How to Clear Cache Without Losing Passwords (or Getting Logged Out) in Chrome

Yes, you can clear cache without losing passwords. In Chrome, the cache and your saved passwords are different things, stored in different places, behind different checkboxes. Clearing the cache alone never touches a password.

What people actually lose is their logins: the fact that each site remembers them. That lives in cookies, and cookies are often ticked by default in Chrome's delete window. This guide shows exactly which boxes to tick, and how to clean a single site while every other login stays where it is.

The short answer#

• Cache never holds passwords. Tick only Cached images and files and you keep passwords and logins.
• Cookies hold your logins. Tick cookies and you are signed out, but your saved passwords stay.
• Passwords are a separate box, on the Advanced side of the dialog. Leave it unticked.
• One broken site? Clear just that site, so every other login survives.

Cache, cookies and passwords are three different things#

Google's help page for Delete browsing data lists cache, cookies and passwords as separate items. The passwords option is on the Advanced side of the window and is not ticked unless you tick it.

So "will I lose my passwords?" has a clear answer: only if you tick the passwords box. "Will I be logged out?" depends on cookies.

Why clearing cache seems to log you out#

This is the most common complaint, and it is almost always the same story. Someone opens Delete browsing data, sees a few boxes ticked, clicks Delete data and finds themselves signed out everywhere.

The cookies box was ticked. Cookies hold your sign-in sessions, so deleting them signs you out of every site in the time range. Your passwords are still saved, which is why Chrome can fill them in again, but every site, two-factor prompt and "remember this device" choice starts over.

If you got signed out without clearing anything at all, that is a different problem. Our guide on why Chrome keeps logging you out covers the settings that cause it.

The safe way, step by step#

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Delete on Windows, Linux or ChromeOS, or Command+Shift+Delete on a Mac.
2. Choose a time range. If a problem started today, "Last 24 hours" is enough.
3. Tick Cached images and files.
4. Untick Cookies and other site data. This is the box that signs you out.
5. Open the Advanced side and make sure the passwords option is unticked.
6. Click Delete data.

You keep every password and every login. Most "page looks broken" problems are fixed by this alone. The full set of options is in our main guide on how to clear cache in Chrome.

When you do need to clear cookies#

Cache-only clearing will not fix problems that live in cookies:

• A site sends you back to its sign-in page right after you sign in.
• Chrome shows ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS.
• You are signed in to the wrong account and cannot switch.

For these, clear cookies for that one site only (every way to delete cookies in Chrome is in its own guide). You will sign in to that site again, and nowhere else. Our login loop fix and ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS guide walk through each case.

Clear one site and keep every other login#

Chrome can clear a single site from the address bar:

1. Click the View site information icon to the left of the address.
2. Choose Cookies and site data, then Manage on-device site data.
3. Delete that site's entries and reload.

That signs you out of the one site, and only that site. If you want to clear its cache but keep its cookies, Chrome's only built-in route is DevTools. Our guide to clearing cache for one site in Chrome shows both.

We built a faster route for this exact job. Cleaner is a free Chrome extension with a Fix broken page button that clears the current site's cache and service workers and keeps its cookies, so you stay signed in. When a login really is the problem, Sign out & reset clears that site's cookies too. Every other site is untouched either way.

It also has protected sites: sites it never clears, even if you choose to clean all sites at once. Put your mail and bank there, and you cannot sign yourself out of them by accident.

Back up your passwords before a big clean-up#

If you are about to reset a lot, it costs two minutes to be safe:

1. Open chrome://password-manager.
2. Go to Settings and choose Export passwords.
3. Save the CSV file somewhere safe, then delete it when you no longer need it. It is not encrypted.

If you are signed in to Chrome with password sync on, your passwords are also stored in your Google Account. Clearing browsing data on one computer does not remove them from your account unless you tick the passwords box.

Small mistakes that cost you logins#

• Trusting the default ticks. Read the boxes every time. Chrome remembers your last choice.
• Choosing "All time" for a fresh problem. A shorter range keeps more of your sessions.
• Clearing data in a synced profile without thinking. Google notes that deleting synced data on one device can remove it on your other devices too.
• Forgetting two-factor apps. If you do clear cookies, have your authenticator ready before you start.

Bottom line#

Clearing the cache does not cost you passwords or logins. Cookies cost you logins. The passwords box costs you passwords. Tick only what the problem needs, and when only one site is broken, clear only that site.