Macs have been bringing computing pleasure to millions of people for decades, and they have influenced designs for the whole industry. They are sleek and iconic, and they have spearheaded design innovation.
They do sadly collect digital junk in the form of cache and cookie files which over time slows down your Mac.
Let’s take a deep dive into how to remove these unneeded files for a better computing experience.
There are in essence three categories of cache and cookie files we need to pay attention to. They are:
• Browser cache
• System cache
• App, sometimes called user cache.
We’re going to look at the browser cache.
The Quick Way to Keep Cache and Cookies at Bay
The easiest way to keep your Mac optimized is to use a dedicated tool. The good news is there are powerful apps that have been developed to do this. The better tools will handle every aspect of maintenance and suggest a good cache cleaner, keeping your Mac clutter-free.
To clear cookies and other data manually, follow these steps:
Safari
To clear the cache:
• Open Safari and go to Preferences
• Select the Advanced tab, and enable the Show Develop menu
• Under the Develop section click on empty caches
To clear cookies
• Open Safari and go to Preferences
• Click Privacy
• Go to Removed stored cookies and data
• Click Manage Website Data and either click Remove All or select specific sites and Click Remove
You also have a range of options to prevent cookies from appearing in the first place.
For more information visit App Support.
Chrome
• In Chrome click the three vertical dots then Settings
• Choose History and Clear browsing data
• Choose ‘the beginning of time’ from the dropdown box at the top
• Tick ‘Cached images and files’, ‘Cookies and other plugin data’, and if you want privacy ‘Browsing history’
• Click the ‘Clear browsing data’ button
Firefox
• Click History and Clear Recent History
• In the Time Range dropdown choose ‘Everything’
• Expand the Details Arrow and tick cache and cookies. Untick everything else
• Click the Clear Now button
If cache and cookies slow down your Mac why are they there?
Both cache and cookies are useful to your Mac computing experience. Here’s what they do:
Cache
Cache data is collected every time you use an app, switch on your Mac, and visit a website. This data is remembered and used by your Mac to make the system run faster. With a website, the cache helps web pages load faster. So all good.
Problems occur when the cache files become outdated and when this happens conflicts occur that slows down the load times of a webpage.
Cookies
Cookie files are collected every time you visit a website. They are used in a variety of ways from identifying your website preferences and targeting ads accordingly. They are also used to store passwords so you have a more seamless browsing experience.
Keeping both cookies and cache under control will improve your Mac’s performance and your life and there are good automated tools to make the maintenance process simple.
