How to Delete an Internet Cache on Ubuntu

The Internet cache (also known as temporary Internet files) is used to speed up the loading of web pages. When a web page is opened, it is placed in the Internet cache on your computer. When you access the site a second time the page is loaded from the cache unless it has been modified. This reduces the time needed to open the file. Ubuntu uses the Firefox web browser by default. The location of the Internet cache files are located in within the "Firefox" directory on your hard drive.

Difficulty: Easy
Instructions
Graphical
Step 1
Click on the "Places" menu in the tool bar at the top of the page.

Step 2
Click on the "Home Folder" icon.

Step 3
Click on the "View" menu at the top of the "Home Folder" window.

Step 4
Click the check box next to "Show Hidden Files." You can also press the "Ctrl" key and the "H" key at the same time from within the "Home Folder" window.

Step 5
Double-click on the ".mozilla" folder.

Step 6
Double click on the "firefox" folder.

Step 7
Double click on the folder with the ".default" extension. The complete folder name will be something like: "ciab0l6t.default".

Step 8
Double-click on the "Cache" folder.

Step 9
Press the "Ctrl" key and the "A" key simultaneously to select all the files within the cache folder.

Step 10
Right click anywhere in the folder and select "Move to trash."

Step 11
Right click on the "Trash" icon on the desktop and choose "Empty Trash" to delete the files.

Command Line
Step 1
Open a terminal window. The terminal window will be found under "Accessories" in the "Applications" menu.

Step 2
Type the command "cd .mozilla/firefox/" to navigate into the firefox directory.

Step 3
Type the command "ls" to list the contents of the firefox directory. Note the exact name of the directory with the ".default" file extension. The complete directory name will be something like: "ciab0l6t.default".

Step 4
Type the command "cd ciab0l6t.default/Cache" to navigate into the "Cache" directory. Replace "ciab0l6t.default" with the directory name from Step 3.

Step 5
Type the command "rm *" to delete the contents of the "Cache" directory.


By Kristen Leigh Grubb, eHow Contributing Writer