How To Clear the Cache in IE11

Have you experienced web pages looking funny or otherwise working poorly?

There's a risk that you have an old file somewhere in your cache.

One of the most common problems faced by folks surfing online is issues in loading a webpage, which is usually due to an uncleared cache in your browser or slow internet speed.

Clearing your Internet Explorer cache can seem like a royal pain at times. However, doing this is something of a given rule if you are using Internet Explorer.

What are Internet Browser Caches or Temporary Internet Files?

There is some confusion as to what caches are and how they affect the performance of your PC’s.

Caches are nothing but copies of images, videos, and texts that you come across while surfing online websites and is automatically stored in your PC’s hard drive. 

If the web page and its resources have not changed since the last time you viewed it. Your browser will automatically load the data from the cache rather than downloading the files all over again.

When you first visit a website, the browser immediately downloads the logo into the cache, while simultaneously shown on the page you are visiting.

Caches sometimes come with a size limit that can be configured by you. As the cache gets full over time, the items that haven’t been used are discarded to make more space.

When you clear the cache in IE11, it means you are emptying it, and the next time you open a webpage, everything will be downloaded again. Clearing your browser cache is something that you should do from time to time.

Common Notions Related to Browser Cache’s

A common notion among people is that deleting their cache will also wipe their saved cookies and passwords.

This is not the case, and clearing internet cache only removes the saved images and styles.

People also seem to confuse the temp files stored in your windows to that of temporary files stored in their Internet Explorer browser. The removal of temp files in your windows entails deleting data left by other programs.
Temporary files aren’t just used for better performance of your PC’s.

A poor internet connection can be attributed to some reasons apart from a cache overload in your system. In this post, we will look at how you can clear cache in IE11 simply and effectively. 

Clearing the Cache in Internet Explorer 11

1. Open your Internet Explorer browser and go on the “gear” icon on the top right-hand corner. This is also known as the Tools icon.
2. Click on the Safety icon from the drop-down in front of you and click on the Delete browsing history tab.
3. Upon opening the Delete browsing history tab, start by unchecking all the options from the drop-down apart from the one named, “Temporary Internet files and website files.
4. You can also delete additional data like browsing and download history, cookies, passwords, etc. by ticking on the options presented in the Temporary Internet files and Website files.
5. Once you have checked and unchecked all the options, click on the delete button. All your temporary files in the Internet Explorer 11 cache settings.
6. The deleting process might take time depending on the number of files that need to be deleted.

If you wish to speed up your internet speed on windows, you can check the DNS cache on your PC. If you are unsure about this, then refer to our guide. 

Ad hoc tips for Clearing Internet Explorer 11 Cache Settings

There are different methods available if you wish to clear cache in IE11 apart from the conventional method discussed above:

1. Online tools like CCleaner are widely used today as an alternative to clean cache in your Internet Explorer browser.
2. You can also find the temporary Internet Explorer files in this folder: %LocalAppData%/Microsoft/Windows/NetCache/.
3. You can also modify the Internet Explorer 11 cache settings.
   1. Open the Run Dialog box by pressing Win + R
   2. Enter the command inetcpl.cpl and press Enter
   3. Head to the General tab and then the settings tab under that.
   4. Make changes under Website Data Settings to make the changes. 

To Wrap it Up

By and large, one can easily clear cache in IE11 without hassles by following a few necessary steps. People using old Internet Explorer editions can use the same method to clear the cache.

This includes all the old versions including IE7, IE8, IE9, and IE10. Internet Explorer, however, advises on using the latest updated versions of their browser as there are new updates rolled out regularly.

So the next time you are in a fix and are facing a problem with loading a web page on Internet Explorer. Make sure that you clear out your browser cache. There is more than one method at your disposal for solving this.