When you use an application, it continuously saves temporary files, preview images, and configuration scripts to your hard drive. This storage cache is designed to help the app load faster next time. However, if an app closes improperly or crashes, these cached files can become corrupted, leading to bizarre user interface glitches, slow loading times, or random crashes.
Clearing the cache forces the application to build clean files from scratch.
Universal Cache Locations (Windows)
Many desktop programs dump their temporary operational assets into hidden system storage pools. You can purge these manually:
- Close the glitching application completely.
- Press Windows Key + R, type
temp, and click Enter. Select all files in this directory and delete them. - Open the Run window again, type
%temp%, and press Enter. Delete everything inside this folder as well. (Windows will block you from deleting files currently used by active system processes—simply click Skip on those prompts).
Clearing Browser Caches (Google Chrome / Edge)
If web applications or sites are failing to load correctly, clear your browser’s digital workspace:
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + Delete (Mac) while inside the browser.
- Set the time range to All time, check the box for Cached images and files, and click Clear data.