Have you ever seen the option of “Clear Cache” in TikTok’s settings or cleared the TikTok cache by chance? Are you wondering what “Clear cache” means on TikTok? Before hitting the “Clear cache” button any sooner, knowing what it does is better. This article will give you answers if you want to learn what clearing cache does to your TikTok app.
Answer:
In TikTok, “Clear Cache” means to remove the temporarily used data of your profile details or the videos you recently watched. These data are stored in your cache so that when you visit the same video or your profile later, TikTok can effectively display it. Clearing cache does not clear your drafts, liked history, or uploaded videos but deletes the unnecessarily bundled information on the cache memory.
What Is TikTok Cache?
Most application software uses a cache to store frequently used features and instructions. It is done to execute them faster next time when needed. Likewise, TikTok also uses cache memory to store details of your profile or videos you watched recently.
Have you ever noticed that TikTok or any other app loads very slowly when you use it for the first time? It is simply because of the cache because it is where frequently used instructions and data are stored so that the app functions faster; hence, there is nothing in the cache at first, causing the slow functioning of the app.
What Does “Clear Cache” Mean On TikTok?
“Clear Cache” means to delete the temporarily used data from TikTok. Do you wonder if deleting the TikTok cache would delete your important videos and drafts? You dont have to worry about it.
Clearing the TikTok cache only clears your temporary and unnecessary data of videos you recently watched or your profile details. The cache stores these data to quickly load information when you want to access them later.
The more videos you watch, the larger the cache. It is good to clear your TikTok cache sometimes to remove corrupt data, free up some space or fix minor app issues. The disadvantage is, however, TikTok performs a bit slower the first time you launch it after clearing the cache.
What Happens When You Clear TikTok Cache?
Users can experience many benefits by clearing the cache once in a while; however, if a person would not mind a little lagging of videos due to an overloaded cache, it’s up to them. At the end of the day, the user still gets to share their content on TikTok either way.
Some of the occurrences when you clear the TikTok cache are as follows,
Fixes Minor TikTok Issues
Sometimes, you might have faced TikTok not working as it had to or not being able to use certain features on TikTok like guest feature, family pairing, etc. Often, these problems can easily be solved when you clear up the TikTok cache.
Improved Performance
Since the cache is the one loading the videos on your FYP of TikTok, providing your profile details, keeping track of your watch history, and all. Wouldn’t the cache function more properly if the unwanted information clears up? Of course, it will.
If you clear the cache, necessary information fills it up while the information unnecessary to make TikTok function have no place.
Slow Functioning
Though I pre-explained to you that clearing the TikTok cache increases the performance of the TikTok app, when you use TikTok for the first time after clearing the cache, you feel a bit lagging in the videos and other features (lagging is unnoticeable).
With time, TikTok works perfectly fine.
Space Freed Up
The TikTok cache uses up a small portion of your device portion. Therefore, if you clear up the cache, you can get a little MB of your phone back. If you are running out of space on your device, I suggest up to clear the cache of not only TikTok but of other application software as well.
Remove Corrupt Data
The cache may store corrupt data. These corrupt data result in improper functioning of the Tiktok app. If you clear up your cache regularly, with the deletion of other unnecessary data, corrupted data also gets deleted.
Newer Recommendation
The cache gets used to display the videos of people you view more often. Since when you clear up the cache, all temporary information is gone, so you will likely be exposed to newer TikTokers. If you are bored with your FYP, try clearing the cache.
No Changes On Drafts And Uploaded Videos
Having known all the benefits of clearing the cache, you might want to know if it indirectly makes changes to your TikTok drafts and uploaded videos; the answer to your query is no.
The cache clearance only clears the temporarily stored details of your watch history and profile but makes changes in no other videos and features.
How Can You Clear Cache On TikTok?
Clearing cache is not a big deal as you can do it with very few simple steps. As you now know what to expect when you clear up the cache, here are some methods to help you with the same.
Method 1: Clear Cache Using TikTok Application
For Android
If you use Android, here are some steps that can help you to clear the cache from your TikTok app,
Step 1: First, open the TikTok app and sign in to your TikTok account.
Step 2: Now, tap on the “profile” icon from the For You page’s bottom right corner.
Step 3: After that, you will see the “Hamburger” icon, a three-lined icon on the screen’s top-right side. Tap on that hamburger icon.
Step 4: Select the “Settings and privacy” option from the pop-up menu on the screen.
Step 5: Next, scroll down until you reach the “Cache & cellular data” section. From the same section, select the first button, which is “Free up space.”
Step 6: Now that you have reached the “Free up space” page, you will see three different options, among which you have to click on the “Clear” button of the “Cache” option.
Step 7: Finally, press the “Clear” button to clear the cache.
For iPhone
For the iPhone users, I have presented quick steps to clear up your cache below:
Step 1: First, launch the TikTok app.
Step 2: Next, tap on the “profile” icon from the bottom of the right side of the screen.
Step 3: Now that you have reached the profile page, choose the three-lined icon from the top-right corner.
Step 4: Select the “Settings and privacy” option.
Step 5: Scroll down and when you reach the “Cache and cellular data” section, Tap on the “Clear Cache,” which is the first option.
Step 6: Then, You are done here.
Method 2: Clear Cache Without Opening TikTok
For Android
To clear the cache without opening the TikTok app, I suggest Android users follow the below-mentioned steps:
Step 1: Unlock your mobile phone.
Step 2: From your app gallery, search for the TikTok app. Now that you found the app press the TikTok icon and hold it for a while.
Step 3: Now, you will see a pop-up menu from which you choose the “App info” button.
Step 4: Then select the “Storage” or “Storage and cache” option (depends on Brands).
Step 5: Next, tap on the “Clear data” option from the screen’s bottom.
Step 6: At last, choose the “Clear cache” option instead of the “Clear all data” option to complete the task of cache clearance.
For iPhone
If you are an iPhone user, I suggest you follow these steps to clear up the cache:
Step 1: From your app gallery, search the “Setting” app and click on it.
Step 2: Now, scroll down and tap on the “general” button.
Step 3: Then, hit the “iPhone Storage” button among all the other buttons, which eventually takes you to a page where you can see how much storage a particular app consumes.
Step 4: From the list of all the apps on your phone, select the TikTok app.
Step 5: Now, you will see two buttons, among which, choose the “Offload app” button. Offloading frees up all the space taken by TikTok in your phone while still storing the app data untouched.
Step 6: Finally, tap on the “Reinstall app” to get the TikTok app.
However, if you follow these steps, sometimes, you might lose some of your drafts. You will have to re-log into your TikTok app after offloading the app.
I suggest you go through my How to clear TikTok cache on Android and iPhone (Step by step) article to learn more details.
Does Clearing TikTok Cache Clear Up All Your TikTok Data?
The simple answer to this query is no. All the data except your watch history, information to load your profile details (not the actual profile details), and other TikTok supporting yet unnecessary data will be at the same place you left before clearing the cache.
Your drafts, videos you uploaded, liked, or saved for the future, your comments on others’ TikTok videos, others’ comments on your TikTok contents, like you earned on TikTok, and all the similar features are intact and untouched.
Does Clearing TikTok Cache Free Up Space On Your Device?
A big yes! Though the TikTok cache is most of the time occupying certain MBs, at the time when you are out of space on your device, clearing the TikTok cache can provide you with some space.
You don’t have to be skeptical about clearing the TikTok cache because instead of being disadvantageous, it frees up space, increases performance, wipes up corrupt data, and many more.
To learn other ways to free up your device’s space, go through my article: How can you free up storage on TikTok?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some of the frequently asked questions which are listed below:
How Much Space Does TikTok Take Up?
The TikTok app itself takes about 300 MB of space on your device. As you keep on using this app, the space it consumes increases gradually because your watch history gets stored in the TikTok cache for better performance which requires some space, the drafts you made and saved also take up little space, and the videos you downloaded will also require few spaces.
For detailed information, read, How much space does TikTok take up?
Is It Good To Clear Cache On TikTok?
It depends on the user’s preference; they can determine whether it’s worth anything or not. Clearing cache unbundles huge benefits of smooth user experience, uninterrupted video watching, perfectly working features, free space, and much more.
However, if you don’t mind waiting for a few seconds to be able to view certain TikTok content or load your profile details because of cache overload, it’s totally up to you. At the end of the day, all users get to share and view TikTok content sooner or later.
How Much Space Does TikTok Cache Use?
The more you use TikTok, the more space the cache takes. So there is not a particular answer to the question. The space TikTok cache takes on your device can be 4.2 MB, and on my device can be 9.1 MB.
When you consume the contents of TikTok more, the cache collects more information to effectively present you with the contents you watched earlier.
Why Is Cache Introduced?
Though you may find the cache bit unnecessary, it plays a significant role in operating any feature, solving any problem, or enabling any function or whatnot.
For example, when you scroll through TikTok’s liked video, the CPU gets the instruction to load the video for you. So, to do it, the CPU first reaches the cache to see whether it has the video stored. If the cache didn’t exist, the CPU had to ask the RAM, which would be a long process and result in the slow loading of videos.
Conclusion
Some find clearing cache pretty advantageous, and some don’t even bother to clear it. It’s totally up to you whether you clear it or leave it as it is.
However, if you want a smooth user interface and timeless content display, I suggest you clear your cache regularly because why not? It neither removes your important files nor lets your TikTok crash without a solid reason.
I hope you have now known the meaning of “clear cache” and can decide whether you want to clear your TikTok cache or not.
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