Postgraduate Applications Centre - Delete Temporary files

When you visit a website, your browser will usually keep a copy of the files (in what is called a cache) it downloaded to show you that internet page. This is done to save the browser from having to download that webpage again if you visit it again soon. This decreases the loading times and saves on network bandwidth, however, it means that you may be looking at an out-of-date webpage. Therefore, if something is not working as expected, it's often a good idea to delete your temporary internet files to ensure that you are not having problems related to viewing cached data.

Below are instructions for deleting your temporary Internet files with the most popular browsers.

Download Internet Explorer Internet Explorer

  1. Internet Explorer 8.x
    1. From the main menu bar along the top of the window, select "Tools > Internet Options".
    2. Under the tab "General", there's a section called "Browsing History". Click the button named "Delete...".
    3. Make sure that the following are selected/ticked:
      • Temporary Internet Files
      • Cookies
      • History
    4. Click Delete.
    5. Click OK.
    6. Shutdown Internet Explorer and re-open it to complete the deletion.
  2. Internet Explorer 7.x
    1. From the main menu bar along the top of the window, select "Tools > Internet Options"
    2. Under the tab "General", there's a section called "Browsing History". Click the button named "Delete...".
    3. In the box that popped up, click the button under the heading "Temporary Internet Files" called "Delete Files...".
    4. Near the end of the tab, there is a button entitled "Delete All", click this.
    5. Click "Yes" to confirm.
    6. Then click "Close" on the delete pop-up.
    7. Then click "OK".
    8. Shutdown Internet Explorer and re-open it to complete the deletion.
  3. Internet Explorer 6.x
    1. From the main menu bar along the top of the window, select "Tools > Internet Options"
    2. Under the tab "General", there is a section called "Temporary Internet Files". Click the button named "Delete Cookies"
    3. Click "OK" to confirm.
    4. There is also a button named "Delete Files", Click this also.
    5. Click "OK" to confirm.
    6. Near the end of the "General Tab", there is a section called "History", Click the button named "Clear History".
    7. Click "Yes" to confirm.
    8. Click "OK" to exit out of the options section
    9. Shutdown Internet Explorer and re-open it to complete the deletion.

Download Firefox Firefox

  1. Firefox 4.x
    1. Click the Firefox tab (top left hand corner of page), select "Options > Options"
    2. Then select the fifth tab called "Privacy".
    3. Click on the blue link in the middle of tab "clear your recent history"
    4. Click on the Details to expand the tab
    5. Make sure that the following are selected/ticked:
      • Browsing & Download History
      • Cookies
      • Cache
    6. Then click "Clear Now"
    7. Click OK.
    8. Shutdown Mozilla firefox and re-open it to complete the deletion
  2. Firefox 3.x
    1. From the main menu bar along the top of the window, select "Tools > Options..."
    2. Then select the fifth tab called "Privacy".
    3. Click on the blue link in the middle of tab "clear your recent history"
    4. Click on the Details to expand the tab
    5. Make sure that the following are selected/ticked:
      • Browsing & Download History
      • Cookies
      • Cache
    6. Then click "Clear Now"
    7. Click OK.
    8. Shutdown Mozilla firefox and re-open it to complete the deletion
  3. Firefox 2.x
    1. From the main menu bar along the top of the window, select "Tools > Options..."
    2. Then select the fifth tab called "Privacy".
    3. There are 3 sections, the 3rd section being "Private Data", from here, click "Settings"
    4. Another window will popup, click "Clear All Information"
    5. Ensure all checkboxes are ticked and click "OK" once to be brought back to the Options Window
    6. Underneath the "Settings" button, Click the button named "Clear Now..."
    7. In the window that pops up, make sure all boxes are ticked and click the button named "Clear Private Data Now"
    8. Click "OK" to exit out of the options section
    9. Shutdown Mozilla firefox and re-open it to complete the deletion
  4. Firefox 1.x
    1. From the main menu bar along the top of the window, select "Tools > Options..."
    2. Then select the second tab on the left called "Privacy".
    3. On the bottom righthand side of the screen, click the button named "Clear All"
    4. Another window will popup, click "Clear All Information"
    5. Click "OK" to exit out of the options section
    6. Shutdown Mozilla firefox and re-open it to complete the deletion

Download Safari Safari

  1. Safari 5.x
    1. Click the Tools menu, to the right hand side of the screen (the small icon in the top right hand corner of the page).
    2. Scroll down and select "Reset Safari".
    3. Make sure that the following are selected/ticked:
      • Clear History.
      • Empty Cache.
      • Remove all Cookies.
    4. Click on "Reset".
    5. Shutdown Safari and re-open it to complete the deletion.
  2. Safari 4.x
    1. From the main menu bar along the top of the window, select "Safari"
    2. Scroll down and select "Reset Safari".
    3. Make sure that the following are selected/ticked:
      • Clear History
      • Empty Cache
      • Remove all Cookies.
    4. Click on "Reset"
    5. Shutdown Safari and re-open it to complete the deletion.
  3. Safari 3.x
    1. From the main menu bar along the top of the window, select "Edit > Empty Cache..."
    2. Then click "Empty".

    Download Opera Opera

    1. From the main menu bar along the top of the window, select "Tools > Preferences..."
    2. Then select the tab named "Advanced".
    3. Select "History" from the list down the left-hand side.
    4. Then, at the end of line starting "Disk Cache", there is a button named "Empty Now". Click on it.
    5. Then click "OK".

    4. Download Google Chrome Google Chrome

    1. Google Chrome 3.0.195
      1. Click the Tools menu, to the right hand side of the screen.
      2. Select Options.
      3. Click the Under the Hood tab and find the "Privacy" section.
      4. In the "Cookie settings" section, click Show cookies.
        • To delete all cookies, click Remove all.
        • To delete a specific cookie, select the site that issued the cookie, then click Remove.
      5. Click Close when you're done.
    2. Google Chrome 1 and 2
      1. Click the Tools menu, to the right hand side of the screen.
      2. Select Options.
      3. Click the Personal Stuff tab.
      4. Click Clear browsing data.
      5. Select the checkboxes for the types of information you wish to remove.
      6. Use the "Clear data from this period" menu to select the amount of data you want to delete.
      7. Click Clear Browsing Data.