Why Your Browser Creates a Cache

Your browser has good reason for creating different types of history when you browse, and the browser cache is probably the most useful of them all. Internet Explorer calls its cache “Temporary Internet Files,” but it’s the same thing and works in the same way.

When you visit a web page, your browser has to download all the resources that web page requires. This includes images, style sheets, JavaScript files, and anything else on the page. The cache is a place where your browser stores copies of these files so it doesn’t have to download them again the next time you visit a page that requires them.

For example, the first time you visit a site like How-To Geek, your browser will download the How-To Geek logo image and store it in your cache. When you visit another page on our website or come back later, your browser will load the logo image from its cache. This avoids a download and speeds up web page loading times. If you’ve cleared your cache, you’d have to download the How-To Geek logo image and other resources all over again — and your web browser would place them in your cache once again.

Clearing your cache will slow down your web browsing while your browser rebuilds the cache.

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