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How to Clear Your App Cache on iPhone?

Clearing the cache on your iPhone is simple. It’ll only take a minute and, when done regularly can immediately improve your device performance and speed, as well as free up valuable space that can be used for any number of different actions and future downloads. We’ll give you the rundown on the steps needed to clear your iPhone app cache in the shortest possible time, across Google Chrome, Safari and all of your iPhone apps.



What is app cache & why do you need your iPhone to clear it?

You and 90% of the modern world are using your iPhone (or other mobile devices) pretty much 24/7 for a wide range of different outcomes. And, as new options hit the App Store, your phone's existing apps may become outdated or unnecessary, taking up space and limiting performance. 

That’s where app caching comes into play. Cached data are the files, images, scripts, and passwords that stay on your iPhone after visiting a website or opening an app for the first time. Their core aim is to increase data retrieval and draw up important information for later. 

But having too much data at your disposal is not always a good thing and will come at a cost to your devices speed, performance and overall storage capacity. Luckily, it’s incredibly simple to clear your cache and free up space whenever you need to. You can either offload each app individually or opt to clear your cache on Google Chrome and Safari. 


How do I clear my app cache?

To clear your iPhone app cache, you’ll need to go in and offload each app individually. Doing this will immediately free up space, and rest assured, the app's documents and data will be backed up for later. So, if you ever want to reinstall the app, you’ll be able to carry on where you left off with the least possible hassle. 

Here are the steps needed to remove your apps and clear your existing app cache. 

  • Open “Settings” on your iPhone. 
  • Select "General" and navigate to "iPhone Storage"
  • Scroll to the app you’d like to uninstall and hit "Offload App"


NB: Make sure you select “Offload App” and not the “Delete App” option below it. Deleting the app will delete your data permanently. So only select this option if you're sure you’ll no longer need the app in the future. 

You’ll find a few offloading recommendations to help automate your cache clearing in real-time. For example, the auto-deletion feature will pinpoint old messages, downloaded images, videos or similar, and give you the option to delete them on the go. 

Depending on the app, you may also find a built-in feature that allows you to clear cache directly from the app itself. Especially helpful for frequently used apps, this feature gives you the option to free up space without having to log out.

  • Open your iPhone's settings and scroll to the app itself. 
  • Open the app, and select the "Clear Cache" button.  


What happens if I clear the cache on my iPhone?

When you clear the cache on your iPhone for Safari and Chrome, all of your current data will be wiped. This includes stored images, passwords, files and scripts from all the websites you’ve visited since your last cache. For mobile apps, your cache will be removed by “offloading” the app in your iPhone settings.

When you clear the cache on Chrome or Safari, you’re able to free up space for new website URLs and scripts to be stored for easier reference and usage. Regular browser caching for iPhone helps keep your mobile browser history fresh while doing away with “old news” sites that you're unlikely to visit again. 

On the other hand, offloading your apps from time to time will clear your app cache and give you room to install new selections and features along the way. Some apps can take up as much as 10MB when downloaded, becoming ever larger as you start using them. 

When downloading a new app, it helps to check your iPhones current storage capacity before going ahead. You can do this by following the below steps. 

  • Head over to “Settings” and select “General.” From there, open “iPhone Storage.”
  • Here you’ll see an overview of the storage used and what is still available on the device. 
  • Scroll down to “Installed Apps”, to see which are using the most data.  

Always make sure you have enough space available to onboard new apps without compromising your storage capacity and mobile performance. 


Other options to clear the cache on an iPhone?

You can also choose to clear your cache, history and cookies on leading browsers like Safari and Chrome. ​​For Safari, you’ll need to follow the below simple steps. 

  • Start by opening the “Settings” option on your iPhone and selecting “Safari.” 
  • From there, tap "Clear History and Website Data." 
  • Confirm that you’d like to clear your current Safari cache, history and cookies. 


Note: A message will pop up giving you the option to clear only your cache and keep your history and cookies intact. This can be done by selecting Safari “Advanced Settings” then navigating to “Website Data” and finally selecting the option to “Remove all Website Data.”

The cache clearing process is quite similar for Chrome.

  • Open the “Settings” option on your iPhone and select the “Chrome” app. 
  • After tapping “More”, select "Clear History and Website Data" 
  • You’ll see a checkbox confirming that you want to clear cache, cookies and site data.
  • Tick the box and hit confirm to remove everything and clear your Chrome cache. 

Follow the same process for other browsers and you’ll be able to clear your cache across multiple channels seamlessly and effectively.