Most people go looking for how to clear cache on iPhone for one of two reasons: a website has stopped behaving, or the phone says storage is full. The trouble is that the standard answer, tap Clear History and Website Data and you are done, is the bluntest tool Apple gives you. It fixes the broken site, but it also signs you out of every website you use in Safari, and it does next to nothing for storage.
I have cleared caches on iPhones more times than I can count, mostly for family members who were told to do it by a help desk. What follows is the order I actually use: start with the smallest fix that will work, and only reach for the full wipe when nothing else has. There is also one popular tip, offloading an app, that does not clear its cache at all, and Apple's own wording says so.
What clearing the cache on iPhone actually does
A cache is a pile of files an app or website saves so it can load faster next time: images, scripts, bits of video, thumbnails. Cookies and website data are close cousins, and they are what keep you signed in. On an iPhone, Safari bundles all of these together, which is why the obvious button also logs you out.
Clearing a cache is a repair tool. It forces a site or app to fetch fresh copies of everything, which fixes pages that load half-broken, stale prices, a login loop, or an app stuck showing old content. It is not a speed boost for the phone as a whole, and it is not a long-term storage fix, because the cache rebuilds itself the moment you start browsing again.
Match the fix to the problem first
Before you clear anything, decide what you are trying to fix. This is the cheat sheet I work from:
- One website is broken or stuck in a login loop: remove that one site's data (below). You stay signed in everywhere else.
- Lots of sites are misbehaving in Safari: Remove All Website Data. Your history stays.
- You want history gone too, or you are handing the phone over: Clear History and Website Data, with the right timeframe.
- One app is misbehaving: look for a clear-cache button inside the app, then delete and reinstall it. Not offload.
- Storage is full: clearing cache is the wrong tool. Skip to the storage section near the end.
How to clear cache on iPhone for just one website
This is the step almost every guide skips, and it is the one I use most. If your bank's site or a shop checkout has gone strange, you only need to clear that site's data, not everyone's.
- Open Settings, tap Apps, then Safari.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Advanced, then Website Data.
- Wait a moment for the list to load, then use the search field to find the site.
- Swipe left on that site and tap Delete.
Reopen the site and sign in again. Everything else you are logged into, email, streaming, the council tax portal you only remember the password for once a year, stays exactly as it was. The list also shows how much each site is storing, which is a useful reality check if you assumed Safari was eating gigabytes.
How to clear Safari cache but keep your history
If several sites are playing up, clear all website data while leaving your browsing history alone. Apple documents this as a separate option in its Safari cache and cookies guide.
- Go to Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced > Website Data.
- Tap Remove All Website Data, then Remove Now.
This clears cookies and cache for every site, so expect to sign back in to things. Your history, bookmarks and open tabs are untouched. If the button is greyed out, either there is nothing to clear or Screen Time content restrictions are blocking it, which catches out a lot of parents using a child's old phone.
The full wipe: Clear History and Website Data
This is the button everyone mentions. It removes history, cookies and cache together.
- Go to Settings > Apps > Safari.
- Tap Clear History and Website Data.
- Pick a timeframe, then tap Clear History.
The timeframe is the bit worth slowing down for. If a problem started this afternoon, clearing just today's data is often enough and leaves the rest of your sign-ins alone. Choose all history only when you genuinely want a clean slate, such as before passing the phone on. Apple notes that this does not touch your AutoFill details, so saved addresses and cards survive.
Clearing cache in Chrome and other browsers on iPhone
Safari's settings only cover Safari. If you browse in Chrome, open Chrome, tap the three-dot More menu, then Delete Browsing Data. Choose a time range and tick only Cached Images and Files if you want to stay signed in. Firefox, Edge and others have a similar option in their own settings rather than in the iPhone Settings app.
How to clear app cache on iPhone, and why Offload App does not
Here is the part that trips people up. Unlike Android, an iPhone has no system-wide clear cache button for apps. Plenty of guides fill the gap by telling you to offload the app in iPhone Storage. That frees space used by the app itself, but it does not clear the cache.
Apple's platform support guide is explicit: offloading frees the storage used by the app but keeps its documents and data. Deleting the app is what removes the app and its related data. When you tap to reinstall an offloaded app, it comes back with everything it had, cache included, which is why offloading rarely fixes a glitchy app.
So for a misbehaving app, I go in this order:
- Check the app's own settings for a clear-cache option. Some apps build one in. Spotify, for example, has it under your profile picture, then Settings and privacy, then Data-saving and offline, then Clear cache, according to Spotify's storage help page. TikTok has a similar free-up-space option in its settings.
- Force-quit and reopen it. Swipe up from the bottom, pause, and swipe the app away. It is free and fixes more than you would expect.
- Delete and reinstall. Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage, tap the app, then Delete App, and reinstall it from the App Store.
Delete and reinstall is the only reliable way to clear an app's cache on iPhone, but it has a cost. Anything that app stores only on the phone goes with it: unsynced notes, offline downloads, game progress that is not backed up to iCloud or an account. Check before you tap, especially for messaging apps that keep chat history locally.
Will clearing cache free up space on iPhone?
Usually not by much. On a phone in daily use, Safari's website data tends to run to a few hundred megabytes, and most of it comes back within days. If the real problem is a Storage Almost Full warning, you will get far more back from photos, Messages attachments and big apps. I go through that properly, in the order I would do it, in how to free up space on iPhone without losing your photos.
The same is true on a Mac, where cache gets blamed for a storage problem that usually has another cause. If you are fighting a bloated System Data figure there, how to clear System Data on Mac explains why the caches are rarely the culprit.
Does restarting an iPhone clear the cache?
A restart clears what is held in memory and stops anything that has got stuck, which fixes a surprising number of glitches. It does not delete Safari's website data or an app's saved cache files. If a restart has not helped, move on to the site- or app-specific steps above. If you are not sure of the button combination on a newer phone, here is how to turn off iPhone, including the ways that do not use the slider.
Frequently asked questions
Will clearing cache on iPhone delete my passwords?
No. Saved passwords live in the Passwords app and iCloud Keychain, not in Safari's website data, and AutoFill details survive too. What you lose is the active sign-in, so you will need to log back in, and your saved password will fill it in.
How often should I clear the cache on my iPhone?
Only when something is broken. Routine clearing makes sites load more slowly for a while and signs you out for no benefit. Treat it as a repair, not maintenance.
Is there a way to clear all app caches on iPhone at once?
Not from Apple. iOS manages app caches itself and will trim them when space runs low. Cleaner apps that promise to do it in one tap cannot reach other apps' data on an iPhone, so I would not pay for one.
My take
Clearing cache on iPhone is worth knowing, but the one-button answer is overkill for most problems. Clear one site first, then all website data, and only then the full history wipe. For apps, skip Offload App entirely if your goal is a fresh start, because it keeps the cache by design. And if storage is the real issue, leave the cache alone and go after the things that actually take up space.
Source: Delete your Safari history, cache and cookies on iPhone, Apple Support
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