United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

FAQ: Clearing the Cache on Your Web Browser

Question: Why and how should I clear the cache on my web browser?
Answer:

Clearing the cache on your web browser may improve web page download time and the performance of NLM products.

For instructions on how to clear the cache, click the link of your browser type below:

Internet Explorer 6.x
Internet Explorer 7.x
Firefox 2.x

Internet Explorer 6.x:

(Note: Do not delete the "cookies" for DOCLINE and My NCBI.)

  1. Select Internet Options from the Tools pull-down menu.
  2. Click the General tab.
    • On the middle of this page is the Temporary Internet Files section.
    • Click the Delete Files button.
  3. You will then be prompted by the dialog box, Delete files.
    • In this dialog box, you are asked if you wish to Delete all files in the Temporary Internet Files folder.
    • Click the OK button.
  4. On the bottom of this page is the History section.
  5. Click the Clear History button.
  6. You will then be prompted by the dialog box, Internet Properties.
    • In this dialog box, you are asked if you wish to Delete all files in your History folder.
    • Click the OK button.
  7. Click the OK button on the General tab screen.

Internet Explorer 7.x:

(Note: Do not delete the "cookies" for DOCLINE and My NCBI.)

  1. Select Internet Options from the Tools pull-down menu.
  2. Click the General tab.
    • On the middle of this page is the Browsing history section.
    • Click the Delete button.
  3. The Delete Browsing History dialog box will display.
    • In the Temporary Internet Files section, click the Delete files button.
    • In this dialog box, you are asked - Are you sure you want to delete all temporary Internet Explorer files?.
    • Click the Yes button.
  4. On the middle of this page is the History section.
    • Click the Delete history button.
    • In this dialog box, you are asked - Are you sure you want to delete your history of visited websites?
    • Click the Yes button.
  5. Click the Close button.
  6. Click the OK button on the General tab screen to close the Internet Options window.

Firefox 2.x:

(Note: Do not delete the "cookies" for DOCLINE and My NCBI.)

  1. From the main menu, select Tools, then select Options.
  2. In the Options menu, click on the Privacy tab.
  3. In the Private Data section, click on Settings.
  4. The Cache box should be checked.
  5. Click on OK.
  6. Click on the Clear Now button.

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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/cache.html

Last reviewed: 11 August 2008
Last updated: 11 August 2008
First published: 15 October 2001
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanence Not Guaranteed