For a long time there was a sort of running joke around our offices. Everytime anyone would have a problem with a website, the first line of defense was to say “Delete your Cookies, Cache & History”. Just as any IT dept. relies on a good old fashioned reboot to cure what ails ya, web folks have their “Delete your Cookies” ready to deploy in their trusted electronic troubleshooting bag of goodies. The question that many of us had then, and even now is, what in the world are cookies and/or cache and why would I want to get rid of them.
What are Cookies (HTTP Cookies or Web Cookies) ?
Simply a cookie is a file that your web browser receives from the servers of web pages you visit. It can contain lots of different information, but all of this information seeks to help identify you as you navigate the site and even if you go away and come back later. If you Sign-In to a web-based Email (like Gmail or Hotmail) you browser is given a cookie so you can go to another site and come back to your email without having to sign-in again.
Ok, how about Cache and History?
Web History is a record of all the web sites and pages you have visited. Normally your browser will keep only a set number of days worth until it starts to clean out automatically. Cache is similar to history except it actually houses images and some parts of the actual web page on your computer. This storage of data can drastically reduce loading time for sites you visit often and the server only needs to load the items that have changed since your last visit.
Why do I have to delete them (and cache and history)?
The main reason you would want to clear these things on a regular basis is that the storage of these files can get pretty large if you are a regular internet user. Also, some of these files can become corrupt and slow down the performance of your browser making websites load way slower. The reason a web admin would tell you to clear it as a sort of “catch-all fix” is that its the usual culprit when things are acting a bit wacky. It’s an easy task to perform that takes only a few seconds and can eliminate 90% of the issues most web users come across.
Further Reading:
- Web Cache via Wikipedia
- Web Cookies via Wikipedia
