Clearing an Internet Browser’s Cache

Webpage caching is a great function that speeds up internet browsing but sometimes, especially when developing or editing a website, we need to override the cache and force the internet browser to load the newest version of the webpage.

What is a Cache?

Most Internet Browsers store data from websites you have visited in a folder on your hard drive – this is referred to as the Cache.

The purpose of the cache is to speed up the loading of individual web pages as the user requests them. Instead of downloading the files again from the website’s server your browser will access the cached files.

How to “Refresh” the webpage

“Refresh” means to reload the page.  You can refresh the webpage by clicking the refresh button, usually indicated by a circular arrow, on your browsers toolbar or by pressing F5 on your keyboard.

As mentioned above this will not always load the newest version of that page from the server. To force the page to reload from the server most Internet Browsers allow you “Force Refresh” by pressing “Control” and “F5” on your keyboard at the same time.

Clearing the Browser’s Cache

If Refreshing and Force Refreshing does not give you the results you expeced you may need to clear your internet browser’s cache –

Google Chrome - Top Menu > Customize and control Google Chrome (look for a spanner symbol) > Tools > Clear browsing data > Select “Empty the cache” > Click “Clear Browsing Data”.

Mozilla Firefox (with menu bar) – Top Menu > Tools > Options > Options > Advanced tab > Network tab > Under “Cached Web Content” > Click “Clear Now”

Mozilla Firefox (with orange “Firefox” button)  – Click “Firefox” button > Options > Advanced tab > Network tab > Under “Cached Web Content” > Click “Clear Now”

Safari – Top Menu > General Safari Settings > Reset Safari > Select “Empty the cache” > click “Reset”.

Opera – Main Menu > Settings > Delete Private Data > Detailed Options > Select “Delete entire cache” > click “Delete”.

Internet Explorer – Top Menu > Tools > Internet Options > General Tab > Browsing History > Click “Delete” > Select “Temporary Internet Files” > Click “Delete”.

Once you have cleared the browsers cache refresh the site again. If you still do not see the expected results contact your web developer to check if they have actually completed the changes you were expecting!

These instructions may vary depending on your the version of browser you have. Check the browsers documentation (help files) for more information