Online Office Assistants

Are you running out of disk space? Are you having difficulty getting your browser to stop loading an out-of-date page or image. Is your computer or Internet running slow or crashing frequently? It may be time to clear your browser’s cache (pronounced “cash”) and cookies — and no, I don’t mean taking all the money out of your wallet and throwing out the Thin Mints.

Clearing Your Cache

When you visit a Web site, your browser often stores information on your computer, such as Web pages, images, sounds and other downloaded content. All this information is referred to as the “browser’s cache.” Virtually all browsers store a local copy of the cache.

Storing such information can make Web browsing faster, since it takes your computer less time to load that information when visiting a previously-viewed page. However, all of the stored files take up space on your computer, so if you surf the net a lot and visit sites laden with images and sound clips, you might want to clear your cache to free up that precious storage space.

Here are some quick and easy instructions for clearing your cache in some of the more popular browsers:

Firefox

To clear your cache in Firefox, select Clear Private Data from the Tools menu in your browser. Make sure only Cache is selected by unchecking all of the other boxes. Then, click Clear Private Data Now.

Internet Explorer

To clear your cache in Internet Explorer, select Internet Options from the Tools menu in your browser. Then, if necessary, select the General tab. In the Browsing history section, click Delete. The Delete Browsing History window displays. Finally, in the Temporary Internet Files section, click Delete files.

Safari

To clear your cache in Safari for Mac, select Empty Cache from the Safari menu on a Mac or the Edit menu in Windows in your browser. Then, in the pop-up window, click Empty.

Clearing Your Cookies

Similar to your browser’s cache, when you enter specific information into a Web site, such as your name, email address, or more personal information like a user name or password, the browser often saves this data as a “cookie.” Most of these files are harmless and even helpful. For example, your saved cookies allow you to have the User name or Account name populated when visiting your favorite sites. However, some Web sites allow other Web sites to place cookies on your computer for the purposes of advertising.

We all know this is annoying, but more importantly, do you really want ads for Web sites unknown to you to be lurking around your computer? Of course not. Online safety and security is of the greatest concern for Web users. Therefore, you may want to clear your browser’s cookies to delete all of this saved information and help ensure your personal information is not compromised.

Again, here are some quick and easy instructions for clearing your cookies in some of the more popular browsers:

Firefox

To clear your browser cookies in Firefox, select Options from the Tools menu and then go to the Privacy tab. In the Cookies section, click Show Cookies. To delete all of your cookies, click Remove All Cookies. Or, to delete only specific cookies and retain others, highlight the cookies you want to delete, and then click Remove Cookies. When you’re done, click Close and then click OK.

Internet Explorer

To clear your browser cookies in Internet Explorer, select Internet Options from the Tools menu, then if necessary, go to the General tab. In the Browsing history section, click Settings. The Temporary Internet Files and History Settings window displays. Click View files. Then, to clear your cache and all of your cookies, click Delete. Or, to delete only specific cookies and retain others, highlight the cookies you want to delete, then under the File menu, click Delete.

Safari

To clear your browser cookies in Safari, select Preferences from the Safari menu on a Mac or the Edit menu in Windows. Go to the Security tab and then click Show Cookies. To delete all cookies, click Remove All. Or, to delete only specific cookies and retain others, highlight the cookies you want to remove, and then click Remove. When you are finished, click Done.

After you have cleared your cache and cookies, you should restart your browser for the settings to take effect.

Keep your Browser Clean

Because you accumulate cookies and information in your browser’s cache, it is a good idea to clear both your cache and cookies on a regular basis. Taking these simple steps to keep your browser “clean,” helps your computer to operate better and protects your privacy and security.