Have you ever been editing your site, then go to view the changes and they’re just not showing up? And no matter how many times you have saved and re-saved, you just can’t see the changes being made? Most likely, the problem is that the changes are more than likely getting caught in the browser’s cache.
Wait, the browser’s what?
When browsing the web, your browser knows what sites you visit often. It will download a temporary copy of that website to your local computer. Then, when you visit the site again, rather than asking the web server for the files, it pulls them from your hard drive, loading much faster. Beyond just making your browsing experience faster, the cache is important because it reduces a servers’ lag, allowing everyone to see your website faster!
So how do I clear it?
When your browser has a cached copy, but you need the most up-to-date version of a page, all you have to do is clear out your cache. Don’t worry; it’s easy to clear! There are different ways to clear your cache depending on what type of browser you are using. The most popular are Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari.
Chrome:
- In the browser bar, enter: chrome://settings/clearBrowserData
- At the top of the “Clear browsing data” window, click Advanced.
- Make sure only “Cached images and files” is selected.
- From the “Time range” drop-down menu, you can choose the period of time for which you want to clear cached information. To clear your entire cache, select All time.
- Click CLEAR DATA.
- Exit/quit all browser windows and re-open the browser.
Microsoft Edge:
- In the top right, click the Hub icon (looks like star with three horizontal lines).
- Click the History icon (looks like a clock), and then select Clear all history.
- Select Browsing history, then Cookies and saved website data, and then Cached data and files. Click Clear.
- After the “All Clear!” message appears, exit/quit all browser windows and re-open the browser.
Firefox:
- From the History menu, select Clear Recent History.
- If the menu bar is hidden, press Alt to make it visible.
- From the Time range to clear: drop-down menu, select the desired range; to clear your entire cache, select Everything.
- Next to “Details”, click the down arrow to choose which elements of the history to clear; to clear your entire cache, select all items.
- Click Clear Now.
- Exit/quit all browser windows and re-open the browser.
Safari:
- From the Safari menu, select Clear History… or Clear History and Website Data….
- Select the desired time range, and then click Clear History.
- Go to Safari > Quit Safari or press Command-Q to exit the browser completely.
If you need further help clearing your cache, check out https://kb.iu.edu/d/ahic.
Do visitors need to clear their cache too?
Most likely, no. Your visitors probably aren’t visiting often enough for the browser to cache it. If they are, there’s still nothing to worry about, as the cache automatically clears itself every hour or so.
I cleared my cache but I’m still experiencing problems.
That’s okay! We’re here to help. Plexamedia customers can always reach us at support@plexamedia.com with any problems you may be experiencing with your site.
