Is your Mac running slow and freezing while you are trying to surf your favorite websites, listen to the online radio or watch YouTube? It may be a sign that the time has come to clean a browser – cache, history, cookies, etc. This will not only reduce the chance of browser lags but also contribute greatly to the general system stability and keep your private things private. In this article, we’ll tell you how to clean browser quickly and easily, but first, let’s see…
What Data Does Browser Collect and Why?
When you surf the Internet, a lot of data is accumulated on your hard drive. As you go online every day and do zillions of various operations there, the volume of the stored information can run up to gigabytes. Generally, all this data falls into three main classes, that include cache, log, junk and temp files:
- Browsing history
The list of websites and pages visited by the user via the browser with the time of the visit and the page’s title;
- Web cache
Temporary files (for example, HTML pages or images) that should reduce bandwidth usage and speed up load time;
- Internet cookie
A small file stored on the user’s computer by the browser; it contains information about a stateful data on a website.
The major idea behind using these technologies was to make the Internet surfing faster and more convenient for a user. However, with time the emphasis shifted to the possibility to track where you go online, what you do there, show you address bar and search request predictions, manipulate search results and display targeted advertising.
Mac maintenance gurus and security experts advise clearing your Internet browser’s history, cookies, and cache periodically. It is considered that such measures help to prevent or resolve computer performance problems, increase security and retain the privacy of your personal data.
How to Clear History on Mac
There are lots of people who have never cleared website visiting history on their Mac. Many others delete it regularly. Of course, it’s totally up to you to decide which information (history, bookmarks, search requests, etc.) to keep and which to erase. The thing is because in most cases cleaning is done via your browser, it should have flexible deleting options to satisfy your needs. Luckily, the vast majority of modern browsers, including Safari, Chrome, and Firefox, can provide such flexibility.
Generally, history cleaning option is accessible in most Internet browsers via the Settings / Tools / Preferences menu. In the next step, you will be offered to either Clear history right away or select which web data you wish to erase – of course, with History included in the list of options.
If we’re talking specifically Safari, go to the Safari menu, select Clear History… and confirm the operation in the pop-up window. The peculiarity of this approach is that, as a result, you will erase not only history records but also cache and cookies. If you want to eliminate just several sites from the History, you should go to History -> Show History, right-clicking a web page in the list and then press Remove in the drop-down menu.
How to Clear Cookies on Mac
Apart from a stateful web page data, cookies are also often used to remember some pieces of information typed in by a user. This can be authentication data like names, addresses, and passwords; besides, even credit card numbers may be stored. And until you delete the cookie, your info may be vulnerable.
Like with History, cookies can be eliminated via a browser’s Settings / Tools / Preferences menu. Find a corresponding chapter there, confirm your desire to clean cookies – and you’re done. Most browsers delete all cookies at once while some of them allow you to remove individual cookie files (for example, Safari).
Please, remember that autocompleted websites’ login information (logins and passwords) may be deleted as you erase all cookies. What does that mean? It means that you are going to be logged out of sites where you’ve arranged automatic login every time you visit it.
Clearing Cache on Safari and Other Browsers
Cleaning web cache is one of the most important tasks of maintaining your Mac. If you regularly empty Internet cache, your computer is very unlikely going to lag while you’re browsing. Plus, there always will be enough of free hard drive space for great Mac performance. There are two main ways to clear cache on Safari.
Via Safari menu.
First, open Safari menu and then click on Preferences. In the window that appears, go to Privacy tab and select there Manage Website Data. Next click on Remove All and in the pop-up dialog box, confirm your action by choosing Remove Now.
Via Develop menu.
Develop is a chapter in the Safari menu and command bar, which is by default hidden from a user. It can be activated via Preferences -> Advanced -> Show Develop Menu in Menu Bar. The corresponding Develop item will appear in the menu. After that, all you should do is click on it and then select Empty Caches. At that, browsing history and cookies will remain untouched.
Regarding browsers other than Safari, you can usually find cache cleaning features in the Settings section. If you don’t see it right away, try checking out Privacy section or additional preferences tab – almost certainly, you’ll be able to clear cache from there.
MacProCleaner: Fast and Easy Way to Keep Your Mac Clean
If you don’t want to waste your time messing around with various settings in different browsers, there is a fast and easy way to accomplish the cleaning task. MacProCleaner is a comprehensive one-stop solution to take care of your precious Mac. Not only it has a broad browser cleaning functionality but also can wipe temporary files, scan registry and memory, delete apps’ leftovers, empty multiple Mac trash bins, eliminate unnecessary language files and even find duplicates. As a result, MacProCleaner allows you to free up valuable hard drive space, speed up Mac and even improve user security.