How to clear the Firefox cache

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. Click the menu button New Fx Menu Fx57Menu and select Options.Preferences.
  2. Select the Privacy & Security panel.
  3. In the Cookies and Site Data section, click Clear Data….
    Fx60Cookies&SiteData-ClearCache
  4. Remove the check mark in front of Cookies and Site Data.
  5. With Cached Web Content check marked, click the Clear button.
  6. Close the about:preferences page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.
Tip: Here's another way to clear the Firefox cache:
Click the Library button 57 library icon , click History and click Clear Recent History…. Next to Time range to clear, choose Everything from the drop-down menu, select Cache in the items list, make sure other items you want to keep are not selected and then click the Clear Now button. See this article for details.

Automatically clear the cache

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

  1. Click the menu button New Fx Menu Fx57Menu and select Options.Preferences.
  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.
    Fx60HistorySettings-UseCustom Fx63CustomHistory
  4. Select the check box for Clear history when Firefox closes.
    Fx60Custom-ClearHistoryWhenFirefoxCloses
  5. Beside Clear history when Firefox closes, click the Settings… button. The Settings for Clearing History window will open.
  6. In the Settings for Clearing History window, put a check mark next to Cache.
    SettingsForClearingHistoryFX42bd
  7. Click OK to close the Settings for Clearing History window.
  8. Close the about:preferences page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.
Tip: There are several add-ons available that will allow you to clear the cache using an icon on your toolbar. Go to the Mozilla Add-ons Web Page to do a search. The Mozilla community is not responsible for maintaining and supporting third-party add-ons. Please contact the add-on developer directly if you need assistance with an add-on.

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