How to clear cache on iPhone
There’s no single “clear cache” button on iPhone. For Safari, go to Settings → Apps → Safari → Clear History and Website Data. For other apps, use the app’s own setting if it has one (Telegram, TikTok, Spotify do), or offload and reinstall it. Expect modest gains: iOS already clears caches when space runs low, and photos and videos are what usually fill a phone.
Why cache is usually not the problem
Cache is temporary data apps keep to load faster — thumbnails, pieces of videos, images from your feed. Two things make it a weak target:
- iOS manages it. When storage runs low, iOS purges caches automatically, before it tells you storage is full.
- It’s small next to media. Even a heavy app cache is usually hundreds of megabytes to a couple of gigabytes. One minute of 4K video is about 400 MB.
That’s why we built Clear Cleaner around photos and videos instead of promising to “clean junk”. Still, clearing a bloated app is sometimes worth it. Here’s how.
Clear Safari cache
- Open Settings → Apps → Safari.
- Tap Clear History and Website Data.
- Choose the timeframe (All history for the biggest effect) and confirm.
This signs you out of websites. To remove data for just one site instead: Settings → Apps → Safari → Advanced → Website Data, then swipe left on a site.
Clear cache in apps that have a button
Some apps let you clear their cache without losing anything else:
| App | Where |
|---|---|
| Telegram | Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Usage → Clear Cache |
| TikTok | Profile → menu → Settings and privacy → Free up space → Clear cache |
| Spotify | Settings → Storage → Clear cache |
| Settings → Storage and Data → Manage Storage (review large chats and files) | |
| Google Chrome | Settings → Privacy and security → Delete browsing data |
Menu names change with app updates; if a path doesn’t match, search the app’s settings for “storage” or “cache”.
Apps without a button: offload or reinstall
For apps that don’t offer a cache setting (Instagram, Facebook, many games), there are two options:
- Offload App — Settings → General → iPhone Storage → the app → Offload App. Removes the app but keeps its documents and data. Reinstalling brings it back. This frees the app’s size, not always its cache.
- Delete App and reinstall from the App Store — removes everything the app stored locally, cache included. You’ll need to sign in again.
Check whether it worked
Go back to Settings → General → iPhone Storage and wait for the numbers to refresh. If the gain is small, look at the top of the list: it’s almost always Photos.
What actually frees space
- Videos — delete or compress long and 4K clips.
- Duplicates and similar photos — Photos → Utilities → Duplicates handles exact copies; retakes need a closer look.
- Recently Deleted — empty it, or deleted photos keep their space for 30 days.
- Messages attachments — iPhone Storage → Messages → Review Large Attachments.
The full checklist is in iPhone storage full: what to do.
