How to clear your browser’s cache

10th Jul

When making changes on a website for you, we may often ask you to clear your browser. Here's why and how to do it!

What is a cache?

Whenever you visit a website, your web browser saves certain information from that site on your computer’s hard drive in something called the “browser cache.” Most of the time, this is a positive thing, as it helps speed up your web browsing experience by eliminating the need to download the same static resources over and over as you browse around a web page.

Why might we ask you to clear your cache?

When we are working on updating your site, often your browser may have cached certain web pages meaning you won’t see the latest versions of the page. We may ask you to refresh the page, force/hard refresh the page (see below) or clear your cache to make sure you’re seeing the most up to date information.

Force Refresh

Before you go straight to clearing your entire browser cache, one trick you can try is something called a “force refresh”. Normally, when you refresh a page, your browser still serves up the cached version of the page, rather than downloading all of the assets again. But you can actually bypass the cache and force a complete refresh by using some simple hotkeys:

  • Windows and Linux browsers: CTRL + F5
  • Apple Safari: SHIFT Reload toolbar button
  • Chrome and Firefox for MacCMD + SHIFT R

How to clear your cache on different browsers

For guidance on each relevant browser, please visit kinsta.com/how-to-clear-browser-cache for step-by step guidance on the browser you are using.