You can clear Safari's cache on an iPhone from the Safari section of Settings. The Website Data controls let you remove cached files and cookies while keeping your browsing history. Clear History and Website Data also removes browsing history, so the choice depends on which information you want to erase.

The cache holds downloaded website files that Safari can reuse instead of downloading them again. Cookies serve a different purpose: they can help a website remember your signed-in session or preferences. Safari's clearing options can remove both types of data, so clearing the cache may also sign you out of websites.

Before You Clear Safari Data

If one page is not loading, first note its exact address and error. Try reloading it and checking your connection before deleting stored data. Clearing stored files and cookies can help with some loading problems, but it cannot restore a website whose server is unavailable.

Save any unfinished work on a website and make sure you can sign back in before removing its data. For example, do not assume the text you have entered in a form is saved to your account before you submit it. If a purchase or form submission appeared to fail, check whether it completed before repeating it.

Before you clear history, check whether Safari is enabled in iCloud. Safari syncs history across devices that use the same Apple Account with Safari enabled in iCloud, so clearing history on your iPhone can remove it from those devices too. Choose the option that keeps history if you want to remove website data without deleting that browsing record.

Clear Safari History, Cache, and Cookies

Choose this option if you also want to remove your record of visited pages. Start in your iPhone's Settings app:

  1. Open Settings, tap Apps, and select Safari.
  2. Tap Clear History and Website Data.
  3. Choose the timeframe to clear and, if shown, the Safari profile.
  4. Tap Clear History to confirm.

The timeframe determines how far back to clear browsing history. If you have multiple Safari profiles, the clearing screen lets you select one profile's history or All Profiles. Check that selection before confirming, especially if you keep work and personal browsing separate. Menu placement can differ on older iOS versions.

Clearing your history does not change your AutoFill information. AutoFill fills forms with saved information, but the cookies that keep you signed in are stored separately. You may therefore need to sign in again even though AutoFill can still fill in your saved details.

Remove Website Data without Clearing History

Use Website Data if you want to clear cached files and cookies while keeping your list of visited pages. The controls are in Safari's Advanced settings:

  1. Open Settings, tap Apps, and select Safari.
  2. Tap Advanced, then Website Data.
  3. Tap Remove All Website Data.
  4. Tap Remove Now to confirm.

Remove All Website Data affects stored data for all websites, not just the page you were viewing. Check other open sites for unsaved work before you confirm. Your history still helps you find pages you visited, but keeping that list does not save the cookies and preferences you chose to remove.

Removing a website from Safari's History list deletes its browsing record. The Website Data menu instead removes files and other information that websites store in Safari. Read the screen label carefully when instructions say “delete a website,” because the effect depends on which menu they describe.

Why Is the Clearing Button Gray?

A gray clearing button can mean there is no data to remove or that Screen Time web content restrictions are preventing the action. Either Clear History and Website Data or Remove All Website Data can be unavailable for these reasons. The unavailable control alone does not show that Safari's cache is damaged.

If your family or organization manages the iPhone's settings, ask the person responsible to check the restrictions. Do not change unrelated settings simply to make the button available. When there is no stored data to clear, look for another explanation for the page-loading problem.

After Clearing Safari Data

After clearing the selected data, open the affected website again and check whether the original problem remains. Safari has to download files that are no longer cached, so an initial visit may take longer or use more data. Safari stores new website data as you browse, so seeing data reappear does not by itself mean clearing it failed.

If the problem persists, compare the same page on another working connection or device. If the page fails on more than one device, the website or the connection to it may be responsible. A successful load after clearing data suggests that stored data may have contributed, but it does not identify the exact file or cookie responsible.

Clearing Safari data does not clear every app's cache or delete browsing records that websites or other browsers keep separately. The website may still send outdated content after you have cleared the local data. For a persistent issue, note the website, exact error, iOS version, and which clearing option you used. Give those details to the site operator or Apple Support without sending passwords or session tokens.