Constantly clearing CACHE and the extra clicks now required, WHY !?!?!?
Been using Firefox since the beginning
ALWAYS am using most updated version
Have run FF as my principal browser on 4 different laptops and 5 different work desktops through the years
I still prefer FF over others for personalization and appearance reasons
But THE MOST ANNOYING THING in Firefox since about 2009-10 (can't remember exact year, and many different computers since) is the fact that Firefox slows down when nearing cache limit.
Now I do a LOT of browsing, I am fairly addicted to Facebook, news sites, and low-res-streaming. I frequently use 30-80 GB of bandwidth a month.
The default cache size for Firefox is 350 MB. (I've increased/lowered the limit to zero satisfaction)
My present laptop is a Macbook Air. Everytime FF slows down, I open the preferences panel, click the 3rd option, and hit CLEAR CACHE. On by bigger internet days, I end up having to do this 5-6 times a day.
It does not matter if it's a new install or not.
Generally, through the years, my only add-ons are dictionaries and adblock, and a forced "open new tab at right" choice.
But as stated previously, this cache clearing necessity is even on clean installs, my add-ons do not reduce the burden of cache clearing.
In IE/Edge, Chrome, Safari, I NEVER have to clear the cache, EVER!!!
So the questions are:
1-Why has the Firefox team never resolved this annoyance, which has been brought up time and time and again through the decades?
2-Why has the Firefox team now added FOUR NEW STEPS to clearing the cache ??? as if it were not already annoying enough, now it literally takes twice as long to clear the damned cache! and now the extra step also includes a cookies clearing which I most certainly DO NOT want to clear 3-5 times a day!!!! So now each time I have to un-check the cookies box to clear my frickin cache, it's beyond annoying!
Because it is a "preference" (what an idiotic position for Clear Cache) that is used several times a day by big browsers, instead of burying it deep in:
1-Firefox
2-Preferences
3-Privacy and security
4-Scroll down a random amount to Cookies and Site Data
5-Clear Data
6-Unclick cookies (mine are set to custom and only accept sites visited so I don't have many undesired cookies and hate relogging into sites constantly) to keep only clearing cache
7-Clear
8-Close panel
In the early days of Firefox Cache clear, it was only 4 steps, some browsers have it at 2 steps, but no, here we are stuck with 8 steps, and a default ridiculous pre-clicked clear cookies!!
Seriously Firefox, Fix these problems.
1-improve SELF CLEARING of cache, as other browsers do
2-reduce and clean up the number of steps required to clear the cache
Modified by TNT666
All Replies (8)
Hi, Firefox Volunteer Support can not answer your question as we do not have the answer to that.
You can Submit Feedback and request features by going to Help --> Submit Feedback and a team will review your submission.
Note that you can open about:preferences as a pinned tab (and possibly type cache in its search bar, so you would only have to click once to go to this tab.
Did you try to toggle automatic cache management to see if that makes a difference?
You can create a new profile to test if your current profile is causing the problem.
See "Creating a profile":
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues
If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.
Pkshadow said
Hi, Firefox Volunteer Support can not answer your question as we do not have the answer to that. You can Submit Feedback and request features by going to Help --> Submit Feedback and a team will review your submission.
Done it in the past, done it again. It's a blind process. And it obviously has never been dealt with. And this complaint about cache clearing has been all over the help forums for years, always with the simplistic answer of testing clean profiles which is a waste of time. I'd like to see an actual intelligent discussion some time about this long standing problem. I'd like to see FF's justification for making something that should be easy more complicated instead of easier. :(
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/empty-cache-button/ Empty Cache Button
There is also; Type about:preferences#privacy<enter> in the address bar. The button next to History, select Use Custom Settings.
Turn on Remember My Browsing And Download History At the bottom of the page, turn on Clear History When Firefox Closes. At the far right, press the Settings button. Turn on ONLY Cache and Form And Search History leaving the others off.
FredMcD said
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/empty-cache-button/ Empty Cache Button
Oh! now THAT sounds useful. I'll give it a try and get back here in a few days to give feedback. thx!
Several more if do not like that one : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/search/?platform=windows&q=empty+cache
Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.
Pkshadow said
Several more if do not like that one : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/search/?platform=windows&q=empty+cache Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.
Generally, I'm allergic to add-ons, because you know, in the future, any time there's a problem, it's always "the fault of the add-ons". I am trying the first one you proposed, but already I see a set-back:
When there is a slow-down, and I go to clear the cache, I can SEE if it's at 300, 350, 360, 390, so I can SEE that it's the cache's fault. But if I get a slow-down and the cache is only at 200, I know to look elsewhere for the cache. The cache-clear add-on button is very cute, but oh much more useful it would be if it contained a counter (like the adBlock counter which counts adds blocked), if the app icon indicated the cache amount, now THAT would be awesome.
So I'm considering this unsolved. An add-on is a temporary fix, but it does not address the philosophical programming issue of why Firefox programmers have made it harder instead of easier to clear the cache...
The about:cache page gives information about the cache. Having the about:preferences and possibly about:cache open as pined tabs is what I would use as the best workaround to decide if it would be necessary to clear the cache. Note that you need to refresh these pages (F5) to update its information. There is also the Clear History window (Ctrl+Shift+Delete) to clear the cache.