This article will explain what a cache is and what types exist. This question is often asked by computer users who do not fully understand the meaning of this term. There are several types of cache memory on different devices. It is an integral part of the computer and is simply necessary for it to work properly. The article will detail the differences and talk about when the cache should be cleared and what this will lead to.

What is cache memory?

A cache is a piece of memory taken from the hard drive that stores information that is most often needed by the processor of your device. It helps to simplify the work of the processor in cases where it needs to search for or download information for a long time. Simply put, this is information that is stored very close to the processor itself. That is, the device stores information or commands that are used most often in storage, this allows the device to find the required material faster. The cache may be different. Let's say there is a cache of a computer, browser, smartphone. Most often, the device places processed information in this memory area in order not to process it again and not waste extra time. What is cache memory is now clear. Let's see where it is used.

What is a computer cache?

The computer has RAM, which it uses to optimize performance. The cache memory in a computer is a buffer between the processor and RAM. It is located not far from the processor itself, so it is faster for him to use the information contained in it than to get to the operational one.

Work example

You can give an example of the operation of the cache memory in order to correctly understand its essence. A person needs to find out phone numbers that he does not remember. Finding phones in the directory will be equivalent to how the processor looks for information in RAM. If these phone numbers are written on a separate sheet, a person will be able to quickly recognize them without looking in the directory. This leaflet is an example of cache memory. The computer automatically downloads information there, which can often be useful. This, of course, greatly optimizes the operation of the computer, thereby increasing its performance.

Browser cache

The browser also uses cache memory. It uploads information, pictures, sounds and more. This can be seen in the way the browser opens a site that you visit often faster than the one you first visited. This happens because the browser "understands" that this site is often visited by you, and in order not to download information from it every time and not waste time on it, it saves it in cache memory in order to optimize work and save time . For this temporary storage, the browser uses hard disk space. The browser cache size can be configured in the browser itself. But it is worth remembering that if it fills the entire place with information, then new information will be loaded there by crowding out the old one that is not used. The browser cache can be easily cleared if you don't feel like it.

Cache for Android games

Users of Android smartphones often wonder what a cache is for Android. Most often it is required for a game with three-dimensional graphics, which requires more space for additional materials. Sometimes for games, it downloads itself when you enter the game. Using the Internet, the game itself downloads the information it requires and places it in storage. But sometimes it happens that the cache for the game needs to be placed in the storage yourself. You can do this by following the instructions for installing the game. Most often, a game with a cache is installed as follows. The installation file is placed anywhere on your device, because this file just needs to be installed. The cache, in turn, must be placed in a specially designated place on your smartphone so that when the game starts, it starts reading information from the right place. If the cache is located where it is needed, the game will function smoothly. The place where you need to copy it is indicated in the description of the game.

What does "clear the cache" mean?

Not many people know what "clear the cache" is. This means deleting all the accumulated information on your device that is needed to optimize your computer. This should only be done if absolutely necessary. For example, after deleting the browser cache, the sites that you constantly use will take a little longer to load. After all, he will need to re-download all the information on the site. After deleting the cache on the smartphone, games that require it will not be able to run without these materials.

A person must understand what it is to clear the cache, and know what it can lead to. Of course, sometimes there are situations when it is necessary to clean it. This may be due to memory overflow or the problems it can cause. Sometimes it happens that the cache can interfere with the computer. This needs to be monitored. CCleaner is able to find the cache in the system that you do not need and delete it. This program greatly helps to optimize the performance of the computer. It can check your computer for errors, clean up the system registry, and set programs to start automatically when you start your computer. This can also be called an important function. Indeed, often the programs that we download from the Internet are automatically loaded when Windows starts. If a large number of such programs are loaded during computer startup, it may take a long time to turn on. The CCleaner program can easily fix this, you yourself can set the autorun of the programs that you need and which you do not need when starting the system. When you already know what it is to clear the cache, you need to find out in detail the reasons why you need to do this.

Why clear the cache?

One of the reasons why this memory needs to be cleared is free disk space. This is especially true for people who have multiple browsers. Each browser for its personal cache will take space from your hard drive, this can significantly affect memory.

It also saves the design of sites. Let's say if you visited the site, your browser will save its design. And after the new design has been released, you will not be able to see it, since the design saved in your cache will be shown to you. In addition, it also saves the history of visiting websites. If you don't want anyone to see the sites you visit, you can also clear it. It will also be useful to delete excess cache from your smartphone. Often games leave it when uninstalled. Therefore, the cache of the game, which is no longer on the computer, may remain on your phone, and this will take up a lot of memory. Considering that a smartphone does not have as much memory as a computer, this plays a big role. We hope this article gave you a general idea and helped answer the question of what a cache is.

Cache- an intermediate buffer with fast access, containing information that can be requested with the highest probability. Accessing data in the cache is faster than fetching the original data from slower memory or a remote source, but its volume is significantly limited compared to the source data store. Wikipedia

How to Clear Cache on Android 4 and Older

Every Android smartphone has an application manager that can be accessed through the settings menu. Usually it is in the top level, although it all depends on the phone. Here's how to enter it and clear the cache:

Step 1. Open the "Settings" menu” or using the notification panel (drop-down list), or using the “Settings” icon.

Step 2 Go to Applications tab. It may be called All Apps (in Xiaomi smartphones) or Application Manager in pure Android smartphones.

Step 3. After that select application.

Step 4. Here you will see a list of various information about this application, including "Permissions", "Memory Usage", etc. These are all clickable items. You need select "Storage".

Step 5. Here you will see Clear cache and Clear data buttons.

Step 6 Done!

When to clear cache or data...

So, when should you manually clear the app's cache? Most likely you will never need to do this. But if the application starts to slow down or buggy, clear the cache.

What is a cache? What is it for? How to clean it and why is it necessary? Such questions are often asked by novice users of smartphones and tablets running the Android operating system. Let's take a look at these questions.

What is cache in android?

The cache is a special place in the internal memory of the device, which contains temporary files of games and applications. These can be audio and video files, application data, images, scripts, etc.

The cache in Android is needed to reduce data access time and, accordingly, increase the speed of applications, as well as to reduce the load on RAM. The caching algorithm in Android OS works in such a way that the most frequently requested data is stored in cache memory, from where it can be retrieved faster the next time it is accessed. The main purpose of the cache is to speed up the system.

To make the caching algorithm clear, let's give a simple example at the household level. Imagine a library where the librarian lends books to readers. Books are stored in the hall, from where the employee takes out the requested publications. Some books are in high demand, and some are not in demand. To cut down on his work, the librarian begins to store popular books next to him, so as not to go to the hall once again and speed up customer service. In this example, the library is the internal memory of the device, the books are the data, the reader is the application requesting data to be processed, the librarian is the memory controller serving the requests, and the rack of popular books next to the librarian is the cache.

Why do you need to clear the cache?

Based on the above, we can see that caching applications is a useful process, however, the cache sometimes needs to be cleared. The main reasons for this action are the growth of memory for data and the incorrect operation of the application. With active and prolonged use of applications, their cache grows, and if the device has a shortage of internal memory, then cleaning to some extent will help resolve this issue.

Clearing the data of a crashing app can help get rid of its incorrect behavior. After all, it also happens that erroneous data is stored in the cache, which leads to a failure in the application. You need to understand that clearing the cache is not uninstalling the program, but only deleting temporary files.

The cache can be cleaned in two ways: using the regular application manager and special programs, the so-called cleaners.

Clearing with the application manager is somewhat inconvenient and more suitable to clear the data of a specific application.

Cleaning with special applications is the fastest and most convenient way. The official store has a large number of applications for cleaning up junk files in Android. One of the required functions in such programs is clearing the cache. The most popular among them are Clean Master and CCleaner.

Hi all! Today we will analyze what kind of cached data function is on Samsung phones. You will understand what are their pros and cons of the cache and whether it can be deleted from Android.

In the course of work, on Android smartphones and tablets, residual information about the applications visited and the games launched is accumulated. This information is called a cache. This information is temporary and is constantly updated. Users differently assess the need for cache data on the phone. But most try to immediately delete such temporary files from the device.

Cached data on a Samsung phone

In the latest line of Samsung smartphones (OS Android Lollipop), a new option has appeared - cached data. This function allows you to track the presence of temporary cache files, their volume on the phone and immediately clear the phone of them.

To access this cleaning option, you need to enter " Settings» smartphone and scroll down to « Memory". There, find the cached data and click on it to delete it.

In addition to this option, Samsung phones and tablets provide another form of system cleaning - smart manager. Find it in the main menu of the phone, launch the application and go to the section Memory and in paragraph Unnecessary data click delete. You can also use third-party applications that also have the option of such cleaning. For example Master Cleaner, Cache Cleaner and others.

Is it possible to delete the cache?

If you ask yourself the relevance of the issue of deleting temporary cache data, then you should pay attention to several points.

1. If you don't have enough space on your device, deleting cache files is, in principle, done first.
2. The presence of cache data in Android contributes to faster loading of some applications (, Instagram, Classmates, snapchat, mobile browser and others).
3. Deleting cache data may affect the launch speed of some applications. This is due to the fact that remembering icons, photos, written text and other information will have to be reloaded. In conditions of weak Internet, it will be very long.
4. Deleting cache files also cleans up residual junk and solves some application errors.

I hope you figured out what cached data is on Samsung phones and drew conclusions for yourself - is it possible delete these files from an Android device.

If the smartphone or tablet runs out of free space, then the first thing the user is advised to do is delete the cache from memory. And what, in fact, is a cache in the phone or cached data?

A cache is a fast-access intermediate buffer that contains information that can be queried. At the same time, accessing the cache is much faster than fetching the necessary data from memory or a remote source. However, you need to remember that the amount of cache is limited.

If you do not understand anything from the above, we will try to explain in a clear way. When you install an app on your Android device, a folder is created to store user settings, various images, logs, etc. Of course, the data in the cache in this case takes up space.

Another example. Let's say you open VKontakte on your phone and look at photos. These photos are saved to your device (i.e. cached). What for? And then, that if the next time you refer to the same pictures, they will be loaded much faster than without using the cache. The same applies not only to photos, but also to music and even videos - they are all saved on the device and can take up a lot of space.

The question is, will you revisit the video you've watched? Most likely not, and therefore it is not necessary to cache the video.

What happens if you delete the cache?

Nothing will happen if we talk about the cache in browsers, except that some information such as the same photos will be loaded a little longer. In the case of deleting the application cache, you should not worry either, because the saves are not deleted.

The cache can be deleted both manually and using third-party applications. It is better to use the second method, since when deleting the cache manually, you will have to delete it from different sources, while the application itself will find all types of cache on the device and delete them at the request of the user.

Here is the application cache data in the smartphone settings:

And this is the cache data for one application.