Understanding Cached data

Understanding Cached data

What is cached data? Certainly, that is the question on your mind if you have never heard of such a thing. Fine. If are keen enough, you must have noticed something whenever you open an app, a blog, a webpage, or a website on your browser. It takes a while to load on your browser. It may be a few seconds or minutes depending on, among other dynamics, the speed of your device.

Close whatever you opened for the first time. From then henceforth it will begin to load relatively faster than it did when you opened it for the first time. Ever wondered why? Well, that is the cache of your browser at work. It stores some data about the sites and apps you open while surfing the internet. That is what we call cached data in technical jargon. It helps browsers memorize whatever you open so that accessing and loading it becomes fast.

What is cache?

A cache is an inbuilt data store on your browser and it stores data on what you open to make accessing it faster. A cache is either a hardware or software component or memory. Browser caches store such data as images, scripts, and multimedia files.

How cached data works

Once cached data has been stored it remains on the cache until you delete it. The CPU cache works in a similar manner as the browser cache. It memorizes the searches you do on your computer. When you search for a file on your computer, it takes a few moments to display the file. The next time you try to search for the same file in your windows explorer it pops up faster. Why? Because your CPU cache has memorized it.

The CPU cache is a high-speed memory and features high up on the computer memory hierarchy. Take a look at the hierarchy.

The cache comes immediately after the CPU register. It has three levels i.e L1, L2, and L3 as you can see on the hierarchy.

L1 is the primary level of the cache

L2 and L3 are the secondary levels of the cache. These two levels feed level one with data.

Accessing cache memory is faster because it has low latency. Perhaps you may want to do a random test to have a practical feel for the workability of the CPU cache. Search for a file on your computer and open it once it pops up. Close it and then reopen it to see what happens. You’ll notice subsequent searches for the file are faster because the cache has memorized the file. Besides, the name of the file pops up even before you finish typing it in your explorer.

How significant is cached data?

While cached data makes searching for information on the web and on your hard drive faster, it tends to slow down your computer. It crams your cache as you continue with your searches. You may probably open a link in your browser, which you will never open again. But your browser cache stores information about the link, nevertheless.

Therefore, it is advisable to clear unnecessary data on your browser cache. And What does clearing cache do? It frees up space and improves your browsing experience. Failure to do so will eventually result in general sluggishness on your device as your cache continues to fill up.

How often should I clear my cache?

The frequency at which you should clear your cache depends on the volume of your searches and how frequently you search. It also depends on the behavior of your device. Is it fast or getting slower? However, slowness doesn’t always mean your cache memory is full. Other factors such as malware infiltration and incompatibility of software components contribute to slowness too.

Having said that, clear from your cache the data that you really don’t need or use frequently. That is the only way to be sure it is not the cause of slowness. Therefore, clear your cache as soon as you begin noticing sluggishness on your device. You can as well clear from your hard drive files data you don’t need. Note that keeping tons of videos on your phone or computer contributes to slowness. You can backup such files on external mass storage devices such as optical discs and external magnetic drives. Make good use of your cloud storage such as Dropbox and Google Drive.

So how do you clear cached data? It depends on the application and device you are using.

To clear cached data from your iOS device, do as follows:

Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.

There are a few options under iPhone Storage. The first option is Offload Unused Apps and it lets you clear the entire cache.

There is a second option that enables you to scroll through all apps. You can then select whichever app you would like to clear from your iOS device. The beauty of this is that Apple lists the apps in the order of memory usage. The app that consumes a lot of memory space will be at the top of the list.

Therefore, offload the individual apps to create more space on your device. Note that clearing the cache only eliminates temporary files. Your downloads and login credentials remain intact.

To clear cache on Mozilla Firefox, do the following.

1. Run your Mozilla Firefox browser
2. Go the cogwheel at the top right
3. Click Preferences
4. Select “Privacy and Security.”
5. You should be able to see the “Cookies and Site Data” option.
6. You can either select “Manage Data” and select whichever sites you would like to clear or simply click “Clear data” option to clear everything.

How to clear cache on safari

1. Run your browser
2. Go to the top bar and click Safari
3. Click Preferences
4. A box with several tabs will appear. Select advanced.
5. Scroll down and tick “Show Development menu in the menu bar.”
6. Go back to top bar, then hover over Develop menu.
7. Click the clear cache option.

Here is how to Clear Cache on Chrome

1.Run Chrome

2. select the menu option with three dots (top right)
3. Go down to More Tools and select

4.Select Clear Browsing Data

5. Tick “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files.”
6. Select time range at the top of the dialogue box and hit clear data.

The verdict

Cached data makes searching for information on the web and your device fast. But the data stored on your cache memory keeps pilling and crams the cache. It occasions slowness on your device. Therefore, it is advisable to free up space on your cache by removing data that you no longer need. Clearing your cache improves the performance of your device.