How-to-Guides

How to clear Instagram cache on Android / iPhone / PC

A detailed guide to clearing your Instagram cache on any device (iPhone, Android and PC) with step-by-step instructions and important hints.

One of the easiest and most effective techniques to get your app back up and running is to clear your Instagram cache. The procedure involves deleting all kinds of temporary files (user data, copies of downloaded pages and other content). It does not involve the loss of personal data, so you don’t have to worry about that. Anything we delete is not critical and will be re-generated during future sessions. We’ll now go through why you should delete the Instagram cache, where it’s stored and how to do the clean-up on Android, iPhone and PC.

Why delete/clear Instagram’s cache?

We suggest you find out the main reasons to clear the cache on iPhone and other devices:

To restore the app or get rid of problems. The procedure can help in situations where stories are not displayed or take too long to load. Also in the feed, if pictures are not loading or new content is not being loaded.

Free up memory. There’s a lot of cache accumulating on Instagram. Cleaning it can free up to a few gigabytes of free space.

Increase the speed of the application. Paradoxically, the cache is always used to speed up software performance. If it is not deleted, too much data accumulates and the application begins to slow down.

If clearing the cache, you first ensure to get Instagram back up and running in case of any problems.

Where is Instagram’s cache located?

You may be wondering about the location of the cache on your phone. Such information can help you find and manually delete the temporary data via the file manager on your smartphone (you need to root it to gain access), or connect your device to your computer and then clear it via File Explorer.

The cache on Android is located at /data/data/com.instagram.android/webviewCache. It can be deleted without damaging the system. Unfortunately, we can’t answer where to clear the Instagram cache on the iPhone, as the file system is different there and there’s simply no way to delete the temporary files separately.

How do I clear the Instagram cache?

There are quite a few iOS and Android apps that automate the process of clearing temporary data on smartphones. They look for cache from all apps and allow you to delete it. Google Files, for example, is proprietary and completely safe app.

Devices with additional firmware, like MIUI, also have similar software. It’s a good option, but you don’t always need to clean automatically. If only Instagram is malfunctioning, there’s no need to touch the rest.

On Android

In the case of Android devices, it’s pretty straightforward, as there’s a special option to delete the cache.

How to delete the cache in Instagram:

  1. Open your phone’s settings (there’s a special app on one of your desktops).
  2. Go to the section “Applications“, also it can be called “Applications and notifications” or “All applications”. You may need to open an additional item to reveal all the available apps on your phone.
  3. Select Instagram from the list of apps.
  4. Press the “Clear” button on the bottom bar and select “Clear cache“.
Clear cache instagram on Android

By the way, apart from the social networking app, you can also clear the cache of any program in the same way, be it a browser, YouTube or anything else.

On the iPhone

Unfortunately, the iOS operating system is very different from Android and it has a different way of storing temporary files. On the iPhone, you can’t just delete the cache separately; you’ll have to go a different route.

What to do:

  1. Go to the iPhone’s Settings.
  2. Under “Basic” select “iPhone storage”.
  3. Once downloaded, scroll down until you find Instagram and open it.
  4. Click on “Uninstall App” and confirm your intention.
  5. Go to the App Store, find Instagram there and install the app.

You can’t clear the cache any other way, only by completely reinstalling it.

On a computer

There is no official Instagram app for computers of any operating system. The social network can be used in two ways: via browser or via application, which is installed with the special emulator. In the case of an emulator, the cleanup operation will look similar to that on a smartphone.

How to clear the cache in the Chrome browser:

  • Press the Ctrl + Shift + Del combination.
  • Make sure “Cookies…” is active, then press “Clear data“.
  • On your computer, you can also delete the cache by using programs or manually by deleting files. These can be found at %userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache.

The above methods will not only help free up space but also restore the proper, fast operation of the Instagram app on iOS, Android, PC. We recommend cleaning the cache periodically to ensure Instagram loads smoothly.

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