Internet browsing the automatic and invisible recording of a multitude of data that ends up cluttering your storage space and slowing down your device. Better to erase regularly.
Displaying a simple web page is a heavier and more complex operation than it seems. Text with sophisticated formatting, style sheets, dynamic buttons and menus, high definition images and videos, are all elements that make websites pleasant to use and visually attractive. But also very heavy to load.
To speed up the display of web pages, your Internet browser records a good part of these items during your first visit, and stores them directly on your computer, in a sort of reserve called a “cache”. Thus, during subsequent visits, the browser recovers the elements from your PC, rather than downloading them again.
This mechanism is particularly practical, because it greatly accelerates the loading of web pages, lightens the load on servers hosting websites and reduces data consumption on limited connections. However, the cache can accumulate an excessive amount of data, which ends up making it counterproductive. When it is too full, it can slow down your navigation or even cause bugs on certain web pages. Finally, the cache may contain confidential data, which poses confidentiality problems on certain sites.
Obviously, the cover of your internet browser does not grow indefinitely, which would eventually occupy the entire storage of your PC. It empties regularly and automatically to make room for new data. But he can still occupy a lot of space, and there is no point in making a manual “emptying” from time to time.
The operation is very simple, only takes a few seconds and has no risk for your computer. On most browsers, you can empty the hidden from Parametersoften in a section entitled Navigation data. You can refer to our detailed article to find out the procedure on Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
Beware, however, of a small subtlety: in addition to the hiddenTHE navigation data often contain your cookies and your Connection identifiers. If you erase this information, you will be disconnected from most of your favorite sites, and you will have to reconnect manually during your next visit, which can be painful.
Fortunately, all Internet browsers allow you to choose the information to be erased in navigation data. Thus, to avoid this inconvenience, simply think of unchecking the boxes Cookies And Passwords Before deleting navigation data! As for theNavigation historyIt is up to you to see if you want to keep the addresses of the pages you have consulted: keep it if you want to easily find sites, and erase it if you prefer that no one knows what you have consulted.