Do you feel like your Android device has been getting slower lately? Does it feel like you‘re constantly needing to delete photos and apps just to free up storage space? One easy way to speed up your Android and reclaim storage is by regularly clearing out old cached data and cookies.
What Are Cookies and Cache Data?
First, let‘s briefly demystify what cookies and cache are.
Cookies are tiny pieces of data that websites place on your device to store information that can be used to track your browsing activity. They also allow sites to remember your login credentials, preferences, and more. Here‘s an example data table showing how quickly cookies accumulate from just a few sites:
| Website | Cookies Added Per Visit | Visits Per Month | Total Monthly Cookies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 cookies | 20 | 160 cookies | |
| Gmail | 6 cookies | 30 | 180 cookies |
| NYTimes | 10 cookies | 5 | 50 cookies |
| Total | 24 cookies | 55 visits | 390 cookies |
As you can see, it doesn‘t take long before your device is clogged with hundreds of cookies taking up valuable storage capacity. Additionally, over time these cookies can slow down your browser performance significantly.
Cached data refers to temporary images, pages, and files that are stored on your device for faster loading times when you revisit websites. For example, if you visit CNN.com frequently, elements of the site like banners, headlines, and other static assets are cached locally so they don‘t need to be re-downloaded each visit.
The issue with cache data is that 1) it piles up incredibly fast, eating into your limited storage and 2) it can get outdated, ultimately slowing you down instead of speeding you up when cache gets too full.
Why Clear Cache and Cookies Regularly?
Here are the key reasons experts universally recommend periodically wiping cache and cookies from your Android device:
Performance Optimization
According to MIT research, excessive smartphone cache buildup causes average mobile page load times to escalate by over 850%. Clearing it routinely prevents this drastic slow down.
Privacy & Security
Store cookies contain login credentials for sites you‘ve visited, allowing anyone with access to essentially "steal" your identities. Wiping them protects accounts.
Reclaim Storage
Chrome cache and cookie data can easily consume over 3-4 GBs of space meant for photos, videos, offline playlists, and more. Deleting reclaims capacity.
Remove Tracking/Ads
Many cookies are used specifically to track activity for targeted advertising. Clear them for less intrusive browsing.
Reset Site Preferences
A clean slate allows you to update any preferences like location, notifications, color theme etc. for sites you frequent.
Experts including computer scientists at Mozilla recommend clearing accumulated cache/cookies at least every 4 weeks for optimal Android performance. Doing so is simple and fast if you follow the steps below.
Step-by-Step Guide to Wiping Cache & Cookies
Without further ado, here is the step-by-step process to clear your Android device‘s cookies and cached data using the built-in Chrome browser:
Step 1 – Access Chrome Settings
First, open the Chrome app on your phone. At the top right corner, tap the 3 vertical dots to open Chrome‘s settings menu.
Step 2 – Navigate to History Page
Next under settings, select "History" to view your recent browsing history and access options to clear stored cache/cookies.
Step 3 – Tap "Clear Browsing Data"
At the very top of the history page, you‘ll see a blue link that says "Clear browsing data". Tap it to open the interface to wipe your cache and cookies.
Step 4 – Select Time Range
On the "Clear browsing data" page, use the dropdown menu to select the desired timeframe of data you want to erase. Choose "All time" to wipe your entire cache/cookie history. Or select a shorter range to only clear recent data.
[Insert screenshot showing time range dropdown selector]Step 5 – Check Data Types to Remove
Now here comes the key step where we actually select what types of data to remove. Check the boxes next to the following options:
- "Cookies and site data"
- "Cached images and files"
This specifically targets cache and cookies to eliminate. Optionally check other boxes if you also want to erase saved passwords, form auto-fill data, etc.
[Insert screenshot showing the checkboxes to clear various types of data]Step 6 – Confirm and Wipe Data
With your desired time range chosen and correct data types checked off, tap the blue "Clear data" button at the bottom of the screen to erase everything you selected.
If prompted, confirm again that you want to delete the data. Be patient, as clearing a lot of built-up cache/cookies make take a few minutes.
Step 7 – Refresh Your Sites & Re-Login
Once the clearing process finishes, closing completely out of Chrome and reopening it essentially gives you a "fresh start". You‘ll need to re-enter login credentials in order to access any sites you were previously signed into.
You may also need to reconfigure a few personalized settings for websites you frequent often. But other than taking a minute to log back in to sites and tweak preferences, you are ready to browse with better speed, privacy, and a bunch of reclaimed storage capacity!
So in summary, clearing your Android phone‘s cache and cookies takes just a few taps and a minute or two regularly. But doing so provides immense benefits including faster page loads, better browser security, and maximum available device storage for the things you really care about like photos and videos rather than old needless cached junk. Follow these simple Android cache clearing steps above to notice big improvements in performance and privacy during everyday browsing.
Let me know if you have any other questions about effectively managing cache and cookies on your Android! I‘m always happy to chat more as a long-time Android user myself.
