Browser Cache

Last modified: Thu Feb 15 18:56:29 2001

General information

Browsers store copies of frequently accessed pages in the memory cache or disk cache. This way, the computer doesn't have to retrieve the page from the network each time you view it and thus access time is minimized.

To keep the files in cache up to date, the browser has to verify the cache contents from time to time. The user can configure how often the browser checks the network for new page revisions. This configuration option allows to enable/disable the cache, i.e. switches caching "on" or "off".

Netscape Navigator

From the Edit menu, choose Preferences. Open the Advanced category; then click Cache.

Select Never ("on") to enable caching, choose Every time ("off") to disable the cache.

Internet Explorer

On the Tools menu in Internet Explorer, click Internet Options. On the General tab, click Settings.

Select Never ("on") to enable caching, choose Automatically ("off") to disable the cache.