How to Clear Cache on Android (2026)

Over time, Android phones start to feel sluggish, and apps crash for no obvious reasons. In such cases, clearing the cache is the first fix I try before anything more drastic. On most phones, heavy apps like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Chrome easily consume over 1 GB or more of cached data. Clearing the cache on Android helps you reclaim precious storage space and also speed up your phone. So, let's go ahead and learn how to clear cache on Android at both app-level and OS-level.

Clear App Cache from Android Home Screen

This is the quickest way to clear app cache on Android phones. Note that this doesn't log you out of the app or delete your chats, photos or settings. It only removes the temporary files that the app uses to load content faster. I usually do this for social media apps and Android browsers once a month because those are the biggest cache hogs on your phone.

1. Long-press the app icon on the home screen for which you want to clear the cache.
2. Now, tap on the i icon and select Storage & cache from the "App info" screen.
3. Finally, hit Clear cache and that's it.

You can repeat this process to clear the app cache for other apps on Android.

Clear Cache on Android from Settings

You can also achieve the same thing from the Settings app. Here, you can find a list of all apps hogging your storage. That said, you should avoid clearing cache of Google Play Services, as it's a core system component and it's used for account syncing, notifications and other things. On that note, here are the steps to follow.

1. Open the Settings app on your Android phone and head over to Apps > See all apps.
2. Here, you will find all your installed apps on Android. Select the app whose cache you want to delete.

3. Inside the "App info" screen, tap on Storage & cache.
4. Now, tap on Clear cache to remove the app's cached data.

Clear Cache on Android Using a Dedicated App

Most Android phones come with a dedicated app that lets you clear cache with a single tap. For instance, Samsung phones have Device Care, Xiaomi phones have Cleaner, Realme phones have Phone Manager, Vivo phones have iManager, and so on. I would recommend using the Files by Google app as it's available on all Android phones and does an excellent job clearing cache and temporary files in a single tap.

1. Download and install the Files by Google app from the Play Store on your Android phone.
2. Now, open it and tap on the hamburger menu at the top left.
3. Here, tap on Clean and you will see a "Junk files" section at the top.
4. Hit the Clean button and again, tap on Clean.

This will remove all the unnecessary files, including cache, from your Android phone.

Wipe Cache Partition on Android

If you want to clear the cache at the system level, you can clear the cache partition from the recovery menu on your Android phone. It not only removes app-level cache files but also clears temporary OS files and leftover data from previous software updates. Wiping it doesn't touch your apps, photos, messages or settings. It only removes old system files so the Android OS can rebuild from scratch. Here is how to do it.

1. First off, power off the phone completely and hold Volume Down + Power buttons together until you see a logo.
2. On Samsung phones, you need to connect your phone to a PC using a cable first and then hold Volume Up + Power buttons.
3. Your Android phone will boot into the recovery menu.
4. Use the Volume buttons to move to the Wipe cache partition menu and press the Power button to select it.

5. Next, move to Yes and press the Power button again to confirm the action. This will clear the cache partition on your Android phone.
6. Now, choose Reboot system now and you will boot into your phone.

So that's how you can clear cache on Android at the app-level and OS-level. You can safely clear the cache of apps like Instagram, YouTube, Chrome, etc. That said, I would not recommend using third-party booster or cleaner apps, as most of them are bloatware and show aggressive ads or ask for sensitive permissions. In case you have an iPhone, go through our tutorial and learn how to clear cache on iPhone using quick and easy steps.