or revisit a website.

The cache stores all of these locally (on your device), to save bandwidth and speed up your browsing. Over time, cached files can fill their allocated space and lead to the issues we talked about at the start of this article. And that’s why IT guys and other tech advisers will tell you to clear your cache. It doesn’t solve every computer issue, but often does the trick.

The general steps in clearing your cache are similar across the different browsers on your computer. Chrome users should click on the three dots in the upper right corner of an open browser window. The dots are next to your user icon. Select More Tools and then Clear Browsing Data. Check the box for cached images and files. Google will tell you about how much data will be cleared. Specify ‘All time’ in the time range box before you proceed and make sure the other options in this window are not checked. Click Clear data and you’re done.

The other options include clearing Browsing history and Cookies, little snippets of code that are collected when you visit a website like items you’ve viewed on a shopping site (yes, that’s how those ads follow you around online), items you put in your cart and other things. When you clear cookies, you will be logged out of most sites and will have to re-enter your login credentials. Clearing cache does not affect cookies. If you use Google as your mobile browser, open the app, select Settings, Privacy and security and then Clear browsing data.

Safari users don’t have as easy of access to the granular control offered by Google. The upfront option in Settings offers Clear history, which includes clearing your browsing history, cookies and cache, which you may not want to do. To just clear your cache, go to Safari, find Preferences, click Advanced and check Show Develop in menu bar. Click on Develop > Empty Caches. On an iPhone, go into your phone’s Settings, scroll down to find Safari and then go to the bottom of the list to find Advanced. Tap the arrow next to Website Data to open a list of websites and the associated megabytes of data stored for each. At the bottom, you’ll see Remove All Website Data–tap to clear.

Microsoft Edge is primarily used on the desktop, so we’ll stick with that process. It is nearly identical to Chrome, so click the three dots in the upper right corner, select Settings and then Privacy, search, and services. Scroll down to Clear browsing data and click on Choose what to clear. Check the box for Cached images and files and specify ‘All time’ in the dropdown for time range. Click Clear now.

Finally, we come to Firefox, a browser well known for its robust security features. With a browser window open, click on the three lines in the upper right corner, select Settings and go to Privacy & Security. Scroll down to Cookies and Site Data and click on Clear Data. A window will popup where you can check Cached Web Content. Like with Chrome, you’ll see how much data will be removed. Click the blue Clear button and you’re finished.

You may want to set a reminder to clear your cache regularly, particularly if you visit many shopping sites with the hundreds of images that are typically saved on websites like Amazon. If that doesn’t sound like you, it’s great to know how to clear your cache as a troubleshooter.

Leslie Meredith has been writing about technology for more than a decade. As a mom of four, value, usefulness, and online safety take priority. Have a question? Email Leslie at asklesliemeredith@gmail.com.