What is cache in Android. How to clear the cache on your phone using Clean Master? Getting rid of unnecessary files using third-party programs

When we prepare our website for presentation to the audience, we try to work out every little detail. The appropriate font, social button design, logo, and color combination all need to be thought through and implemented.

However, whatever the visual design, the technical characteristics are much more important, and one of the most significant is performance. It is to improve this parameter that webmasters set up caching.

Acting as ordinary users, we do not encounter problems setting up caching of our resource. However, situations often arise when you need to know how to clear your browser cache. This article will discuss when and how to do this.

What is browser cache

Traveling across the World Wide Web, we visit a huge number of sites where we view text, pictures, and videos. When a web page is opened in a browser for the first time, all information ( text and graphic) is downloaded from the server on which the resource is located.

If the webmaster has configured caching, then after the first viewing the data will be saved in a special section on the hard drive of the user’s computer ( this section is called the browser cache).

You can evaluate the possibilities that a cache provides by observing the most common occurrence - loading the main page of a resource using the mobile Internet. Type any query in the search and follow one of the links. When the web resource page loads, go back and follow the link again.

The main page of the site will appear on the screen much faster. The reason for this is as follows: the browser loads data from a cache that is located in the memory of your device, which, you see, is much closer than a server far away.

It is also worth noting that not all site content is cached. Cache settings are set by each webmaster at his own discretion. If the information resource is created using a CMS ( WordPress, Joomla, Drupal), then the developer, as a rule, has access to ready-made caching solutions in the form of plugins ( which have standard settings and often do not need additional settings).

In the WordPress CMS, for example, the WP Super Cache and W3 Total Cache plugins have gained wide popularity.

When you clear the cache, you delete all graphic and text data received from previously visited sites. That is, when loading pages of information resources, the browser will again take all data directly from the server.

Now that it has become clear what it means to clear the browser cache, let’s look at the reasons for the need to perform such a procedure:

Why clear the cache

When you are faced with the development of an information resource, clearing the cache is such a familiar and regular procedure that it is carried out absolutely “automatically” ( because the site changes all the time, and the result needs to be seen immediately).

If you consider yourself as a user, then in this case the need to clear the cache arises much less often. However, without deleting the cache, you will not see many updates on sites ( After some time, of course, you will see, but this could be a month, or maybe six months, depending on how long the site cache is stored by the webmaster).

Also, do not forget that copies of pages saved by the browser have some weight. In addition, each browser has its own cache, that is, by opening a web resource in Google Chrome and then in Firefox, you will create 2 copies of the same pages on your computer. And if thousands of sites are visited, and the cache has not been cleared for several months, then the space occupied by the copies will be quite significant.

Clear cache in different browsers

Let's look at deleting the cache in some of today's popular browsers:

• Internet Explorer:

We go to the browser menu, and then look for the “Service” item. Click " Delete browsing history", and in the window that appears, put a tick just opposite the item " Temporary Internet files" Click “Delete”.

• Mozilla Firefox:

Go to the menu and select “Settings”. Open the “Advanced” tab and look for the “Network” item in it. Turning to the contents, we see, among other things, the inscription “ Cached Web Content", opposite which there is a button " Clear now". Click on the coveted button and the process is completed.

• Google Chrome:

In order to clear the cache in the Chrome browser, go to the menu and open the “Tools” item. Click on " Show advanced settings", then click on " Clear history" If you need to clear the entire cache, then indicate the period “All time”, and put a checkmark only opposite the item “ Images and other files stored in the cache" Click on " Clear history».

• Opera:

Go to the “Settings” section, click on “Security”. Click on " Clear browsing history", and in the section " Destroy the following items"You should select "From the very beginning" ( if we want to clear the entire cache). Just check the box next to “Clear cache" and click on " Clear history" The process is complete.

• Yandex.Browser:

In order to clear the cache in Yandex Browser, go to the menu and select the “Tools” tab. Go to " Deleting browsing data».

To clear the entire cache, in the drop-down list next to " Remove the following items"Select "All time". Just check the box next to “Clear cache” and click on the button “ Clear history».

Thus, clearing the cache allows you to free up space on your computer’s hard drive, so don’t be lazy and make a few mouse clicks.

If you look into the details of any application in the Android operating system, you will notice two buttons there - clear cache and erase data. But do you know what the difference is between these two elements, and in what cases you need to use one and the other? We will talk about this later in this article.

Clearing cache

Android applications often download data from the Internet during their operation. For example, images. And these pictures go into the cache, so that during subsequent launches it does not load the Internet channel, but shows the already loaded picture from the local device. This significantly speeds up the process of displaying information on the screen, because the application does not need to contact the server for the image, and then download and display it. In this case, the application immediately takes the picture from the cache (storage) and shows it to you. If you use mobile Internet, this will also save a significant amount of traffic, which is important on package tariffs.

But sometimes there are cases when the cached data does not match the data on the network. In other words, an old picture is reserved on your device and it is different from the one that is currently on the server. In other cases, it happens that the cache of some program is full and this can cause the application to slow down. In these cases, you can clear the cache.

To do this, open:

• Settings
• Applications
• Select the program you are interested in
• Storage
• Clear cache

I'm showing an example running Android 7.1.2 on a Nexus 5X. On your phone, the items may be named slightly differently, or the cleaning buttons may not be located in a separate “Storage” sub-item, but immediately after selecting an application from the list. It all depends on the specific model and version of the Android operating system.

Removing program data

As you use apps, they download various data to your device, which is then used to run the program. Let's look at the example of a navigator application. When you download the program, it doesn't know what area you are in. After installation, it determines your location and loads the current version of the navigation map. This is necessary so that the program shows you the route as quickly as possible, and does not download it from the Internet.

In some cases, it may happen that some data has lost its relevance. For example, you moved to another city, the application downloaded the current map of your new location, but the old map remained stored in your phone. At the same time, cards often take up quite a lot of space. Therefore, it is better to delete outdated data. This can sometimes be done in the application settings, or you can use a general deletion of all data (then the application will download fresh, relevant data again).

To do this, open:

• Settings
• Applications
• Select the program you are interested in
• Storage
• Erase data

Remember that it does not make sense to permanently delete all data. This will slow down the application, increase Internet traffic and make the application generally inconvenient to use. Therefore, it is best to resort to such cleaning only if necessary or if any problems arise.

What does it mean to clear the cache on your phone? This question is often asked by smartphone users. Each application is configured in such a way as to minimize the load on the operating system and at the same time work quickly. To do this, some files are installed on the memory card. Do I need to periodically clear the cache? Everyone's personal business. However, you must understand that when the storage is full, the device may malfunction. Also, when installing new applications, you may run out of memory.

In some phones, the manufacturer has already provided a way to clear the cache in the settings. However, there are also models in which this cannot be done quickly. Let's look at a few ways.

On the phone through the settings menu? In order to speed up the operation of the device, you will need to delete mobile browser files. The user must go to the WAP section through the main menu. In it, find the “Settings” item and activate the “Clear cache memory” command. After this, it is recommended to go back and select the “Delete cookies” line, which can also slow down the operation of the gadget.

Opera

How can I clear the cache on my phone if the fourth or fifth version of the Opera browser is installed? For this procedure you need to enter the settings. Then find the Settings Privacy tab. In it, select the Delete history and Delete cookies commands.

If Opera mini is installed on your phone, then you need to use a different method. From the “Tools” tab, go to “Options”. In it, find the “Clear cookies” command and activate it. When finished, reboot the device.

HTC Sensation

How to clear cache on HTC Sensation? The above methods are not suitable for this model. The user needs to perform the following algorithm of actions. Go to the menu through the main screen. In it, select the “Memory” tab. After which a list will open, in which there will be an item “Internal storage”. Here activate the “Free up more space” link. Next, the user will be presented with a list of applications where it is necessary to clear the cache. Having made your choice, confirm with the “Next” button. The system will then execute the programmed command.

Google Play app

Nowadays, most smartphone owners often use Google Play. For this reason, you need to know how to clear the cache of not only the application, but also the download manager. These actions are performed in the settings menu. It opens the “Applications” item and selects the “Manage Applications” tab. To display all programs installed on the phone, the user must click the "All" button. In the list that opens, check the box next to Google Play and activate the commands: the first is “Erase data”, the second is “Delete cache”. This algorithm is also used to clean download manager files.

How to clear the cache on your phone using Clean Master?

To clear the cache, advanced users recommend using the mobile version of the popular CCleaner program. The application has a wide range of options. In addition to clearing memory, you can close all applications running to monitor battery consumption, etc.

How to use the application?

• Install on your smartphone.
• Launch the utility.
• Enter the “Garbage” item.
• Activate the "Clear" command.

Cache Clear - program for clearing cache memory

How to clear the cache on your phone using the Cache Clear program?

• Download the application to your device.
• Open the program.
• To quickly clear, select the “All” command.
• Confirm action.

If you need to clear the cache in only a few applications, then instead of the “All” command, click on the “Cache” button. In the list that opens on the screen, select specific programs and activate the “Clean” link.

Cache Clear has an automatic option - “Auto Cleanup”. It allows you to program the time interval after which the device will clear the cache without user intervention.

Therefore, sometimes it is still worth clearing the cache. This, in turn, will reduce the performance and speed of applications, but will free up a couple of hundred megabytes for other data.

What is the cache like in Android?

Android has three types of cache, depending on which applications create it. And it is stored in different places.

The first is the Dalvik virtual machine cache. It’s called Dalvik-cache. It is stored in its own section in the internal memory of the device. Cleaning it is a problematic, but safe task.

The second is the cache of system applications and the Android operating system itself. It is also stored in its own place - the /cache partition in the internal memory. Being a system cache, this cache also stores a huge amount of important data, and clearing it can lead to problems with the functionality of the device and installed applications, as well as created accounts.

The third is a cache of user applications (that is, those that were installed by the device owner). It is stored on the memory card or internal memory. And it can be cleaned completely painlessly.

System and Dalvik cache

It is better not to touch the cache of system applications, the operating system and the Dalvik virtual machine. Not much data is stored there - within a few tens of megabytes. But if you really want to clean it without restoring it to the factory state, then you need to go into recovery and in this menu select wipe / cache and wipe / dalvik-cache.

User cache

The easiest way is to clear the user cache. On modern versions of the Android operating system (4.4 and older) there is even a special button for this. It is located in the “Settings” application, in the “Memory” menu, in the “Cache” item. Just click on it and the system will offer to clear temporary files of all applications.

In earlier versions of Android, you will have to clear the cache of each application individually. To do this, you need to go to “Settings”, select “Applications” there and click on any application on the screen that opens.

In the application management menu you can find the “Cache” item, and there, in turn, you can find the “Clear cache” button.

Where is the user cache stored in Android

The cache of user applications is stored on the internal storage or on a memory card. A separate folder is allocated for it - Android. But it's not worth it delete it immediately! It also stores application data.

There are two more folders in it - /data and /obb.

The fact is that application data comes in two types - divided into separate files and packaged into a kind of archive. File-by-file files are stored in /data. Archived – packaging is carried out in a special format.obb – in the /obb folder. Therefore, for example, installing games with a cache involves copying the cache to the /obb folder.

The name of each folder in these directories corresponds to the full name of the application (which looks like com.android.google.vending or similar - the name is different for each application). And if suddenly some application has already been uninstalled from the device, but the folder with its information remains, you can safely delete it.

Should I delete the cache?

Deleting the cache is a procedure that is more useless than necessary. It allows you to temporarily clear a couple of hundred megabytes of data. However, they will still be created later. But at the same time, the smoothness of operation and application performance will decrease, in contrast to the volume of transferred data - it will increase.

Android allows you to manage installed applications. One option is to clear program data, and another is to clear the cache. What is the difference between these actions?

No operating system is perfect. Of course, this also applies to Android. The same can be said for apps, which can sometimes not work properly. In this situation, you may need to install them again, clear cache or delete application data. But which of these solutions is better and what is the difference?

Clearing cache in Android

Cache memory in other words is called improvised memory. It is used by all applications, devices and computer programs. The cache stores important files and information that allows programs to run faster. For example - The browser stores computer cache files of web pages in this way. This way they load much faster than the first time. This also applies to Android OS.

Clearing the cache memory will only delete data from the phone's memory. However, the most important information, such as settings or registration data, still remains. This is the simplest method, but it is often enough to restore the application. However, you need to take into account that the first launch after emptying the cache may take a little longer.

Clearing app data

Clearing app data represents a more radical step. When clearing the cache, saved settings or registration data remain in place, but if the data is deleted, they disappear. This is similar to reinstalling the application. After clearing the data of an application such as Facebook, again you will have to enter your login and install all the plugins according to your preferences.

This is the second step that can be taken in a situation where the application does not want to work properly. In the vast majority of cases this should be sufficient. If not, you can try deleting the application and installing it again. But the best thing to do is clear the cache, data, and then try the installation again.

Conclusion

Clearing cache and application data can also be useful if you are low on internal disk space. Some apps, such as Facebook, Spotify, or podcast apps, start to take up a lot of space over time, and this action frees up space. Please note that clearing the memory will delete all data, such as offline saved music.