
Typically, clearing your browser history will also clear out your cookies and caches. However, your phone or tablet may require more frequent clearouts since their data capacities are smaller. Since a computer has lots of memory space, your browser data won’t normally bog down the system. There isn’t a recommended regularity for clearing out your history, but some devices may need it more often than others.
Like emptying a vacuum cleaner, clearing out your history allows your browser to function more efficiently. Instead of typing all your information over and over again, you can simply let your computer do the work for you. Then, when you fill out an order form on your next purchase, your browser will already know what to enter into the address and contact fields. If you regularly order products from online stores, your browser’s autofill function will save the customer information you enter.
Persistent cookies store information for longer periods of time, for purposes like the shopping example above.Īutofill is a function that saves information entered into input fields. Session cookies only store information temporarily, and disappear when you close your browser. There are two main kinds of cookies ― session cookies and persistent cookies. If you leave the page before completing your order, then return again later, the cookie can send its notes to the site and show you what you had in your cart. A shopping site might use a cookie to keep track of the items you look at. You can think of a cookie as a note-taker which logs your activity on a specific site. When you visit the site again in the future, your browser will send a cookie back to the site so that you can be served a more personalized experience. What is a cookie?Ĭookies are small files sent to your browser from sites you visit. It’ll also save bandwidth usage to keep your network running smoothly. This means your browser can load the page quickly on your next visit rather than downloading it over and over again from the server. The process of saving this data is referred to as “caching.”įor example, if you have a favorite recipe blog, your browser cache will save a copy of that site for whenever you want to access it again. What is a cache?Ĭache (also known as browser cache, web cache or HTTP cache) is a system for storing web data to quickly serve it again in the future. #History of browser download
This includes download history, search history, cookies and cache. The record stores the names of the sites and when you visited them. Your browser history is a record of the sites you’ve visited in the past.
Whether you’re checking the weather or reading the news, your browser is the vessel that lets you surf the web.
Popular browsers include Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Your browser, or web browser, is the application you use to access the internet. Basic internet browser terms defined What is a browser?