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Does deleting website data on Safari do any harm or good?

Does deleting website data do any harm or good?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPad Pro, iPadOS 16

Posted on May 6, 2023 6:08 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 12, 2024 8:18 AM

You are going to have to troubleshoot the errors or confusion or corruptions or whatever is arising here.


As for saving passwords, that all depends on which password store is being used.


That can be the local store or can be iCloud Keychain for Apple, and can be the Apple password or passcode stores or other third-party password or passcode stores for third-party tools.

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 12, 2024 8:18 AM in response to Special_Monkey

You are going to have to troubleshoot the errors or confusion or corruptions or whatever is arising here.


As for saving passwords, that all depends on which password store is being used.


That can be the local store or can be iCloud Keychain for Apple, and can be the Apple password or passcode stores or other third-party password or passcode stores for third-party tools.

May 6, 2023 6:14 PM in response to trshmare

trshmare wrote:

Does deleting website data do any harm or good?


Neither. It’ll usually trigger a requirement to log into some websites again, might require re-downloading some data for other websites, maybe require re-filling your shopping cart or such, or might lose the state of a game that runs within a web browser. In general terms, nothing of permanence will be lost.

May 6, 2023 6:14 PM in response to trshmare

Neither. Deleting website data will cause you to be logged out of websites that require authentication (like this one) but that is neither beneficial or harmful.


If you are experiencing problems with website loading in general, it's not a bad idea to delete website data, and is a worthwhile troubleshooting step.


If you want to periodically delete website data for no reason in particular, that's ok too.

Nov 7, 2023 3:01 AM in response to John Galt

I appreciate your detailed explanation about deleting website data. It's insightful to know that it won't cause significant harm, especially for troubleshooting website loading issues. Your perspective sheds light on the practical aspects of this action, making it a valuable consideration for anyone facing similar challenges. Thank you for sharing your expertise! Out of curiosity, have you encountered any other useful troubleshooting tips for such issues?


[Edited by Moderator]

Nov 7, 2023 7:55 AM in response to Fahadkhan1213

Fahadkhan1213 wrote:

…have you encountered any other useful troubleshooting tips for such issues?


Best to learn how to debug and to troubleshoot issues and errors, more generally.

How to approach systematically and iterate, to theorize causes, to prove or disprove, research, and test.

These particular skills are broadly applicable.

Jun 11, 2024 11:24 PM in response to MrHoffman

So the only one I don’t delete when I do some cleaning is anything that says Password….

Cuz I read that If u recently created an account or changed a password & had chrome or whatever app save the PW for u, someone pointed out that if ur phone didn’t do a back up & background app refresh is off. between then & ur deleting, u culd potentially erase what u thought your phone was saving for u. And


Another reason I don’t ever trust chrome, google or apple to save em for me. I always take a screenshot, especially if it’s a suggested password and then jot it down in safe. Space.

I can’t tell you how many times it go to enter my password and it asked me if I want to use my saved one but it’s not there.

Too unpredictable for me.

Does deleting website data on Safari do any harm or good?

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