Did you know that one common step in troubleshooting is to clear the app's cache? That's right! If your Android is acting slow and lethargic when you open specific apps, you can see if clearing the cache makes it faster. Or if your Android is just slow in general, you can clear the cache associated with your Google account. Here's how you can clear an app cache and the general cache on your Android.
Clearing the Cache on Android
Clearing an app's cache or Chrome's cache is an essential step in troubleshooting a laggy or non-responsive Android. To clear the cache for an app, go to Settings > Apps > Storage (Storage > Apps if you don't see "Apps" in the main menu) , then tap the slow app and tap Clear cache . For Chrome on your Android, tap â‹® > Delete browsing data > Delete data .
Steps
Clearing the App Cache
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Open Settings. Tap the app icon featuring a gear or swipe down from the top of your screen to open the Quick Settings panel and tap the gear icon.
- Clearing the app cache will not delete your personal data, like your login info. Instead, it deletes all the temporary files stored on your Android.
- Use this method if a specific app is sluggish and laggy but other apps work quickly and normally.
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Tap Apps . This lists all the apps installed on your phone or tablet.
- If you don't see "Apps" here, tap Storage > Apps instead.
- While this shouldn't be different between newer Samsung, Pixel, and stock Android phones, older ones with older software will see different menus. [1] X Research source
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Tap the sluggish app. If a particular app is giving you trouble, tap on it here to see more information about it.
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Tap Storage . It's under the "Usage" header.
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Tap Clear cache . It's on the bottom right side of the page and will clear the temporary data that the app stores.
- Repeat this process for any apps that respond slowly or are laggy. This is a good practice for larger apps that store a lot of temporary data, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Clearing Chrome's Cache and Cookies
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Open Chrome. This is a smart move if your main browser is Chrome on Android in order to keep your mobile browsing experience quick and snappy.
- Follow these steps if you experience lag while using Chrome instead of another app.
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Tap â‹® . You'll see this three-dot menu icon in the top right corner of the browser.
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Tap Delete browsing data . It's next to an icon of a trashcan.
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Select a time range and any other options. By default, everything in the current Chrome session within the last 15 minutes will be deleted. If you want to change that, tap the time and select another option.
- Tap More options to select more specific types of data to delete.
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Tap Delete data . You will be signed out of sites that you're logged into, but you won't be logged out of your Google account if you're logged in when you delete the cache.
- Some sites will load slower, as Chrome has to re-load elements like videos and images instead of using data from the cache.