safari clear cache and cookies for a specific site

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How can I quickly clear cookies for a specific site using Safari for Mac?

I know I can "Reset Safari". I know I can go to Cookies from Preferences and search for a site's cookies and delete those. But is there a faster/easier way to just clear cookies for one site (preferably one that I'm already navigated to)?

6 Answers 6

There you go!

Clearing a Specific Cookie on Safari: Safari makes you do a little more mousework to get to the listing of cookies in the system, and you have to specify which you want to remove. To get started, go to the preferences menu, and open the “Security” Options. Partway down the page is a button labeled “Show Cookies.” Click this.

Once you have clicked the “Show Cookies” button, you will be shown a listing of all of the cookies your browser has stored, along with a handy search box. Type the current domain name into this search to see a listing of cookies set by the current site. From here, you can select and delete the cookies.

• 1 Darn I realize you're looking for something simpler probably... –  Ivo Flipse Jul 30, 2009 at 13:14
• 1 Nothing bad with a complete answer, really. :) –  Isxek Jul 30, 2009 at 13:16
• 1 Oh Safari doesn't support plugins, that's going to make it hard... –  Ivo Flipse Jul 30, 2009 at 13:16
• 1 Note, the Remove All button will do the same thing, once you've entered the domain into the search box. –  jtbandes Aug 2, 2009 at 6:42
• 4 Safari 9 on El Capitan (OS X 10.11) no longer has this feature in the same place or the same way. Now you go to Safari / Preferences / Privacy and under the Remove All Website Data... button there's a small Details... button. When you click on that you can see the list of all domain names for which there are Cache, Cookies, and/or Local Storage saved. When you select that domain you can clear all of that data at once or not. There's no way to see individual cookies from Preferences any more, nor a way to remove only one. But at least you can still do this for a single site. –  user6297 Jan 20, 2016 at 12:21

As @user6297 says in his comment, the above answer no longer works as of El Capitan. You now need to go to Preferences > Privacy > Details as shown in the image. Note that the Details button might take a moment to appear.

Then enter the domain in the Search box, select the item you want to remove, and click Remove .

use Safari Cookies Tool

• the Safari Cookies tool is apparently dead. –  allanberry Apr 21, 2021 at 15:00

To clear all cookies, you can setup a keyboard shortcut (Option-Cmd-R) to Safari → Reset Safari

Go to the preferences menu, and open the “Security” Options. Part way down the page is a button labeled “Show Cookies.” Click this.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4839198_cookies-safari-mac-computer-beginners.html

source : http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/07/4-ways-to-quickly-clear-the-cookies-for-just-one-site-or-domain.html

If someone using OS X or later comes across this post then you know that clearing cookies for a specific site has become much harder now.

Here are the steps as of Dec. 2023:

• There you can select an individual site and click on Remove on the bottom-left of the window.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged browser safari web cookies ..

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How-To Geek

How to clear cookies / cache for a single website on iphone or ipad.

Clearing the cache on your iPhone or iPad is really easy, but that will log you out of every single website that you were previously logged into, and wipe any other cookie-based preferences.

Quick Links

Clear cookies / cache for a specific website.

Clearing the cache on your iPhone or iPad is really easy, but that will log you out of every single website that you were previously logged into, and wipe any other cookie-based preferences. So what if you want to just wipe cookies or cache for a single site?

Luckily that's also pretty easy... though not quite as simple since you'll have to dig through a list of all the sites you've ever visited or that have put cookies on your device.

You might be asking yourself why you'd bother doing this, and the answer is simple: if a particular site is misbehaving you can wipe the cache and cookies just for that site, login again, and sometimes the problem will be resolved.

First you'll want to open up the Settings app, and then find Safari on the left-hand side, and then scroll down until you see the Advanced on the right-hand side. If you're using an iPhone it won't display like this, but you'll be able to easily figure it out.

Now press the Website Data button.

And now push the Edit text button on the upper right-hand corner.

Now you'll see a list of the sites that have put cookies on your device. You'll probably need to expand to show all of the sites, and then browse down through the list. Once you've found the one you want to wipe, just hit the red minus icon and then press Delete, just like you would in most iOS apps.

There isn't a whole lot more to it.

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How to Clear Safari Browsing History and Cache

Whenever you browse the web in Safari, the browser stores website data so that it doesn't have to download it again each time you revisit a site. In theory this should speed up your browsing experience, but there are some scenarios where you might want to clear the cache and start anew. Keep reading to learn how it's done on Mac, iPhone , and iPad .

If a site you regularly frequent has elements that have stopped working, or if a site has stopped loading completely, there may be a conflict between an older version of it that Safari has cached and a newer one.

Or perhaps you simply want to protect your privacy by wiping the slate clean and removing all the data associated with websites you've visited. Either way, here's how it's done on macOS and iOS.

How to Clear Safari's Cache on Mac

There are two ways to clear Safari's cache on a Mac. The first method outlined below deletes everything relating to a website you've visited, including not only the cached versions of the site, but also cookies and any other related data. The second method described offers a more targeted approach and clears only Safari's cache, but it does involve enabling a hidden menu.

• Launch Safari browser on your Mac.

How to Clear Safari's Cache on iPhone and iPad

Note that the following steps clear all history, cookies and website data on your device, regardless of when the sites were accessed.

• Launch the Settings app on your iOS device.
• Scroll down and select Safari .
• Scroll down and select Clear History and Website Data .
• Choose the timeframe to clear ( Last hour , Today , Today and yesterday , or All history ), choose the profile or select All Profiles , then tap Clear History .

For another way to protect your privacy while browsing the web, be sure to check out our guide on how to use Safari's Private Browsing Mode .

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• Clear Safari cache on Mac
• Clear Safari cache on iPhone or iPad
• How to save passwords when clearing your cache

How to clear your Safari browser cache on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad

• You can clear your cache on Safari in just a few steps on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad.
• Clearing your cache, as well as history and cookies, can help resolve your device's performance issues.
• Clearing your cookies will clear your passwords as well, unless you save them with keychain.

A cache is a store of data. When you visit a website on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad, the Safari browser keeps a snapshot of the pages you view.

If you go back to that website, Safari loads the cached page in an instant, instead of taking the time to retrieve the page from the internet again.

But an overloaded cache can take up storage space and cause your device to run inefficiently — and it could use a periodic clearing.

Here's what you need to know to clear your cache on Safari, as well as your cookies and browsing history.

How to clear Safari cache on Mac

You can either clear just your cache or your cache, history, and cookies. 

Clear your cache

1. Click on the Safari tab at the top left of your screen and choose Preferences from the dropdown menu.

2.  Click the Advanced tab of the menu that pops up.

3.  At the end of the tab, select the Show Develop menu in menu bar box and close the Preferences menu.

4. Click the Develop tab from the Safari menu at the top of the page.

5. Click Empty Caches from the dropdown menu.

Clear your cache, history, and cookies

You may also want to clear your browsing history and cookies in addition to emptying your cache. Here's how to do that.

1. Choose the History tab at the top of your screen.

2. At the very bottom of the dropdown menu, choose Clear History.

3.  A box pops up with a choice to clear the last hour, today, today and yesterday, or all history. Choose your time frame and click the Clear History button.  

Once you clear the history, it will also clear the cache and cookies associated with that time period.

How to clear Safari cache on iPhone or iPad

To clear your cache and browsing history:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Tap Safari .

3. Tap Clear History and Website Data .

4. On the screen that pops up, choose Clear History and Data .

To clear your cache but not your browsing history:

3. Tap Advanced .

4. Tap Website Data .

5. Choose Remove All Website Data .

What happens to saved passwords when you clear your cache

When you clear your cache, history, and cookies, you may discover that Safari has logged you out of your favorite websites.

While clearing Safari's cache alone will not delete your passwords, clearing your history and cookies can. That's because when you empty your cookies, you will lose their password data saved in Safari as well. And keep in mind that clearing your history also clears its associated cookies.

Luckily, Apple has a solution to this problem. If you use iCloud, check your iCloud settings on your phone or computer.

Make sure that you've checked the box for Safari. As long as this box is checked, any passwords you save through your browser will stay safe in your keychain .

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How to Clear Private Data, Caches, and Cookies on Mac

Cover your tracks in Safari

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What to Know

• Clear history on macOS: Select History in menu > Clear History . Then, clear history for specific time or select All History . 
• Clear data on macOS: Safari > Preferences > Privacy tab. Manage Website Data > select websites > Remove or Remove All .
• On iOS:  Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data > Clear History and Data . Clear data: Safari >  Advanced  >  Website .

As you use the internet, it may fill up your device's memory with temporary files; you may also want to hide the sites you've been visiting. This article explains how to remove browsing history, cookies, caches, and other website data from the Safari web browser on macOS, OS X, and iOS devices.

Remove Browsing History, Cookies, and Caches in Safari on macOS

To remove your browsing history , cookies, caches, and other website data from Safari on your Mac and across any synchronized devices:

Select  Safari > Clear History from the menu bar at the top of the Safari screen.

Select the Clear dropdown arrow and choose either the last hour,   today , today and yesterday , or all history .

You are notified that the history is also removed on other devices that are signed in to your iCloud account.

Click Clear History .

You can also clear all history by selecting History > Clear History . You have the same options here: the last hour,   today , today and yesterday , and all history . There is no confirmation, and the deletion is immediate.

From here, you also have options to view all history or to view history by specific days.

Clear Data (But Not History) for Specific Sites in Safari

Clearing data does not remove sites from your browsing history. You may want to clear your history in addition to deleting certain sites' data.

Select  Safari > Preferences .

Select the Privacy tab.

Click  Manage Website Data .

All sites you've visited that store data via cookies, database, or local storage (such as cookies or files) are listed here.

For each site whose data you want to remove, highlight the site in the list and click  Remove . To remove all the sites, click Remove All .

Removing the data of any particular site might log you out of it or change the site's behavior.

Click  Done .

Close the   Privacy  preferences window.

Clear Private Data, Empty Caches, and Remove Cookies in Safari for iOS

To delete all Safari history entries, cookies, and data websites using your iOS mobile device:

Open  Settings .

Go to  Safari .

Tap  Clear History and Website Data .

Tap Clear History and Data  to confirm and delete all the entries.

View Sites and Selectively Delete Data on iOS Devices

To delete Safari history for a specific website on your iOS mobile device:

Open Settings.

Tap  Safari .

Select  Advanced at the bottom of the screen.

Tap  Website Data .

Scroll through the list of entries. Swipe to the left on any entry and tap Delete to remove it. To remove all the entries, tap Remove All Website Data at the bottom of the entry list.

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How to clear your browser cache

It’s quick, simple, and useful.

By Barbara Krasnoff , a reviews editor who manages how-tos. She’s worked as an editor and writer for almost 40 years. Previously, she was a senior reviews editor for Computerworld.

Share this story

One of the best ways to restore space to your computer or phone — or to fix a problem that may have been caused by a temporary file screwing up the works — is also one of the simplest: to clear the browser cache. However, unless you’ve been instructed sometime in the past to clear your cache, you may be unaware of this otherwise invisible feature.

Here’s how to clear your cache on the major browsers and on your Android or iOS devices. We’ve also included instructions on how to clear the data for a single site if you need to.

• Click on the three dots in the upper right corner.
• On the desktop version, select More Tools > Clear Browsing Data... On the mobile app, select Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data .
• Make sure the Cached images and files box is checked. (You can also choose to clear your browsing history and cookies if you want — click on the Advanced tab if you want to get more specific.)
• Use the Time range drop-down menu to choose how far back to go. (In the case of clearing your cache, All time is best.)
• Click on the Clear data button.

To clear the data for a specific site

• Click on the three dots on the top right
• Select Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data .
• Scroll down and click on See all cookies and site data.
• Search for the website’s name in the upper right corner and select the trash can icon to the right.

Interestingly, Safari makes it very easy to clear all your data — including cache, browsing history, and cookies — at one blow. But it’s not as obvious if you just want to clear your browser cache.

To do it the easy way:

• While you’re in the Safari browser on your desktop, go to the top menu and select Safari > Clear History...
• Select the time period (last hour, today, today and yesterday, all history) you want to clear and click on Clear History .
• Or, on your iPhone, tap the Bookmarks icon at the bottom of the screen (it looks like an open book) and then on the History icon (the clock).
• Tap on the Clear button and select your time period.

If you want to just clear out the browser cache on your web browser, it’s a little more complicated.

• Look to see if there is a Develop section in your Safari’s top menu. If not, go to Safari > Preferences... > Advanced and check Show Develop in menu bar .
• Click on Develop > Empty Caches .
• Click on  Safari > Preferences...
• Click the  Privacy  tab and then  Manage Website Data...
• You’ll get a list of websites. To remove one, click on it and then click  Remove . To remove all website data from Safari, click  Remove All .

Microsoft Edge

The Edge browsers for desktop and mobile are different enough, so we’ll describe the process separately.

Desktop browser

• Click the three dots in the upper right corner
• Select Settings > Privacy, search, and services
• Scroll down to Clear browsing data and click on Choose what to clear
• Make sure Cached images and files is checked (and check any other data you want to clear out)
• Use the Time range drop-down to select the last hour, last 24 hours, last four weeks, or all time
• Click on Clear now
• Select Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Manage and delete cookies and site data .
• Search for the website’s name in the upper right corner or scroll down to find it
• Click on the “down” arrow next to the site name, and then use the trash can icons to delete the cookies and data.
• You can also use the buttons on top to Remove all shown or Remove third-party cookies .

Mobile browser

• Tap on the three dots at the bottom of the screen and select Settings > Privacy and security
• Select Clear browsing data
• Make sure Cached images and files is checked, and use the drop-down menu to pick your time range.
• If you want, you can toggle on Clear browsing data upon exit to clear out all your data each time you exit Edge.

• Click on the three lines in the upper right corner of the app, then select Settings > Privacy & Security
• Scroll down to Cookies and Site Data ; click on Clear Data...
• Make sure Cached Web Content is checked (you can also check off the Cookies and Site Data box if you want to clear that as well)
• Select Clear

In Cookies and Site Data , there is also a box you can check to delete all cookies and site data when you close the browser. A button called Manage Exceptions... lets you choose any sites whose cookies you want to keep.

If you’re on the website you want to clear:

• Look for a lock icon to the left of the address bar and click on it.
• Click on Clear cookies and site data... and then click Remove on the pop-up box.

If you want to clear data from one or more specific sites:

• Go to Firefox > Preferences > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data . Click on Manage Data .
• Scroll down to find the site you want to clear or type its name into the search box.
• Highlight the site and click on Remove Selected . (If you want, you can also click on Remove All .)

Update July 6th, 2022, 2:10PM ET: This article was originally published on July 4th, 2022, and has been updated to add information on Firefox.

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Safari User Guide

• Change your homepage
• Import bookmarks, history, and passwords
• Make Safari your default web browser
• Go to websites
• Find what you’re looking for
• Bookmark webpages that you want to revisit
• See your favorite websites
• Use tabs for webpages
• Pin frequently visited websites
• Play web videos
• Mute audio in tabs
• Pay with Apple Pay
• Autofill credit card info
• Autofill contact info
• Keep a Reading List
• Hide ads when reading articles
• Translate a webpage
• Download items from the web
• Share or post webpages
• Add passes to Wallet
• Save part or all of a webpage
• Print or create a PDF of a webpage
• Customize a start page
• Customize the Safari window
• Customize settings per website
• Zoom in on webpages
• Get extensions
• Manage cookies and website data
• Block pop-ups
• Clear your browsing history
• Browse privately
• Autofill user name and password info
• Prevent cross-site tracking
• View a Privacy Report
• Change Safari preferences
• Keyboard and other shortcuts
• Troubleshooting

Clear your browsing history in Safari on Mac

You can remove all records that Safari keeps of where you’ve browsed during a period of time you choose. If your Mac and your other devices have Safari turned on in iCloud preferences , your browsing history is removed from all of them. Clearing your browsing history in Safari doesn’t clear any browsing histories kept independently by websites you visited.

Open Safari for me

Choose how far back you want your browsing history cleared.

When you clear your history, Safari removes data it saves as a result of your browsing, including:

History of webpages you visited

The back and forward list for open webpages

Frequently visited site list

Recent searches

Icons for webpages

Snapshots saved for open webpages

List of items you downloaded (downloaded files aren’t removed)

Websites added for Quick Website Search

Websites that asked to use your location

Websites that asked to send you notifications

Clear Cache, Cookies and History on Safari

Updated at: Feb 26, 2022

Here are instructions to help you clear your browsing history, cookies & cache in Safari on macOS.

There's a few guides here, what would you like to do:

• Clear the entire Cache, Cookies, and History in Safari on macOS
• Clear the Cache, Cookies, and Local Storage Data (but not the history) in Safari on macOS
• Clear saved Form Data and Passwords

Clear the entire Cache, Cookies, and History in Safari

Click the "safari" menu.

Make sure you have a Safari window open and active; you will see the "Safari" menu in the top left of your screen. Click it and it will expand to show Safari specific options.

Click the "Clear History..." item

Now that you have expanded the Safari menu, you will see the Clear History... item - click on it.

Choose the time range to delete and then "Clear History"

Safari now gives you a very simple interface for clearing your browsing cache, history, and cookies. When you click Clear History your cache, browser history, and cookies will be deleted for the specified time range.

If you choose the default option of " all history " then the entire historical record of your browsing on this computer will be deleted. At the top of the prompt, you'll see "Clear: all history" - you can click on this Select field and choose a time range to clear instead.

So instead of deleting all your history, you can choose to just delete Today's browsing history, or just the past hour's history.

Once you have decided how much you want to delete, click the Clear History button.

Congratulations, you have now cleared your selected browsing data from your computer. You can simply close this window and continue to use Safari.

Clear the Cache, Cookies, and Local Storage Data in Safari

These steps will remove Safari's automatic cache of temporary data it has stored while you browse the internet; these steps won't delete your browsing history .

Click the "Preferences" menu item

Now that you have expanded the Safari menu, you will see the Preferences item - click on it.

The Safari Preferences screen will now appear.

Click the "Privacy" tab

The Safari Preferences screen has a number of sections, indicated by the various options along the top of the screen (General/Tabs/AutoFill etc). Click the Privacy item to see privacy related options.

Click "Manage Website Data...

On the privacy tab, click the Manage Website Data button to show a list of all the sites Safari has collected data for.

Select the site/s you want to delete data from, and click "Remove"

On this screen you will see a list of all the domains Safari has collected data for. Find the ones you want to remove (you can search for a domain in the Search field in the top right of the window.

Delete one page from Safari's Cache

If you just want to delete the cache and cookies from one website, you can select the domain name here and press the Remove button. This will keep all the other data intact and just remove the one site's cookies and cache.

You can remove sites one at a time, you can hold down the ⌘ Command button and keep clicking to select more than one domain at a time.

When you have selected the domains you want to clear the data from, simply press the Remove button and Safari will clear the data for those sites.

If you remove data for any sites you are logged in to, you will probably have to re-log in to them again, but your browsing history will still be intact.

Clearing Form Data and Passwords in Safari

Follow these instructions to clear the form data and passwords that have been saved in Safari.

Click the "AutoFill" tab

The Safari Preferences screen has a number of sections, indicated by the various options along the top of the screen (General/Tabs/AutoFill etc). Click the AutoFill item to see AutoFill related options.

Choose what to AutoFill, and edit/clear existing data

On the AutoFill screen, you will see a listing of types of data Safari can be configured to "remember" for you - that way, when you need to fill out some forms online, Safari will try to automatically put the correct data in for you. You can turn this feature on or off for different types of data, including contact information, credit cards, usernames & passwords, and so on.

To review, edit, and delete the items that Safari has saved, click the corresponding Edit... button. Some of these items require you to enter the password for your computer - that is, the user you are currently logged in as on your Mac.

You can use these interfaces to review and optionally delete any information you've previously entered from your computer. Because some of it is sensitive (Passwords, Credit Card numbers etc) you will have to unlock various sections by entering your computer's password.

When you are finished, simply close Safari's Preferences by clicking the Red "close" button.

More guides and help for Safari

Need more help with Safari? Read our other Safari guides .

Clear cache & history

Do i need to clear my cache.

Not sure why you've been asked to clear your cache? We can explain. Why you need to clear your cache

What is a cache?

Before you consider clearing your browser cache, you should know what it is! Learn a little bit about browser caches

Is it safe to clear my cache?

Are there any risks to clearing your cache? Find out if it's ok to clear your cache

Update my web browser

Do i need to update my browser.

Find out if your browser is out of date Is my browser out of date?

Why should I update my browser?

There are very good reasons to, find out here! Why update your browser?

Is it free to update Chrome?

Find out about the cost of updating Chrome... Does Chrome cost anything?

What does "Update browser" mean?

What does it actually mean? What does it mean to update your browser

Get help with our guides

How to enable javascript.

Change your JavaScript settings Guide to enabling Javascript

How to enable Cookies

Configure your cookie settings for privacy Guide to enabling cookies

Related articles

I can't log in to a website..

We've got a detailed guide to help you solve login problems How to fix website log in problems

Why do websites use cookies?

Why are cookies useful? Do you need them? What's the deal with cookies?

How to update your browser

Old software puts you at risk. Keep your browser fresh and up to date

Clear Cache, Cookies and History

How to reset your browsing history How to reset your browser

Try a different web browser

Different web browsers have different features - try a different one to see if you prefer it. Experiment a bit!

Use a VPN to hide your IP address

We recommend NordVPN to hide your IP address or to unblock websites. Hide your IP Address

Clearing your cache, cookies, and browsing history - Frequently asked questions

How to clear cache.

Clear instructions to clear your cache, cookies, and history. follow the guides.

Learn how to clear your cache, cookies, and history

Before you consider clearing your browser cache, you should know what it is!

Learn a little bit about browser caches

What does "Clear your Cache" mean?

Have you heard the phrase "clear your cache" but aren't sure what it means?

What "clear cache" means

Not sure why you've been asked to clear your cache?

Why you (might) need to clear your cache

Clear the cache for just one page

Need to completely reload a page but don't want to clear your entire cache?

How to clear the cache for just one page

Should I clear my cookies?

Can clearing cookies help with problems or privacy? Here's some info.

Why you (might) need to clear your cookies

Are there any risks to clearing your cache?

Find out if it's ok to clear your cache

What happens when I clear my cache?

When I decide to clear my cache or cookies, what actually happens?

See what happens

Clear Cache in Chrome Shortcut

Don't bother clicking the menus, use the handy keyboard shortcut!

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How to Clear Safari’s Cache, Cookies, and Website Data On a Mac

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Like every other Internet browser, Safari uses a cache to help it serve web pages as quickly and efficiently as it can.  Occasionally the browser cache can cause issues such as Safari not displaying the most recent version of a web page. In this article, I’ll show you two ways to clear the cache in Safari on a Mac—the first, using keyboard shortcuts and the second, using navigation menus. I’ll also show you how to clear website data and cookies in Safari.

Table of Contents

What safari’s browser cache is.

You may have encountered the term browser cache . The subject of caches is a broad one since, behind the scenes, they can be in your browser, in the servers where websites are hosted, or in the software that a website uses for design purposes.

Safari’s cache is the only one we’ll concern ourselves with in this article.

In the most basic terms, Safari’s cache normally keeps a copy of website pages you’ve visited unless hidden code on the server tells it not to.

Safari keeps a copy of those pages to help it display them more quickly the next time you visit them. Like other browsers, Safari may temporarily store the text and images from a web page when you visit it.

One way this can help pages load faster is by “reusing” page assets that are common across several pages on the site. One example might be the logo in the site header. If the logo is loaded on the first page visited, and the same logo image is used on other pages you visit, the logo image should be loaded on the first page and reused on following pages.

The next time you visit (using the same browser—Safari, in this case), the page should load faster because Safari will use the stored text and images instead of waiting for them to travel long distances from the website’s server. That time saved in loading the text and images shows itself when the webpage takes less time to become useful to you.

In some cases a page that is updated many times a day—such as one on a news site—may not be saved in the browser cache. That insures you see the most up to date version of the page each time you visit.

Note: The browser cache is not exactly the same thing as your browsing history or cookies. I’ll show you how to clear those later in this article.

When Safari’s cache needs to be cleared

There are a number of things that could indicate Safari’s cache should be cleared.

• Perhaps you aren’t seeing an updated page on a website.
• Maybe a website that you frequent seems to be loading or responding slowly.
• You may be having difficulty logging in when normally you can breeze right in.

If you are learning to create websites you may have come across the situation where changes you’ve made to the website in the back-end appear not to have been saved when you view the site on the front-end. The problem is often just that your browser is not keeping up with you. It is showing versions of your website that don’t include your most recent changes.

How to clear the cache in Safari

Whether you’ve been told to empty, clear, or delete your cache, it means the same thing. The person who gave you those instructions is telling you to delete the previously stored website content so that the browser will know to load a new version of the page.

For security and other reasons, you should always be using the most up to date version of your browser. Be sure you are running the most version of Safari, then follow the instructions below.

Clear the cache in Safari using a keyboard shortcut

To use a keyboard shortcut to empty the browser cache in Safari, you’ll first need to activate the Develop menu . Do that by going in the top menus to Safari > Preferences > Advanced . Then at the bottom of the Advanced settings tab, tick the box next to Show Develop Menu in Menu Bar .

Once you’ve ticked that box, you can use the shortcut Option + Command + E to empty the cache in Safari.

Note that you won’t see another settings box appear. The cache will simply be emptied behind the scenes.

Clear the Safari browser cache using menus

To clear the cache in Safari using menus, you’ll need the Develop menu activated. If you don’t see the Develop menu , read the previous section titled  How to clear the browser cache in Safari  for instructions on how to make the Develop menu available.

Once it is available, you can clear your cache by opening the Develop menu , then half-way down, click Empty Caches .

Clear the Safari browser cache for one site only

• Select Preferences from the Safari menu .
• Open the  Privacy tab .
• Click the Manage Website Data… button .

A window will open which will fill with a list of all the websites that have data saved in Safari. When the list has finished loading, scroll through the list to find the website whose cache you want to clear. Click the name of the site to select it, then click the Remove button .

Browsing history and cookies in Safari

When you visit a website, browsers typically save certain bits of information. Most of that information can be used to make your future browsing experience easier. For example, the browser will usually save a record of your browsing so that you can go back to a previous page you visited. Using the forward button on the browser would then take you back to the website where you started.

You might remember visiting a website a few days earlier and look into your browser history to find out the address of that website.

Those are but two examples of ways that allowing browsers to save certain information about your browsing can be helpful. However, there can come a time when you want or need to clear all of the browsing information that your browser has collected. Perhaps you will begin to share a computer and don’t want another person to know your browsing habits.

Cookies are another bit that browsers save. They sound mysterious and can sometimes be denied simply because you’ve heard so much bad about them without ever hearing of their possible usefulness.

A cookie is simply a small bit of code that is saved on your computer when you visit many websites. You’ve heard of tracking cookies that allow advertisers to track your browsing habits so they can present ads across the Internet that are more likely to match your needs. That is one type of cookie.

There are other cookies that you probably use on a daily basis without knowing it. For example, you probably visit a site where you are a customer or you have a membership that requires you to log in. When you arrive at the site, you might see your name somewhere on the site, possibly near the login link or button. A cookie is what allows that website to recognize you as one of their frequent users.

Some sites may allow you to stay logged in even after you leave. Then when you come back, you can march on in without signing in every time. You can thank a cookie for that privilege (although it’s not always a wise idea to stay logged into a site after you leave).

Clear browsing history and cookies in Safari

Sometime over the course of your online life, you will almost certainly come across a situation where you can’t log in on a website or something about the website isn’t reflecting the most current information. To resolve the issue, the website’s support team may suggest that you clear the cookies for that website which are stored on your computer.

To do that in Safari, use one of the following methods, whichever is appropriate for your situation. With either method, after you delete your cookies for a site where you may have stayed logged in, you will probably have to log in again. That will reset the cookie in your browser.

If the history or cookies that you want to delete apply to browsing you did in the past few days, you can go through the History menu.

• Click on the History menu .
• Click on the very last item in the menu: Clear history… .
• Click on the dropdown list labeled Since . It probably says the last hour .
• The last hour
• Today and yesterday
• All history
• Select the one that is most appropriate.

Browsing history and any cookies that have been set or used within the chosen period will be deleted.

The second option gives you more control over the websites whose cookies you wish to remove. This uses the same Manage Website Data function that you used to delete a single website’s cache earlier in this tutorial.

• A window will open which will fill with a list of all the websites that have data saved in Safari.
• Click the Remove All button to empty the list and delete the cache and cookies for all websites in the list.

If you want to remove cookies or other data for just one website in the list, click the name of the website to highlight it. Click the Remove button to clear the data and cookies for that one site.

To select multiple sites, click on the first one you want to delete. Hold the Command key as you select any others you want to delete.

Apple’s official documentation – How to Clear Browsing History in Safari on a Mac

Change the default search engine in Safari

If you are concerned about your browsing privacy, you might also consider changing the default browser that Safari uses.

Like Firefox, Safari—an Apple Product—is not owned by a company that also has its own search engine (at least not yet). In Safari you can select from the same search engine options that Chrome offers. Those are:

Here’s how to set your favorite search engine in Safari:

• Go to the menu at the top of the screen. Choose Safari , then Preferences .
• From the Preferences window , select the Search tab .
• The first item on that setting page is Search engine . Click in that drop-down menu and select the search engine you’d like to use.

The search engine you set will be the one that processes any searches that you type into the Safari address bar.

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How to Clear Cache for Specific Website on Safari on Mac

At times you may want to clear the cache for just a specific website the Safari web browser on your Mac, in such case, you can follow the below steps.

• Open Safari.

• Under " Website Data " click on " Manage Website data... "
• Now search for the website and click on Remove .

This will remove the Cache, Cookies, Databases, Local Storage, and HSTS Policy for the site.

This is not an AI-generated article but is demonstrated by a human on an M1 Mac running macOS Sonoma 14.0.

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Tips & Tricks

Troubleshooting, how to delete site specific cookies in safari for iphone or ipad.

You can delete specific cookies for any website from the Safari web browser on iPhone and iPad fairly easily. Though the setting to do so is buried a bit, it’s super easy to use and provides a lot of control, offering a complete list of all cookies stored on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, and allowing you to edit or remove any cookies on an individual basis. The process is the same in all versions of iOS, as we will detail below.

How to Delete Specific Web Site Cookies & Data in Safari for iPhone and iPad

If you want to remove a cookie and website data for a specific website URL in iOS, here is what you’ll need to do:

• Open the “Settings” app and tap on “Safari”
• Scroll to the bottom and tap on “Advanced”
• Tap “Website Data”
• Tap “Edit” in the upper right corner, then tap the red (-) minus symbol next to the individual website you wish to remove cookies from followed by the “Delete” button

You can repeat this process to delete other specific site cookies and website data as needed. Tap on the “Show All Sites” button to see all other websites with data if you’d like to delete those.

Optionally, you can also use the “Remove All” option at the bottom of the Website Data screen as well to delete all cookies and website data for all websites in Safari.

While in the Website Data screen, you can also choose to swipe to the left on individual site names and then tap on “Delete” from there to delete specific website data and cookies too.

This process is the same for all iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices, regardless of what system software version they are running.

Exit out of Settings when finished, you can refresh the site in question within Safari to verify the removal worked.

You can also choose to remove all website data and cookies from that settings panel, as indicated by the humungous red button at the bottom of the settings window. If you’re looking to remove all site data, there is a faster way to clear all cookies, history, and cache however that will ditch all browsing data in one fell swoop.

Why might you want to delete an individual sites cookie? First and foremost are privacy purposes and to remove personal data from a website, but a lot of sites also use cookies to track your behavior and then adjust things based on what you do. For example, if you are booking hotels or flights from an iPad or iPhone, many travel sites use cookies to track your searches and adjust pricing based on the frequency of searches and perceived demand. In that case, deleting cookies specific to the site can mean the difference in hundreds of dollars for final bookings.

If you are looking to just briefly avoid cookies for some reason, another option is to temporarily use Private Browsing mode so that no cookies, history, or caches are stored on the device. This has the same effect as deleting a cookie in that it starts a fresh browsing session for any specific site, except that any old cookies for those domains will not be removed.

This feature has been around for quite some time, and just in case you have a notably older device then here is what the Safari site-specific cookie menu looks like in an older iOS version on an iPad:

As you can see you’ll find a list of domains for each batch of website data and cookies, and you can edit or remove any of them as needed there too.

If you know of any other methods of deleting and removing website specific data on iPhone and iPad, share in the comments below!

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» Comments RSS Feed

Both my iPad and iPhone are iOS 11.0.3. iPhone 8 does not yet have a problem. iPad Air 2 has seven site specific zombie/super cookie remnants that will not delete. I’m tired of writing to Apple about it. They just don’t care enough to fix the problem. Can’t get into the OS to find and delete the corrupted file. Can’t find a software that will do it for me. Aggravating to say the least.

I have the same issue as Lily and it also seems to save cookies in private browsing mode

the re are two cookies that I CANNOT remove on safari’s advanced settings. I’m on iOS 10.3.3 how and why can’t I remove them? although it’s on 67kb, the point is they cannot be removed. I e tried, resting, factory reset, and just palin deleting it. any help advise would be appreciated.

This seems to only remove some data, but not cookies.

How do you alphabetically organize the cookie list so that you can quickly find specific cookies

I wish you could BLOCK specific sites from leaving cookies, like Facebook for example. I don’t use their service and don’t want them tracking my web habits.

I guess we could always use Private Browsing but that is not the solution I am hoping for, maybe iOS 6 will deliver some details here.

Good trick, but if you’re like me and you never use the iPhone for anything that needs to be personalized you can prevent Safari from storing any cookies at all by going to Settings > Safari > Accept Cookies > Never

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