Your cache and browsing history in Internet Explorer can sometimes help you out; they remember where you’ve been and what you’ve done on the Internet. However, websites, hackers, and other eavesdroppers could use the information in these two things to track your Internet activity. That’s why, once in a while, it’s a good idea to clear this information out and make yourself harder to track online.
For more on what your cache and browsing history are all about, and why they should be erased every once in a while, check out our What is a Cache and Internet Browsing History and How to Clear a Cache and Internet Browsing History tutorials.
How to delete your cache and browsing history on Internet Explorer
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Open your Internet Explorer web browser by double-clicking on its icon.
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Click the “Tools” icon in the top-right corner, move your mouse cursor over Safety, and click Delete Browsing History.
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If you have the Menu Toolbar enabled, you can also click the Tools menu, and then click Delete Browsing History.
(HINT: You can also get here with a keyboard shortcut by holding down the “Control” and “Shift” keys, and then pressing the “Delete” key.)
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A new window will pop up with options for what kinds of Internet data you want to delete. Notice that “Temporary Internet Files and Website Files” (i.e. your cache) and “History” are two of those options.
Click the check boxes beside the types of data that you want deleted, or — if they’re already marked — click them again to unmark them and tell Internet Explorer that you don’t want those files deleted.
In addition, if you don’t want temporary Internet files deleted that are related to websites that you have bookmarked as “Favorites”, make sure the box next to “Preserve Favorites Website Data” is checked.
When you’re ready, click Delete. Note that this will delete ALL data that you have selected; unlike certain other browsers, you can’t choose to delete only files from a certain time period.
Now you know how to clear out your cache and browsing history in Internet Explorer! Next, we’ll cover a closely-related topic: how to delete your cookies in Internet Explorer.
