How to Clear Your Browser Cache in All Major Browsers (Fast Way)

When fixing common WordPress errors, you might hear the advice to “clear your browser cache.” Since this isn’t needed for everyday internet use, many non-tech users find the process unfamiliar.

In this beginner’s guide, we will show you step-by-step how to quickly clear your browser cache in all major browsers. We will also explain what browser cache is and how browser caching works.

Clearing your browser cache can solve many issues, making your browsing experience smoother. Follow our easy steps to ensure your cache is always up to date.

What Is Browser Cache?

Browser cache is a technology used by most popular web browsers to save visited websites’ data on a user’s computer. This allows the browser to display a webpage on your next visit quickly.

The logic behind it is that downloading static website files from a WordPress hosting server located far away will take more time than reusing the resources from the user’s computer. This reduces the overall page load time and speeds up your online experience.

Typically, browsers will not cache complete web pages unless the web developers specifically tell them to do it (via code). Instead, browsers focus on static content like stylesheets, images, and JavaScript.

Why do browsers cache static content?

Browser cache static content because it does not change as often as dynamic content.

For example, if you visit a WordPress website, then the content of your posts and pages is more likely to change than your WordPress theme.

A typical website template includes several stylesheets, JavaScript files, and images. These files remain the same on each page, so downloading a fresh copy on every page load is inefficient.

This is why browsers keep a copy of these static files in a temporary storage folder on your computer so they can use that copy on your next website visit.

If you use a WordPress caching plugin, it may add guidelines for browsers to cache your static content along with expiration instructions for each resource type.

This improves user experience and makes the internet faster for everyone.

Why and when do you need to clear your browser cache?

If you feel that a website is not working as intended or not showing you recent updates, you need to clear your browser cache to troubleshoot.

Most popular browsers are smart about deciding which content to store in the cache.

However, sometimes, they cannot figure out that the website you are viewing has changed. In that case, browsers will still load the cached version of files from your computer or device’s local storage.

This leads you to see an outdated web page version, and the website may not work as intended. If you have made some changes to your website, you may not see them appear on the live site.

This is when you need to force reload that page or clear your browser cache.

Forcing Browsers to Hard Refresh / Reload a Page

Before you clear your browser cache, you may want to try this step because it’s much faster and easier (this is what the Pros do).

Basically, when you click on the refresh button in your browser, it will load static content from the browser cache. However, by using a keyboard shortcut, you can force the browser to bypass the cache and download a fresh version of the web page.

Simply press the following keys to force a hard refresh in your web browser.

Usually, forcing a hard refresh will solve your problem. However, if it does not, you need to clear your browser cache to ensure that you are seeing the live version of a web page.

Clearing Browser Cache in Google Chrome

Google Chrome is the most popular browser in the world right now. Here is how to clean the browser cache in Google Chrome.

Simply launch the Google Chrome web browser on your computer and then click on the three-dot menu in the top right corner. From the menu, you need to click ‘Clear browsing data’.

This will launch the Chrome Settings page with a ‘Clear Browsing Data’ popup displayed on the screen.

You need to switch to the Basic settings and then select ‘All time’ next to the time-range option.

Below that, you need to check the box next to the ‘Cached images and files’ option.

You can also select the ‘Clear cookies and other site data’ option. This will delete all cookies stored in your browser’s storage. Doing so will also log you out of all websites and end other sessions.

Next, click the ‘Clear data’ button, and Google Chrome will clear the browser cache.

Clearing Browser cache in Firefox

If you are using Mozilla Firefox, then this is how you can clear your browser cache.

First, launch the Firefox web browser on your computer. Then, click on the hamburger menu at the top-right corner of the screen and select the ‘Settings’ option.

This will bring up the Firefox settings page.

From here, you need to switch to the ‘Privacy and Security’ tab and then click on the ‘Clear Data’ button.

Firefox will now ask what data you want to clear.

You need to select ‘Cached Web Content’ and click on the clear button.

Firefox will now delete cached web content from your browser storage.

Clearing Browser Cache in Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer was the default web browser on Windows computers until the new Microsoft Edge browser replaced it.

However, many users still use it. If you are one of those users, then you should upgrade to a newer browser like Microsoft Edge, Firefox, or Google Chrome. Internet Explorer is retired and using it will make your browsing experience insecure, slower, and incompatible with modern websites.

For users who cannot upgrade their browser for some reason, here is how to clear the cache in Internet Explorer.

First, you need to launch Internet Explorer on your computer. After that, you need to click on the gear icon at the top right corner and select Safety » Delete browsing history…

Next, you need to uncheck the option to ‘Preserve Favorites website data’, check ‘Temporary internet files’, and optionally check the ‘Cookies’ option.

Click the ‘Delete’ button to continue, and Internet Explorer will empty your browser cache.

Clearing Browser Cache in Edge

Edge is the default browser on Windows 10 computers. Here is how you will clear your browser cache in Microsoft Edge.

First, open the Edge browser on your computer. Then, click on the three-dot menu at the top-right corner of the screen and select the ‘Settings’ option.

This will bring you to the browser settings page.

Next, switch to the ‘Privacy, search, and services’ tab from the left column.

Click on the ‘Choose what to clear’ button to continue.

This will bring up the ‘Clear browsing data’ panel. From here, you need to select the ‘Cached images and files’ option.

Click on the ‘Clear Now’ button, and Microsoft Edge will now clear the browser cache.

Clearing Browser Cache in Safari

Safari is the default browser on the Mac operating system. Here is how to clear browser cache in Safari.

First, you need to open the Safari web browser on your computer. After that. click on the History » Clear History… option from the top menu.

Safari will now ask you to select a time range.

Select ‘All history’ from the ‘Clear’ dropdown menu and then click on the ‘Clear History’ button.

Safari will now delete all temporary data, including cache, cookies, and all temporary website data.

If you want to empty the Safari cache without deleting cookies and other data, then you will need to enable the ‘Developer’ menu.

Simply click on the Safari » Preferences from the top menu. This will bring up the settings dialog box where you need to switch to the ‘Advanced’ tab.

This will add the ‘Develop’ menu to your web browser’s top bar.

Next, you need to click on the Develop menu and select the ‘Empty Caches’ option.

Safari will now only empty the browser cache without deleting cookies and other temporary data.

Clearing Browser Cache in Opera

If you are using the Opera web browser, here is how to clear your browser cache in Opera.

First, open the Opera web browser on your computer. After that, click on the menu icon on the top right corner of the screen and then click on the ‘Clear browsing data’ button.

This will bring up a popup on the screen. From here, you need to select ‘All time’ next to the Time range dropdown menu.

After that, check the box next to the ‘Cached images and files’ option.

You can now click on the ‘Clear data’ button, and Opera will empty your browser cache.

What to Do When Clearing Browser Cache Doesn’t Work

It depends on what you are trying to do at the moment. Let’s take a look at some common scenarios.

1. Can’t see changes you made to your website appear on the live site

The most common culprit for this is usually a WordPress caching plugin. Typically, if you are logged in to WordPress, then your caching plugin will show you a non-cached version of your website.

However, due to a plugin misconfiguration, you may end up seeing a cached version of your website.

To see the live version, you’ll need to empty the WordPress cache. We have a detailed guide with step-by-step instructions for clearing the cache in WordPress.

2. I cannot log in to my WordPress website

If you cannot log in to your WordPress website and the login page keeps refreshing, it is most likely a WordPress settings issue.

See our detailed guide on fixing the WordPress login page refresh and redirecting issue.

3. A third-party website is not updating

If you are seeing an outdated version of a third-party website while other users can see the changes, then this could happen for a lot of reasons.

For example, the website may be temporarily down, and their CDN server may show a cached copy of the website. It is also possible that their website firewall is not working properly, and it’s serving the cached versions to specific geographic locations.

In that case, you can try using a VPN service. This will allow you to change your IP address and visit the website from a different location.

This will help you further troubleshoot and get to the bottom of the issue.

We hope this article helped you learn how to clear your browser cache in all top browsers quickly. You may also want to see our WordPress troubleshooting tips and the complete WordPress security guide to keep your website secure.

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