If you have taken some time to check your cache, you may notice that it is full and has not been cleared out in a long time. This can slow down your computer, make it hard to get on the right version of a website, and takes up a lot of space. Some of the steps you can use to clear your cache include:
1. Clear the System Cache
You can clear the cache for your system to make things easy and clear up some space. To make that happen, do the following.
- Close up as many programs as possible. Programs that are open will use files on the Cache folder, so you will not be able to remove these if the programs are still open.
- When these are closed, go to the Finder on the Mac. This is found on the Dock bar that shows up.
- Then click Go, which is on the menu bar at the top of the screen. You should see a drop-down menu.
- Click Go to Folder from here, which should be near the bottom of the menu. This will open up a text box.
- You will need to enter the library folder path by typing in ~/Library in the box and click on Go. This can open up the Library folder and you should see a folder inside that says Caches.
- Double-Click on this before selecting the contents inside. If you want to get rid of everything, click on Command+A to get everything.
- Click on the File menu item at the top and then click to move all the items to trash. This will delete everything that you are allowed to delete.
- Empty the trash folder when you are done to really remove everything.
2. Clearing an Internet Cache
There are different browser caches that can hold onto your information and take up space too. Most of them will use a similar method to help clear the cache, so we will look at one to start.
- Click on the icon for the Safari app on your Dock.
- Click Safari on the top left corner of your screen so a drop-down menu can appear. If you see the Develop Menu here, you can click on that to make it easier and skip to the Click Empty Caches part we will get to in a moment.
- Click on Preference at the top of this drop-down window. You will see a new window open.
- Click on the Advanced Tab here. When this opens, check the box that says “Show Develop menu in menu bar”. This should be near the bottom and will add in the Develop tab to the menu bar.
- Click Develop. This is an option that is at the top of the screen. Another drop-down menu will show up.
- Click on Empty Caches button. This will automatically clear out the cache for Mac’s Safari.
With this one, keep in mind that a pop-up window is not going to show up asking for confirmation on whether you would like to clear the cache or not. Make sure that you really want to do this or not ahead of time because there is no going back.
When it is time to check your cache, you will need to make sure that you get everything cleaned up. This will help you to get your computer going faster, can clear up space in the hard drive, and will keep your information safe. To help you clear the cache, follow the steps above and see how easy this process can be for you!