Why Do IT People Ask Me to Clear My Cache?

If you’ve ever had problems logging on to a website or the pages weren’t displaying correctly, you may have been told to clear your cache.

And most of the time, that probably worked, right?

But what does clearing the cache do and how does it solve the issues you’re experiencing?

What is Cache?

As we’ve previously discussed, caches store temporary data (HTML pages, images, audio, video, etc.) from the website you are visiting. This data is automatically downloaded to your computer every time you visit a website.

Storing the data speeds up webpage load time. Otherwise, you would have to re-download the same HTML pages, images, audio, video, etc. every time you visited that site, which would take your computer longer to display the webpage.

How Does Clearing My Cache Fix Problems?

When you experience an issue with a website, whether it is displaying improperly or prohibiting you from logging in to your account, clearing your cache often is the first recommendation.

Websites have a lot of files that have to work together to make it function properly. Glitches, bugs and quirks can keep these files from working properly. Clearing your cache wipes the slate clean and deletes the old files that were previously downloaded.

If a website has been updated, the new files could conflict with the old files that are temporarily stored on your computer.

Additionally, maybe there was an issue with the website itself that the developers fixed. But if your computer still has those old files, then you might not see the new version of the website.

The idea behind clearing your cache is similar to why turning your computer off and on again tends to fix minor issues. The main difference is it’s less disruptive than restarting your computer.

Clearing your cache won’t fix every problem you have, but it’s a good place to start. If you’re still having issues after clearing your cache, feel free to reach out to us.

Managed IT Services in West Michigan

If you want to keep your business running smoothly while increasing productivity, security and profitability, contact us here.