Can you clear the cache on an iPhone? What works, and what frees space

Contents6 sections

1. Why doesn’t iPhone have a clear cache button?
2. What actually clears cache on an iPhone?
3. What do iPhone cache cleaner apps actually do?
4. How do I clear the cache on Android?
5. What usually takes up more space than cache?
6. Questions people ask

Only app by app. iPhone has no system-wide cache button, and no app can clear other apps' caches, because apps are sandboxed. iOS clears cached and temporary files itself when space runs low. You can clear Safari's website data, use an app's own cache option, or delete and reinstall it. Then check iPhone Storage for what's really using space.

Why doesn’t iPhone have a clear cache button?

Because iOS keeps every app in its own space and manages the leftovers itself.

Apple’s platform security guide puts it plainly: all third-party apps are sandboxed, and “each app has a unique home directory for its files”. Sandboxing is designed to stop apps “gathering or modifying information stored by other apps”. So the cache an app builds up sits inside that app’s own folder, out of reach of everything else on the phone.

The phone tidies those files for you. On its iPhone Storage page, Apple says cached and temporary files are created “when you stream or view content so they load faster the next time”, and that “your device removes these files when your device needs more space.”

That’s also what the grey System Data slice in Settings > General > iPhone Storage is partly made of. Apple lists it as non-removable assets such as Siri voices, fonts and dictionaries, plus “non-removable logs and caches”. You can’t clear it directly. It shrinks when iOS decides it needs the room.

What actually clears cache on an iPhone?

A few things do, each for one app at a time.

Safari’s history and website data. On iOS 18 and later, open Settings > Apps > Safari and tap Clear History and Website Data. On iOS 17 and earlier, it’s Settings > Safari. Apple says this deletes “history, cache, and cookies” and “doesn’t change your AutoFill information”. You can also do it inside Safari: Apple’s user guide describes it as the way “to clear the cache on your iPhone”, and notes it doesn’t touch browsing history in other apps.

One website’s data. To keep your history but clear what particular sites have stored, go to Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced > Website Data. Apple’s Safari help page covers both this and Remove All Website Data.

An app’s own option. Some apps put a clear cache or storage option in their own settings. If an app has one, that’s the only way to clear its cache without losing anything else. iOS doesn’t add one for them.

Delete and reinstall the app. In Settings > General > iPhone Storage, tap the app, then Delete App. Apple says this “removes the app and its related data”, cache included. That’s the catch: anything the app keeps only on the phone, such as downloads or an offline library, goes too.

Offload the app. It’s on the same screen, but it doesn’t clear cache. Apple’s wording is that offloading “frees up storage used by the app, but keeps its documents and data”. You get back the space the app itself takes. Whatever it had stored stays put, ready for when you reinstall.

Method	What it clears	Keeps your data?	Platform
Clear History and Website Data	Safari history, cache and cookies	AutoFill kept, sites may sign you out	iPhone
Website Data, one site	That site’s stored data	Yes, history kept	iPhone
The app’s own clear cache option	That app’s cache	Depends on the app	iPhone and Android
Offload App	The app itself, not its data	Yes	iPhone
Delete App and reinstall	The app and all its data	No	iPhone
Clear cache	That app’s temporary data	Yes	Android
Clear storage	All of that app’s data	No	Android

What do iPhone cache cleaner apps actually do?

Not what the name suggests. An app on iPhone can’t open another app’s home directory, so no App Store app can clear the cache of a social, streaming or messaging app, or any app but itself. Apple’s guide says a third-party app that needs information other than its own gets it “only by using services explicitly provided by iOS”.

Those services include your photo library, contacts and calendar, each only with your permission. So an app sold as an iPhone cache cleaner can only work on what iOS hands over, such as photos, contacts and calendar events. That can be useful. It just isn’t clearing a cache.

Read the store listing with that in mind. If it promises to clear every app’s cache, it’s promising something iOS doesn’t allow.

How do I clear the cache on Android?

Android lets you clear an app’s cache from Settings, and Google’s own Android help notes that “Settings can vary by phone”. The cache is rarely the big win, though: our guide to freeing up space on Android starts with what usually is.

On a Pixel, per Google’s Pixel help:

1. Open Settings and tap Apps, then See all apps.
2. Tap the app.
3. Tap Storage & cache, then Clear cache.

On a Samsung Galaxy, Samsung’s guide (updated June 2026) goes Settings > Apps, pick the app, Storage > Clear cache.

Mind the button next to it. Google says Clear cache “deletes temporary data”, while Clear storage “permanently deletes all app data”, and suggests deleting data inside the app first.

To clear temporary files from many apps at once, Google’s Files by Google help describes a Junk files clean: open Files by Google, tap Menu > Clean, then on the Junk files card tap Clean and confirm with Clear.

What usually takes up more space than cache?

Start with Settings > General > iPhone Storage. It lists every app by size and shows the big categories, so you can see whether cache is even the problem. Look for the big items: a long Messages history, a camera roll full of near-copies, a few long videos. Our step-by-step guide to getting iPhone storage back goes through each one.

Photos are where the copies hide. Bursts, re-saved edits and photos that came back through a group chat at a lower resolution all count separately. Here’s how those copies pile up in a camera roll.

Then empty Recently Deleted. Apple’s recovery page says deleted photos stay there for 30 days before they’re permanently deleted, and the space only comes back once they’re gone.

This is where Siftlo comes in, and to be clear about what it is: Siftlo doesn’t clear caches. Nothing on an iPhone can do that for other apps. What it does is scan the photos and files on your phone and group them on its Clean screen into exact duplicates, large files, near-identical shots such as burst sets, old screenshots and the photos that didn’t come out. You review each group, tick what to go and confirm once. Finding and clearing duplicates and large files is free, never capped, runs on the phone and needs no account. It works on iOS 16 or later and Android 11 or later. See what else Siftlo does on the device.

Questions people ask

Will clearing Safari's website data sign me out of websites?

Expect to sign in again on some sites. Apple says website data includes what sites use to save login information, and cookies are removed too. Your AutoFill information isn't changed.

Is it safe to clear an app's cache on Android?

Yes, for your data. Google describes Clear cache as deleting temporary data, and warns only that some apps may be slow the next time you open them. Clear storage is the one that permanently deletes the app's data.

Do junk files cleared in Files by Google go to the Bin?

No. Google says files deleted from the Junk files card are permanently deleted and not moved to Trash. App settings aren't affected.