Clear Internet Explorer cache when IE exits

  • Section(s): IE and Explorer, IE
  • Published on Apr 20, 2004.
  • Last Modified on Apr 20, 2004.
  • Last Modified by Wayne Maples.
  • Rated 2.1 out of 5 based on 16 votes.
Internet Explorer is notorious for consuming large amounts of disk space for cache. This can cause major problems with roaming profiles. With this hack, you can force IE to clean up its cache every time it's closed. You will save a lot of space and shouldn't see a performance problem unless you are in the habit of opening and closing IE multiple times during the day. This automatically clears the cache.

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache
Name: Persistent
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0 clear cache when IE exits
Value: 1 don't delete cached files

If you want to manually clear it ever so often :

  • Control Panel
  • Internet Options
  • General Tab
  • Delete Files
To control page reload options:
  • Control Panel
  • Internet Options
  • General Tab
  • Settings
The settings option is used to control how often IE checks for newer versions of cached pages:
  • Every visit to the page
  • Every time you start IE
  • Automatically
  • Never

About Wayne Maples

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