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How to Clear Your Cache

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Knowledgebase Guide

Clearing Your Browser Cache

If you have recently made changes to your website but cannot see them, your browser may still be showing an older cached version of the page.
This guide explains how to use private browsing, perform a hard refresh, and clear cached files so you can view the most up-to-date version of your website.

Quick tip: Before changing website settings, try opening your website in a private or incognito window.
This is often the fastest way to check whether your browser cache is causing the issue.

Use Private Browsing

Private or incognito browsing does not normally use your existing browser cache in the same way as a standard browser window.
This makes it useful when checking recent changes to your website.

Open a new private or incognito window, then visit your website again. If the new version appears there, the issue is likely caused by your normal browser cache.

How to Do a Hard Refresh

A hard refresh forces your browser to download the page files again from the web server, rather than loading cached copies stored on your computer.

This can help when checking website changes such as updated images, CSS styling, text edits or layout changes.

Hard Refresh Shortcuts

Google Chrome
Windows / Linux: Ctrl + F5 or Ctrl + Shift + R
Mac: Command + Shift + R
Firefox
Windows / Linux: Ctrl + F5 or Ctrl + Shift + R
Mac: Command + Shift + R
Microsoft Edge
Windows: Ctrl + F5 or Ctrl + Shift + R
Safari
Mac: Command + Option + R

Additional Method Using Developer Tools

Most modern browsers also allow you to empty the cache and reload the page using Developer Tools.

  1. Open the page you want to refresh.
  2. Open Developer Tools using F12 or Ctrl + Shift + I.
  3. Right-click the browser refresh button.
  4. Select Empty Cache and Hard Reload.
Tip: This method is especially useful when CSS, JavaScript or images are not updating after you have made changes to your website.

Why Does Your Browser Store a Cache?

Browsers store cached files to make websites load faster and reduce the amount of data that needs to be downloaded each time you visit a page.

  • Cached files help frequently visited websites load faster.
  • Images, scripts and stylesheets can be stored locally by your browser.
  • Less data needs to be downloaded each time you visit the same page.
  • Cached content can sometimes be available even when offline.
  • Caching reduces the number of repeated requests made to web servers.
  • Clearing cache helps force your browser to show the latest website version.

Website Cache vs Browser Cache

Your browser cache is only one type of cache. Websites, especially WordPress websites, may also use plugin cache, server cache, CDN cache or theme cache.

If a hard refresh does not show the latest version of your website, you may also need to clear any caching plugin inside WordPress or ask support to check whether server-side caching is involved.

Important: If you are using WordPress, changes may also be cached by plugins such as LiteSpeed Cache, WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache or other optimisation tools.

Still Seeing the Old Version?

If you have tried private browsing, a hard refresh and clearing your website cache but still cannot see the latest version of your website, please contact support.

Need Help With Caching?

If your website changes are not showing correctly, please sign in to your hosting account and open a support ticket.
Our team will be happy to take a look.


Open Support Ticket