How to Access Your Internet Cache on Chrome

The Google Chrome browser’s Internet cache is different from the browser history. Your browser history simply lists the URLs of pages you have visited over a specified period of time. Your cache, on the other hand, includes graphics, style sheets and actual copied versions of the pages you have visited. This is why the first time you visit a Web page, the page may take several seconds to load, but the next time you open the same page, the page opens in just a second or two. When you visit a site for the first time, Chrome stores the site elements in your browser’s cache.

You can access a list of Chrome's cache files with a quick browser trick. Just enter “about:cache” or “chrome://cache/" in the Chrome address bar. The files saved in the browser cache are listed as links on an HTML page. However, when you click one of the links, only a cryptic HTML report with binary data displays. A third-party viewer application, such as ChromeCacheView or the Senseful Solutions online tool, is required to open the HTML report as a legible file (see Resources). Using one of these tools, you can extract objects from the raw data in the HTML report.

Delete all saved cache files at one time by emptying the cache from Chrome’s Clear Browsing Data menu. Select the time frame for which you would like to delete the cache and history data in the Clear Browsing Data dialog box. Select the options for deleting the history and other data. Make sure the Empty the Cache check box is checked, then click the “Clear Browsing Data” button. The cached files dated within the time range you specified are deleted from the file system.