When a respondent is taking a survey in their browser, they may come across pre-filled survey results — this can happen as a result of many things, but one of the more important and most common reasons this might be happening is because it’s time to clear their cache. You can share the following with respondents if they encounter this issue.

Let’s take a look at how to clear your cache in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari so you can rest assured your response has been submitted correctly. 

Chrome — 

With Chrome open, click on the three dots in the top right corner of the browser. 

From there, hover over More Tools, then click “Clear Browsing Data” in the dropdown menu. 

You can choose a time range if you’d like to be specific, but if you’re just looking to clear all of your cache, leave it at “All time”. 

After this, make sure the boxes next to “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files” are checked. 

Then, click “Clear data” and you’re done!

Safari —

With Safari open, click on Preferences in the menu bar on the top-left side of the browser. 

Within the preferences menu, click on “Advanced.” Clicking on that should give you something like this: 

From there, on the very bottom, make sure the box next to “Show Develop menu in menu bar” is checked, like it is in the above picture.

Close out of the preferences menu. After doing this, go back into the safari browser and click on the “Develop” tab in the top menu. 

On the bottom, click “Empty caches.” After this, your cache will be empty! 

Firefox —

With Firefox open, at the top of your screen, click on “Firefox,” and then “Preferences”. 

After this, select the “Privacy and Security” panel on the side menu. 

Within the “Cookies and Site Data” section, click the “Clear data” button. 

After this, you’re going to want to uncheck the box next to “Cookies and Site Data,” and make sure the box next to “Cached web content” is the only box selected. 

With only the “Cached web content” box selected, click the “Clear” button and you’re finished!