How to Clear Microsoft Edge's Cache on Mac

Microsoft Edge on Mac is a Chromium browser with a Microsoft skin. That means it caches just as aggressively as Chrome — sometimes more, since Edge ships with extra Microsoft integrations like Copilot, Collections, and Edge Workspaces that all add their own caches.

If you’ve been using Edge for work alongside Chrome at home, your Mac has two heavyweight browser caches running in parallel. Worth cleaning at least one.

Where Edge stores cache on Mac

Edge mirrors Chrome’s structure but uses its own folder names:

• ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.edgemac/ — top-level cache
• ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft Edge/Default/Cache/ — primary HTTP cache
• ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft Edge/Default/Code Cache/ — compiled JavaScript
• ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft Edge/Default/GPUCache/ — GPU shader cache
• ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft Edge/Default/Service Worker/CacheStorage/ — embedded asset cache
• ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft Edge/Default/IndexedDB/ — web app local databases

If you use multiple Edge profiles (work plus personal, for instance), each lives in Profile 1, Profile 2, etc. alongside Default. Each has its own cache.

In-app cache clear (the easy way)

This handles most situations:

1. Open Edge.
2. Click the three-dot menu (top right) → Settings.
3. In the sidebar, click Privacy, search, and services.
4. Under Clear browsing data, click Choose what to clear.
5. Set Time range to All time.
6. Check Cached images and files. Optionally also Cookies and other site data.
7. Click Clear now.

Done. The cache folders empty out, you stay signed in if you only checked Cached images and files.

Faster keyboard shortcut: Cmd+Shift+Delete opens the same dialog directly.

Clearing cache for a single site

When only one site is misbehaving:

1. Visit the site.
2. Click the lock icon next to the URL.
3. Click Cookies and site data → Manage cookies and site data.
4. Find the site, click the trash icon.
5. Or use the broader Site permissions option to clear all stored data for the site.

Reloads just that site with fresh state.

Manual cache clearing

If the app-side clear isn’t helping, or you want to verify the folders are actually empty:

1. Quit Edge completely (Cmd+Q, then check Activity Monitor).
2. Open Finder, press Cmd+Shift+G.
3. Paste ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft Edge/Default/.
4. Move these to the Trash: Cache, Code Cache, GPUCache, Service Worker.
5. Also clear ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.edgemac/ if you want to be thorough.
6. Empty Trash.
7. Reopen Edge.

Your bookmarks, saved passwords, history, and Edge sync settings are all in other files in the Default folder — none of which you touched.

Don’t dig through ~/Library yourselfSweep knows where every app stores its cache. Free download for Mac →

What about Edge Collections and Workspaces?

Both store data locally:

• Collections save in the local profile and sync via your Microsoft account if signed in.
• Workspaces are profile-specific and stored locally.

Clearing the cache as described above doesn’t affect either. Collections and Workspaces persist through cache clears.

Edge for Business specifically

If you have Edge for Business (the version that syncs with Azure AD work accounts), the work profile is separate from any personal profile. Cache clears apply to whichever profile you’re currently in. Switch profiles via the profile icon top-right, then clear from within that profile’s Settings.

Why Edge’s cache grows fast

A few Edge-specific reasons on top of normal Chromium cache behavior:

1. Bing Chat / Copilot integration caches conversation context.
2. Vertical tabs with many open tabs caches preview thumbnails.
3. Edge’s tracker prevention stores filter lists locally.
4. Office 365 integration caches OneDrive thumbnails and document previews.

A heavy work-Edge user can hit 2GB of cache in a few months easily.

Clear caches across every app at onceSweep does what 20 manual cache clears do — in 30 seconds. Free for macOS →

Don’t delete these folders

While clearing the cache folders is safe, leave these alone unless you have a specific reason:

• Bookmarks — your bookmarks file
• History — browsing history database
• Login Data — saved credentials
• Cookies — session cookies (deleting logs you out everywhere)
• Web Data — autofill data
• Preferences — Edge settings

Removing those costs you actual data, not just disk space.

When clearing Edge cache fixes things

• Pages loading stale stylesheets or scripts
• Edge feeling slow on launch
• Disk space pressure
• A specific site stuck on an old version
• Service Worker bugs

When it won’t help: extension issues, sync problems, Edge for Business policy issues controlled by your IT department.

Reinstalling Edge cleanly

If something’s deeply broken:

1. Quit Edge.
2. Drag Microsoft Edge from /Applications to Trash.
3. Delete ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft Edge/.
4. Delete ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.edgemac/.
5. Empty Trash.
6. Reinstall from microsoft.com/edge.
7. Sign in. If you had sync enabled, your bookmarks and settings come back.

A clean reinstall plus sync gives you a fresh local install with everything important restored from your Microsoft account.

How often is reasonable

Daily Edge for work: every 2-3 months for a cache clear.

Occasional Edge use: yearly is plenty.

Multiple browsers all daily: stagger them. Clear Edge one month, Chrome the next, Firefox the one after. Or automate the whole thing.

Worth automating?

Edge alone is fine to clear manually. If your Mac has Edge plus Chrome plus Safari plus Firefox plus a dozen Electron apps, automating saves real time.

Sweep handles every Chromium-based browser cache (Edge, Chrome, Brave, Vivaldi, Arc, Opera) plus everything else on macOS. Free download — scans your Mac, shows you what’s reclaimable, clears once you sign off. Works on Sonoma 14 and Sequoia 15.

Bottom line

Edge’s main cache is at ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft Edge/Default/Cache/. Clear it through Settings → Privacy or Cmd+Shift+Delete. Manually clear the folders if you want to verify everything’s gone or you’ve already removed the app.

Bookmarks, passwords, sync state, and Collections all stay. Just disk space gets returned.