What are Cookies, Cache, and History?

Have you ever encountered a pop-up asking you to accept cookies while visiting a website? Cookies are files created by the websites you visit to make your browsing experience smoother by saving information as you navigate.

The browser cache remembers parts of web pages, such as images, to speed up page loading the next time you visit the same site.

Browsing history, on the other hand, is a list of all the websites you have visited in the past. To protect your privacy, it's important to clear your history periodically.

How to effectively delete your browser's cache, cookies, and history:

• Google Chrome

To start, open Chrome on your computer and click the three-dot button in the upper right corner.

Select More Tools and then Clear Browsing Data.

Make sure to tick off browsing history, download history, cookies, and other site data. You can adjust the time range by heading to Basic Settings and selecting from the drop-down menu.

For a full cleanse, select All Time, then hit the Clear Data button.

• Safari

In Safari, go to the top menu and choose History > Clear History.

Select the desired time period and click Clear History to erase your browsing history and cache.

• Mozilla Firefox

For Firefox users, click on the hamburger menu at the top right corner, then choose Privacy and Security from the left panel. Scroll down to Cookies and Site Data, check the box that says Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed, and click Clear Data.

Note: After clearing your browser's cache, cookies, and history, you may have to log in again to some sites, but the improvement in performance is worth the inconvenience. Get ready for a faster, more efficient computer.