Tokyo, 27 June, /AJMEDIA/
Just like on a PC, every now and again it’s good to clear out junk files on your Android phone. Clearing out the cookies and cache on your Android phone’s web browser is a good way to get rid of a lot of that, as it’s likely to have built up over the course of visiting many different websites every day. Whether your phone uses Google Chrome, Firefox or Samsung Internet, your browser collects and stores data every time you surf the web. This information makes up your cookies and cache, and it helps your phone speedily log in to your accounts and load frequently visited sites.
But this data eventually builds up, taking up space on your phone while also probably including cookies that are tracking your browsing history with the intention of serving personalized advertising. (I’ve been seeing ads for eyeglasses after visiting a few online stores to compare prices and styles, as well as for cruise vacations after eyeing a few possible getaways.)
It doesn’t hurt to occasionally clear this data out in order to keep your web browser lean, running efficiently and, ideally, storing as few tracking cookies as possible.
On Android, the steps differ slightly depending on the type of phone and web browser app you’re using, so below we’ll go over how to clear this data for Google Chrome browser (often the default for many Android phones like the Google Pixel line), Samsung’s Internet browser (often the default on the Galaxy phone series) and Mozilla’s Firefox browser. You can also check out our separate guide on how to clear your cache on an iPhone web browser in case you have a few Apple devices to clear out, too.
Google Chrome
You can delete your cookies and cache from within the Android version of Google Chrome by first tapping the More button in the top right corner of the browser, indicated by a column of three dots, then tapping History, then Clear browsing data. You can also access this from the Chrome Settings menu, tapping Privacy and Security and then Clear browsing data.
Chrome also offers Basic and Advanced settings for clearing your Browsing history, Cookies and site data and Cached images and files. You can use the Time range drop-down to select whether you want to delete the entire history or a selection of anywhere from the past 24 hours up to the last four weeks. Tapping Advanced will also give you access to deleting Saved passwords, Autofill form data and Site settings. After selecting what you want to delete, tap the blue Clear data button. You might receive an additional prompt in the event Chrome deems certain websites as being “important” to you, and if so you’ll get the chance to confirm before clearing. Otherwise if you do not receive that prompt, Chrome will immediately proceed to clear as you instructed.