COLS Troubleshooting: How to Clear Your Browser Cache

Quick Links

Issue: You receive an error message when using COLS.

Solution: Clear your browser cache. This forces your browser to retrieve the newest copy available from a website, which doesn’t always happen automatically.

General Cache Clearing

Press “Ctrl” + “F5”  for Windows users (this works for most browsers) or “Command” + “R” for Mac users.

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Clearing the Help Link Cache in COLS

  1. Right-click the Help icon.
  2. Select “Open link in New Tab/Window”.
  3. In the new tab/window, press “Ctrl” + “F5”.
  4. Close the new tab/window.
  5. Click the help link in the original tab/window. It should now display correctly.

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Browser-specific Cache Clearing

Internet Explorer

  1. Click “Tools” in the navigation bar and select “Internet Options” from the drop-down menu.
  2. In the pop-up window, under “Browsing history”, click “Delete”.
  3. Click “Delete” again.
  4. Click “OK” to close the pop-up window.

To clear your cache more thoroughly:

  1. Under “Browsing history” click “Settings”.
  2. Click “View files”.
  3. When Windows Explorer opens, select and delete all files containing “ouac” in the file name. (Tip: Search for “ouac” to locate the files quickly.)

Google Chrome

  1. Click the vertical ellipsis menu (3 vertical dots) and select “History”.
  2. Click “Clear browsing data…”.
  3. In the pop-up window, next to the time range, select “All time” from the drop-down menu.
  4. Ensure “Cached images and files” is checked.
  5. Click “Clear data”.

Mozilla Firefox

  1. In the navigation bar under “History”, select “Clear Recent History…” (Shortcut: “Ctrl”+“Shift”+“Delete”).
  2. In the pop-up window, next to the time range to clear, select “Everything” from the drop-down menu.
  3. Ensure “Cache” is selected.
  4. Click “OK”.

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Watch Video

The How to Clear Your Cache video will show you how to clear the cache in your web browser if you experience errors when using COLS.

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