It’s easy to clear your cache on an iPhone. If you need to free up memory or want to give your iPhone a little speed boost, clearing your cache is a great and effortless way of doing this. Basically, the cache is your iPhone’s store of memory for specific apps, including the Safari browser and third-party apps such as Facebook, Spotify, and Tinder.
However, before you begin clearing your iPhone cache, take note that doing so will erase the data for any app whose cache you clear. This is what clearing your cache on an iPhone means: You delete data stored by apps. In many cases, your apps need this data to function properly, or to at least remember your preferences, settings, and any files you’ve saved to them. As such, before you clear the cache for any iPhone app, consider whether or not you may actually need its data.
How to clear your cache on an iPhone: Safari
First of all, you can free up memory and help your iPhone’s performance by clearing Safari’s cache. Here’s how you can do this:
Step 1: Go to Settings > Safari. Scroll down and tap Clear History and Website Data, then tap Clear History and Data.
Step 2: Next go to Settings > Safari. When in the Safari Settings menu, scroll down to the bottom and tap Advanced > Website Data. Lastly, tap Remove All Website Data and then Remove Now.
This clears your Safari cache on iPhone. Remember, this will get rid of website data, browsing history, and website cookies, so if you want to preserve any of these, consider deleting your cache for third-party apps instead, as described below.
How to clear your cache on an iPhone: Third-party apps
Next, you can clear cached data for apps other than Safari, which includes native and third-party apps. Essentially, this involves either deleting an app outright, or deleting an app to clear its data and then reinstalling it again. Either way, here’s what you have to do:
Step 1: Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage. Scroll down to the list of apps and tap on one that you want to clear.
Step 2: Next, tap Delete App. Tap Delete App again to confirm.
Step 3: If you want to reinstall the app (without the documents and data you’ve just deleted), go to the App Store and reinstall it.
Follow the above process for as many apps as you’d like to clear. Again, make sure you’re not clearing the cache of anything you actually would prefer to keep.
Temporary files and cleaner apps
There are two other things you can do to clear the cache of your iPhone. The first is simply to restart your iPhone, something which clears certain temporary files and other short-term data held by apps.
Restarting your iPhone varies a little according to which model you have. Regardless, you have to press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Slide to Power Off slider appears. On the iPhone 6 and later models, the Sleep/Wake button will be on the right-hand side of the iPhone. On the original iPhone SE, iPhone 5S, and earlier models, you’ll find the Sleep/Wake button at the top.
Aside from restarting your iPhone, you can clear the cache of your iPhone (as well as other unnecessary files) by downloading a cleaner app. If you follow all of the steps above, you shouldn’t really need to do this — and we tend not to recommend anything that isn’t available on Apple’s App Store. Not being on Apple’s App Store is a red flag, so make sure you thoroughly research any third-party cleaner apps, and keep in mind these are tried at your own risk.
By taking all of the actions described above and clearing your iPhone’s cache, you should find that you not only free up plenty of storage space, but that your iPhone runs a little more smoothly.