That is why today we are going to check how we can override the automatic cache size management among the main web browsers, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge, being able to set our limit manually for each of them. . Of these browsers, only Firefox allows you to manage the size of the cache from the browser’s own interface, while, in the case of Chrome and Edge, we will have to make use of some small adjustments in their properties that we are going to comment on below.
But, first of all, we must be clear about what we mean when we talk about the browser cache and how important it is when it comes to improving performance when we visit web pages. This is something we are going to look at next.
How Cache Affects Browser Performance
When we talk about the browser cache we refer to that data storage area that our computer uses in order to speed up the process of loading web pages. In it, the resources of any downloaded web page are stored, such as videos, images, Javascript, etc. This means that the next time we visit the page, all this information is already available in the cache so it will load more quickly.
However, if we visit many different pages continuously, it can cause our cache to fill up, which ends up having a lower performance of the browser. For this reason, the pages may be charge more slowly or incompletely. To solve it, we can choose to empty the cache, which will cause our computer to be faster, but a slower loading of pages. As an alternative, we can choose to increase the size of the browser cache.
Increase browser cache
If we increase the cache of our browser, we can get a greater amount of information from the webs to enter, resulting in a higher loading speed without reducing the performance of our equipment. This is something that we are going to see how we can do in three of the most popular browsers, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Opera.
In Google Chrome
We are facing, without a doubt, the most popular web browser in the world, used by millions of people. Google provides us with a simple way to change the size of the browser cache. To do this, it will be necessary to perform the following steps:
The first thing we need to do is right-click on the Chrome shortcut, which will cause its context menu to appear, where we must select the “Properties” option.
This will cause a new window to appear where we must select the “Direct Access” tab. Next, within the Destination field we must add at the end of the route:
--disk-cache-size=1073741824
Here, we must take into account that the number represents the size of the cache that we want to enable expressed in Bytes (1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes) so we can establish the amount that we consider appropriate. It is important that we leave a space after the quotation marks, before adding this path. It should stay in the same way that we can see in the following image.
Finally, we click Apply and OK to confirm the changes. In this way, we have been able to increase the cache by the size we have desired to improve the performance of our Chrome browser.
In Mozilla Firefox
Another of the most popular browsers is Mozilla Firefox, which has been developed by different platforms and coordinated by the Mozilla Corporation and the Mozilla Foundation. Your users will also have the opportunity to get better performance from it by increasing the cache. For this we must carry out the following steps.
The first thing we must do is open our browser and type about: config in the navigation bar, pressing Enter to confirm the operation. This will bring up a graphical user interface where we can access the cache size and change it if necessary.
Next, a new screen will appear where a sign of Continue with caution indicates, and warns us that changing the advanced configuration preferences may affect the performance or security of Firefox. Click on Accept the risk and continue.
Now, in the search bar that we find at the top we must write the following:
browser.cache.disk.smart_size.enabled
Next we must click on the Toggle icon, located on the right of the screen to change the value from False to True and restart the browser.
Later, we open the browser again and return to the about: config screen. This time we are going to write the following:
browser.cache.disk.capacity
Now we just have to click on the pencil icon on the right side of the screen and enter the maximum size we want, such as 880500. Once finished we restart Firefox and we will have assigned a new value for the cache.
In Microsoft Edge
Microsoft has its new Edge operating system that has caused great acceptance among its users and will also allow us to increase the cache to achieve greater performance. For this we must carry out the following steps.
The first thing to do is right-click on the Microsoft Edge shortcut to bring up its contextual menu, where from the options that are displayed, we select “Properties”.
This will cause the Edge Properties window to open, where we must select the “Shortcut” tab. Now in the Destination field of the Properties window we must add the following text at the end of the indicated address.
-disk-cache-size- <tamaño en bytes>
In the byte size field we must indicate the desired size, such as -disk-cache-size-2156683648. In this way we should have something like
"C:Program Files (x86)MicrosoftEdgeApplicationmsedge.exe" -disk-cache-size-2156683648
Once done, click on “Apply” and then on “OK” to confirm the changes. In this way we have been able to increase the size of the Microsoft cache to our liking.
Opera browser
Opera will also allow us to increase the size of its cache, with a similar procedure to what we have seen in Chrome and Edge. To do this, we must right-click on its shortcut so that the context menu appears and select “Properties”.
This will take us to a new window where we must select the “Direct Access” tab, and within the Destination tab, add the following text, leaving a space after the quotation marks.
–disk-cache-size=104857600
We can change the number to our liking, knowing that the greater the size, the greater the capacity it will occupy. Once done, we should have something like that.
C:UsersFranAppDataLocalProgramsOperalauncher.exe –disk-cache-size=104857600
Click on OK and Apply to save the changes.
