You use a browser every day to check your email, look at Facebook, do some banking, maybe buy something, and of course, use your work account. Your browser tends to hold onto information, and over time it could cause problems with logging in or bringing up websites. It's always a good idea to clear out the cache, or browser history, and clear cookies on a regular basis. The drawback to this is that your saved usernames and passwords will be deleted and you'll need to re-enter them. But on the plus side, your privacy is more secure and your browser will work better.
What are cookies?
They're a small piece of data from a website and stored in your browser while you're on a website. Every time you pull up that same website, the browser sends the cookie back to the website with all the info from the last visit.
Cookies can be helpful, storing your username or preferences for a particular website. Sometimes the cookies are used to track your visit to websites so that businesses can show you ads online.
Browsers keep cookies until they expire, which could be when you log out of an account, or for years, as is the case for tracking cookies.
Browser cache is usually overwritten when you reach a certain amount, but will store information about your browsing history until you clear it.
To get the most out of your internet usage, we recommend clearing the cache and cookies on your browser often. If you're having a tough time logging in, try clearing your cookies. If your account isn't loading correctly, you aren't seeing what you expect, or there's an error, try clearing the cache to make sure you're seeing the latest info. And it's usually better to just do both at the same time to eliminate any issues. We recommend using the latest version of Chrome, Firefox or your favorite browser for your internet browsing.
Most browsers work in a similar way, but here are the major browsers and how to clear cache and delete cookies for them. And it's best practice to run the latest version of your favorite browser, keeping it up-to-date helps pages load better and gives you more security.