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Q. How do I clear my browser cache in Firefox?

Answered By: Beth Juhl
Last Updated: May 17, 2023     Views: 12740

By default, your web browser stores cookies and other information about sites you visit. Clearing your browser cache is often the easiest way to fix connection issues with library databases.

To clear your cache in Firefox

  1. Click on the menu button Firefox menu icon hamburger to open the menu panel.
  2. Click History and select Clear Recent History….
  3. Next to Time range to clear, choose Everything from the drop-down menu, select Cache in the items list, make sure other items you want to keep are not selected and then click the OK button.

Tell Firefox to always clear the cache (optional)

You can also set Firefox to automatically clear the cache when Firefox closes at the end of each session.

  1. Click the menu button Firefox menu icon and select Settings.
  2. Select the Privacy & Security panel and go to the History section.
  3. In the drop-down menu next to Firefox will, choose Use custom settings for history.
  4. Select the check box for Clear history when Firefox closes.image screen capture clear history when Firefox closes
  5. Beside Clear history when Firefox closes, click the Settings button. The Settings for Clearing History window will open.
  6. In the Settings for Clearing History window, put a check mark next to Cache.

Screen capture settings for clearing history Firefox

  1. Click OK to close the Settings for Clearing History window.
  2. Close the about:preferences page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.
  • For more information on the other options, see Delete browsing, search and download history on Firefox linked below.

A note about site passwords: If you use the Firefox Password Manager option, your saved passwords are not usually deleted when you clear your browser history of cookies and cache. However, to use Password Manager, you cannot also have the History setting Clear history when Firefox closes. You must instead use custom History settings (see below link).