When we discuss about cache files, few questions arise in mind.
- What are temporary app files?
- How do you clear the cache on Android?
- And when should you do it?
Your Android phone’s limited storage can fill up quickly. One cause of this is that the apps you use regularly create new files to store information.
These temporary data files are known as cache or temporary files, and a fair chunk of your Android phone’s storage space might be filled up with cache files. Let’s take a look at what temporary app files are and how to clear the cache on Android.
Also Read: How to recover lost contacts on Android.
What Is Cached Data?
Your phone uses the temporary data stored in cache files to quickly recall associated information when you open an app. Chrome might cache a large image on a website that you visit regularly, so it doesn’t have to download the image every time you open the page.
How cache & cookies work
- Cookies are files created by sites you visit. They make your online experience easier by saving browsing data.
- The cache remembers parts of pages, like images, to help them open faster during your next visit.
- A cache file is only useful to the associated program; In many cases, once an app decides the stored temporary information is no longer useful, it discards the accompanying cache files. Websites, apps, and games all make use of cache files to offer you a quicker browsing experience.
- The cache isn’t only used by your Android phone—it’s also a function of desktop browsers and other software. Without cache, your device would have to reload images and other elements every time you accessed them, which is inefficient.
How to Clear the Cache on Android Devices
On modern versions of Android, you need to delete the cache files for each app individually. Note that you rarely need to delete all cache across your device. In most cases, clearing the cache from a few problematic apps can resolve storage or performance issues.
Follow these steps to clear cached data for an Android app.
- Open Settings and select Storage.
- In the resulting list, tap the Other Apps entry. This will take you to a list of all the apps installed on your phone.
- Choose the app whose cache you want to clear. To see which apps are taking the most space, tap the three-dot menu in the top-right and choose Sort by size.
- On the app’s info page, tap the Clear Cache option.
- That’s all you need to do to clear the cache files for any app on your Android phone.
Note that if you tap Clear Storage instead, you’ll remove all data from the app. This essentially resets it to a fresh state, like you just installed it from the Play Store.
Older Android versions gave you the option to delete all cached files at once by going to Settings > Storage > Cached Data. From there, simply tap OK when you see the option to delete all cache files. Unfortunately, there’s no built-in way to clear all the cache on modern versions of Android.
What happens after you clear cache
Some settings on sites get deleted. For example, if you were signed in, you’ll need to sign in again.
Some sites can seem slower because content, like images, needs to load again.
If you’re signed into Chrome, you’ll stay signed in on Google’s websites, like google.com and youtube.com.
After you clear the cache files, you’ll regain some storage space and the app will continue to work as normal.
However, since you erased the data used to smooth outperformance, some elements will load more slowly next time you use the app.
While it may take some extra time to browse around at first, over time, the app will build up cache again based on your usage. Clearing cache shouldn’t log you out or cause any other major changes. You won’t lose data like game progress, browser bookmarks, or similar.
If you’d like a more thorough removal process, see out guide to wiping cache and data on Android.
Benefits of Clearing Cache
Cache files are important, and you typically don’t need to mess with them. However, it’s sometimes useful to manually remove cache files from your Android phone.
Here are a few ways that clearing the cache on Android can be helpful:
- In the short term, clearing cache helps you save storage space on your phone. But this is a temporary solution since new cache files are created all the time as you use apps.
- Sometimes, old cache files can become corrupted. When this happens, apps may run into performance problems. Deleting faulty cache files can solve these issues.
- In theory, old cache files can pose security and privacy threats. Web pages cached in your browser may contain sensitive information. If an unauthorized person accessed these files, they might be able to use them to obtain private details.
- If a browser or other app refuses to fetch the latest version of a page, clearing cache can force it to update.
Happy Reading 🙂