Browser cache taking up space
Whether it is a PC or a mobile phone user, the browser cache saves all the resources obtained by the user through HTTP, which can avoid repeating redundant requests to the server in the next request. In layman’s terms, after you visit a website once, all the resources such as text and pictures of this site are downloaded to the local, and the next time you visit the website, it is judged whether the cache conditions are met, and if so, you don’t need to spend any more. Time to wait for the resource to be acquired.
Browser cache is divided into two categories: strong cache and negotiation cache (comparison cache). When the browser loads a resource, it will first judge whether the strong cache is hit according to the information in the header of the locally cached resource. If it hits, it will directly use the cache. The resource will no longer send requests to the server. When the strong cache is not hit, the browser will send a request to the server, and the server will determine whether to hit the cache according to some information in the request header. If it hits, it will return 304, telling the browser that the resource has not been updated, and the local cache can be used (as shown in Figure 1).
In layman’s terms, the presence of browser caches can help reduce network latency, speed up page opening, reduce network bandwidth consumption and reduce server pressure, but the “advance” storage of various data also makes browsers take up a lot of storage. Space, over time, the cache capacity will grow like a snowball (Figure 2).
In addition to browser cache data occupying disk space, increasingly “fat” browsers themselves also occupy a lot of hardware. Microsoft said that starting with the Edge 102 version, the Edge browser has supported automatic compression of the disk cache to improve performance and reduce disk usage, but instead of passively waiting for Microsoft updates, it is better to manually clean the browser cache, and a simple operation can improve browsing. efficiency.
Quickly clear browser cache
Clearing the browser cache is a regular operation. The Microsoft system has already preset the shortcut key of “Ctrl+Shift+Delete” to clear the browser cache. Take the QQ browser as an example, press three keys at the same time in the browser interface. After that, a pop-up window of “Clear Internet Traces” will pop up. By default, options such as “Temporary Web Files”, “History Records”, and “Download Records” will be checked. Here I do not recommend that you check the “Cookies” item. The website keeps members logged in, and the convenience of use has been greatly improved.
Edge’s quick cleanup is similar, but for users who want to completely clean up the browser’s cached data, it is more thorough to enter the browser settings interface to delete it. Also take QQ browser as an example, enter “Settings – Advanced” in turn, and slide the menu to the “Cache Directory” item in the “Advanced” interface.
After clicking and copying the “cache directory” address, open and access it in the folder, then all cache files can be deleted and emptied in the recycle bin. For office workers who plan to replace their computers, it is quite necessary to completely clear their browsing traces on the old computer, and the “Cookies” item needs to be deleted at this time.
In terms of mobile browsers, the author prefers to use third-party cleaning tools directly. Take the i-manager of vivo mobile phones as an example, which has an application cleaning function itself, which can clean the browser cache, network disk cache, WPS cache and other data. Cleaning, the operation is more convenient, of course, users can also complete the cache cleaning in the settings item of the mobile browser, but the cleaning efficiency is a bit slow, but for iOS users, you can open the settings application of the iPhone or iPad , then select Safari from the application list, and then click Clear History and Website Data. When prompted, click Confirm to delete data.
In fact, in addition to browsers, many software will generate cached data during use, which can easily occupy several GB or even dozens of GB (such as WeChat, QQ) storage space for users over time. The three-party cleaning tool and developing good cleaning habits can save us a lot of storage space and improve the fluency of software use.
