How to clear the Firefox cache

Firefox Firefox Last updated: 47% of users voted this helpful

The Firefox cache temporarily stores images, scripts, and other parts of websites you visit in order to speed up your browsing experience. This article describes how to clear the cache.

Clear the cache

  1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button Fx89menuButton and select Settings.
  2. Select the Privacy & Security panel.
  3. In the Cookies and Site Data section, click Clear Data…
    • The Clear dataClear browsing data and cookies dialog will open.
    Fx91CookiesAndSiteData-ClearCacheFx128CookiesAndSiteData-ClearData-TemporaryCachedFiles
  4. On the dropdown next to When:, choose Everything. Make sure that only Cached web contentTemporary cached files and pages is checkmarked.
  5. Click the Clear button.
  6. Close the Settings page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.

Tip: Here's another way to clear the Firefox cache:

  1. Click the menu button Fx89menuButton to open the menu panel.
  2. Click History and select Clear Recent History…
  3. Next to Time range to clearWhen:, choose Everything from the drop-down menu, select CacheTemporary cached files and pages in the items list, make sure other items you want to keep are not selected and then click the Clear NowClear button.

See this article for details.

Automatically clear the cache

You can set Firefox to automatically clear the cache when Firefox closes:

  1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button Fx89menuButton 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.
    Fx100Custom-ClearHistoryWhenFirefoxCloses
  4. Select the check box for Clear history when Firefox closes.
  5. Click the Settings… button. The Settings for Clearing HistoryClear browsing data and cookies dialog will open.
    Fx100SettingsForClearingHistory-CacheFx128ClearHistoryWhenFirefoxCloses-TemporaryCachedFiles
  6. Put a check mark next to CacheTemporary cached files and pages and make sure other items you want to keep are not selected.
  7. Click OKSave Changes to close the Settings for Clearing HistoryClear browsing data and cookies dialog.
  8. Close the Settings page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.

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