In most browsers, you can clear the cache from the Privacy or History area in the Settings or Options menu, depending on the browser, of course. Ctrl+Shift+Del (or Cmd-Shift-Del on a Mac) works with most browsers as well.
While that hotkey combo works in most non-mobile browsers, the exact steps involved in clearing your browser's cache depend entirely on what web browser you're using.
Below you'll find some browser and device specific instructions, as well as links to more expansive tutorials if you need them.
What Exactly Is Cache?
Your browser's cache, pronounced like cash, is a collection of web pages, including the text, images, and most other media contained on them, that is stored on your hard drive or phone storage.
Having a local copy of a web page makes for very quick loading on your next visit because your computer or device doesn't have to download from the internet all of that same information again.
Cached data in the browser sounds great, so why do you ever have to clear it?
Why Do You Have to Clear Cache?
You certainly don't have to, not as a regular part of computer or smartphone maintenance, anyway. However, a few good reasons to clear cache come to mind...
Clearing your cache forces your browser to retrieve the newest copy available from the website, something that should happen automatically but sometimes does not.
You might also want to clear the cache if you're experiencing issues like 404 errors or 502 errors (among others), sometimes indications that your browser's cache is corrupted.
Another reason to delete browser cache data is to free up space on your hard drive. Over time, the cache can grow to a really large size, and so clearing it out can recover some of that previously used space.
Regardless of why you might want to do it, clearing your cache is really easy to do in all the popular browsers in use today.