Discover how to view cached pages and files from your browser. When you browse the web and come across a problem with websites loading, the advice you’ll hear the most is to try clearing your browser’s cache and deleting cookies. Most computer users are familiar with these terms. However, not everyone knows what exactly cached data and cookies are and why you should delete them from time to time. That is why you will want to know how to view cached pages and files from your browser.
What are Cookies and Browser Cache
Your browser cache is a location on your computer where web content is cached (or stored temporarily). Your web browser stores full or partial copies of the pages you recently viewed along with the media (images, audio, and video) in a file on your computer called a cache. Cached files help internet pages load faster. However, clearing your browser’s cache can lead to slower site loading times.
Cookies are files that contain small data associated with the web pages you visit. They are stored on your computer while you use your web browser. Their main purpose is to track your online activity. Cookies record information such as your most recent visit to the website or your login details. That’s why you often have to log in to each site again after deleting your cookies.
How Browser Caching Works
When you visit a website for the first time, the browser retrieves all the data and media from the server. When you visit the same site again later, the browser will only retrieve the HTML page information from the web server. All static parts of the page, such as images or JavaScript files, are pulled from the existing browser cache. This results in faster page loading times.
How to View Cached Pages and Files
To view cached pages and files, you must first locate them. You cannot always see them as the folder where they are stored may be hidden.
Instructions for Viewing Cached Pages and Files on Mac
On Mac, the files are stored in the folder Caches in the Library of your computer.
One way to locate the Caches folder is:
- Open the Finder and select
Goin the ribbon menu. - Hold down the
Alt (Option) key. You will see the Library folder displayed in the dropdown menu. - Look for the folder
Cachesand then your browser folder to see all the cached files stored on your computer.
A faster way to do it is:
- Open Finder.
- Hold
cmd + Shift + G. - Type
/Users/USERNAME/Library/Caches/(replace USERNAME with your username). - Press the
Enterkey. - Browse to your browser folder to see the cached files.
Google Chrome cached files will be in the folder Google > Chrome > Default > Cache. For Firefox and Opera, browse to the folders for cache of firefox and Opera respectively.
For the Safari cache, use a different shortcut:
/Users/USERNAME/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Caches/.
Instructions for Viewing Cached Pages and Files in Windows
On Windows, the path to locate the browser cache is a bit different. For example, for Google Chrome it looks like this:
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache.
You can also find the Chrome cache folder using the Execute command.
Access the Run command through the Start menu or using the shortcut windows key + R. Then copy and paste the following into the command line:
\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache.
Since all internet browsers are installed on system C drive by default, you can easily view cached pages and files from any browser by following a similar path. Just look for your browser name after following the path \AppData\Local. It can be \AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\ or \AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\.
How to Read Cached Files
Inside the folder Cache, you will find files with various extensions and random file names. The difficulty here is that you won’t know exactly what you’re looking at. Most of the names are random and there is no way of knowing the format of the file or where it came from.
You can click on each file to open it or decrypt cached files using special software or a browser extension. One of the best options is to use one of Nirsoft’s web browser tools. For Google Chrome, it’s ChromeCacheView.
After downloading the cache viewer, double click it to open the main window. You will find the complete list of files stored in the cache of your browser. Apart from the file name, you will see the URL, file type and size, and other properties. You can export a single file or an entire list, copy the URLs of your cached files, and extract the files from the cache if you want to save them to another folder.
Unfortunately, Nirsoft’s utilities run exclusively on Windows. So if you want to use it to decrypt your cached files on Mac, you will have to transfer the entire caches folder to a Windows machine and then use the software to read your files.
How to View Cookies in Your Browser
Since cookies are responsible for exposing your private data to the web, in most browsers you can find them in the section Privacy of the Settings.
For example, if you want to view cookies in Google Chrome, go to the Chrome ribbon menu and select Preferences. From there, follow the path Privacy & Security > Cookies and other site data. Scroll down and click See all cookies and site data. You will get a list of all the cookies stored in your Chrome browser. Then it is up to you whether you want to keep or delete those tracking cookies.
Managing cookies is not a difficult task, but it is important to know how to do it, since the process is a little different in each browser.
It’s Time to Clear Your Browser’s Cache
While there are some benefits to keeping your browser cache in place, if you don’t clear it regularly, you run the risk of this data taking up too much space on your hard drive. That can contribute to the slowness of your computer and will require you to take action sooner or later.
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