Microsoft Edge lets you clear cookies and cached files separately or together. Open Settings, choose Privacy, search, and services, and find Clear browsing data. Before confirming a deletion, check the active profile, the time range, and the selected categories. If you also select data that Edge syncs, such as browsing history, the deletion can affect your other devices.

Cookies can help a website remember your sign-in or preferences. Cached images and files are stored copies of page resources that Edge can reuse on later visits. Clearing one category does not automatically clear the other. For a page that looks outdated, removing cached files may be enough; for a site that keeps using an unwanted session, you may need to remove its cookies.

Choose the Data and Time Range

Start with the problem you can see. An old image or broken layout points you toward the cache. If a site opens under the wrong account or retains a preference you changed, cookies and other site data may be involved. These symptoms are clues rather than proof of the cause. Some problems involve both categories, but you do not need to delete saved passwords just because a page fails to load correctly.

A recent time range may be enough if the relevant data was saved recently. The date when you first noticed a problem does not necessarily tell you when Edge stored the cookie or file responsible. If you need to remove older data too, choose All time. That setting broadens the period covered by the deletion; it does not automatically select every data category.

Before clearing cookies, make sure you can sign back in to important websites. A deleted session cookie may make a site ask for credentials or multifactor authentication again. Save unfinished forms and check any shopping cart you need to keep, because sites differ in how they store that information. Clearing cached files may make the next page load slower while Edge downloads the missing resources.

Check Your Profile and Sync Settings

Use the Edge profile in which the website has the problem. Profiles keep separate browsing data, so clearing your personal profile will not reset the cookies in your work profile. Check the profile name or account before opening the deletion dialog, especially on a shared computer. Removing an entire profile is unnecessary for clearing its cache and cookies and would delete other local profile data too.

Cookies and cached files are stored on the device. Other categories, including browsing history and saved passwords, can be synced. If you intend to clear browsing data only on this device, open Settings, then Profiles and Sync, and select Turn off sync before deleting. With sync enabled, deleting a selected category that is synced can also remove that data from your other synced devices.

The Microsoft account privacy dashboard manages data stored in the cloud separately. Deleting data through that dashboard does not delete the copy on your device. For a website problem in Edge, begin with the affected browser profile and the relevant local data rather than treating cloud history removal as a substitute. On a work computer, contact your administrator if a managed setting prevents the change you need.

Clear the Selected Categories

Once you have checked the profile and sync settings, use the browsing data controls:

  1. Open Settings and more, the three-dot menu, and choose Settings.
  2. Choose Privacy, search, and services, then Clear browsing data.
  3. Select Choose what to clear next to Clear browsing data now.
  4. Set Time range, then select Cookies and other site data, Cached images and files, or both.
  5. Clear any unrelated checkboxes, review your choices, and select Clear now.

Read the full list of selected categories before the last step. Passwords, browsing history, download history, and autofill form data are separate choices. Leave those categories unchecked if you want to keep them. A password saved in Edge and a cookie that keeps you signed in serve different purposes: you can retain the saved password while removing the cookie and then use that password to sign in again.

The deletion applies to the selected browsing data and time range. It is not a Windows DNS cache reset or a general cleanup of files on your computer. Even the separate Download history option removes the browser's download list, not the files you saved in your Downloads folder. Selecting more categories will not necessarily help with the particular website problem you are trying to solve.

Reopen the Site and Check the Result

Return to the affected page and reload it. Check the original symptom: has the old image changed, does the layout display correctly, or can you now sign in to the intended account? If you removed cookies, a sign-in prompt or reset preference can be an expected result. Deleting browser data does not delete your account or information stored by the website on its servers.

A site can store new cookies and cached files when you visit again. Seeing some data reappear therefore does not, by itself, mean that the deletion failed. If the page still has the same problem, note the categories and time range you cleared before trying another change. That record is more useful for troubleshooting than repeatedly deleting every available category.

The remaining cause may be outside the stored data you removed. A website can serve an outdated page, an account can have a sign-in problem, or an extension can change how the page behaves. Compare the specific symptom in another browser or on another device and tell the site's support team what changed. Keep any error message, but leave passwords and other private account details out of your report.