How do I open settings?

Tap the Settings app on your iPhone home screen (it looks like a gray square with gears). If you can't find it, swipe down from the middle of your home screen and type "Settings" in the search bar.

How do I scroll down and tap safari?

In Settings, scroll down until you see "Safari". It has a compass icon and is usually listed alphabetically with other apps. Tap it to open Safari's settings.

How do I tap clear history and website data?

Scroll down within Safari settings until you see "Clear History and Website Data" in blue text. Tap it. A confirmation dialog will appear at the bottom of the screen. Read the warning — it will tell you what will be cleared.

How do I confirm the clear?

In the confirmation dialog, choose a time range: "Last hour," "Today," "Today and yesterday," or "All history." Choose "All History" if you want a complete clean slate, or choose a shorter range if you only want to clear recent data. Then tap "Clear History" to confirm.

How do I log back into your most-used websites?

Open Safari and visit your most important websites — your bank, email, Facebook, Amazon, and so on. You'll need to log back in with your username and password. If Safari offers to save a password, tap "Save Password" so you won't need to type it every time.

How to Clear Safari's History and Cache on iPhone — Step-by-Step Guide

Safari is the web browser built into every iPhone. As you browse websites, Safari saves temporary files (cache), cookies (small bits of data websites save to remember you), and your browsing history. This helps Safari load your favorite websites faster and keeps you logged into sites you visit often.

Over time, however, this saved data can cause problems: - Websites load slowly or show outdated information - A site shows an error even though it's working fine for others - Safari takes up a lot of storage space on your phone - You're seeing ads or tracking from sites you visited long ago

Clearing Safari's history and cache wipes out all these temporary files and gives you a fresh start. Here's what to expect:

What clears:

- Your browsing history (the list of websites you've visited) - Cookies (which keep you logged into websites) - Website data and cached files

What does NOT clear:

- Your saved passwords (stored in Settings > Passwords, not the cache) - Your Bookmarks and Favorites - Your Reading List - AutoFill information

Important: you will be logged out of websites

after clearing cookies. When you next visit your bank's website, Amazon, Facebook, or any other site you were logged into, you'll need to log in again. Make sure you know your passwords (or have them saved in your password manager) before clearing.

Clearing Safari's data is recommended when websites aren't loading correctly, when Safari feels noticeably slower than usual, or when your iPhone is running low on storage.

How much storage does this free up?

Safari's cache can grow to several hundred megabytes over time, especially if you visit many different websites. On an iPhone that's nearly full on storage, clearing Safari is one of the first things to try — go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage to see how much Safari is using before and after.

Private Browsing as an alternative:

If you want to browse a specific website without it being saved in your history going forward, use Private Browsing mode instead of clearing your entire history. In Safari, tap the tabs icon (two overlapping squares at the bottom right), then tap "Private." Pages visited in Private mode are not saved to your history or cookies after the session ends.

Other browsers:

If you use Chrome or Firefox on your iPhone instead of Safari, you'll clear the cache within those apps themselves (not through iPhone Settings). In Chrome, tap the three dots, then Settings > Privacy > Clear Browsing Data.

How to Clear Safari's History and Cache on iPhone

Open Settings

Scroll down and tap Safari

Tap Clear History and Website Data

Confirm the clear

Log back into your most-used websites

What clears:

What does NOT clear:

Important: you will be logged out of websites

How much storage does this free up?

Private Browsing as an alternative:

Other browsers:

Official Resources

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