How To Clear Cache for WordPress Website
Many times when changes are made on a website but they don’t appear to show up right away, this is due to the page being “cached”.
A cache is data that is temporarily stored in order to deliver the information faster the next time it is requested. Utilizing a cache on a website helps increase performance and delivers a better user experience.
However, if you have just made changes to your site, but are viewing the cached version instead of the updated version of the site, this may make it appear that the site has not actually been updated…which can be confusing.
The good news is that it is pretty straight forward process to clear out the cached versions of your site so that you can see you updates.
There are a couple of places that your website data could be temporarily cached.
Server Cache
Many web hosts add caching to their hosting service because it improves the overall performance of the site and makes it possible to run many sites from a single server ( aka shared hosting ). You can usually find a tool to clear your server cache in your cpanel or by reaching out to hosting tech support.
Website Cache
If you have installed a caching plugin on your WordPress website, you’ll want to go to the plugin’s settings and look for the ‘clear cache’ option.
Browser Cache
Your browser may also save a cached version of your site, because it makes pages load faster when you visit a site more than once. Each browser has a slightly different process for clearing cache.
- Clear Cache in Chrome: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/32050?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en
- Clear Cache in Edge (Windows):
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/10607/microsoft-edge-view-delete-browser-history - Clear Cache in Firefox:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-clear-firefox-cache - Clear Cache in Safari:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201265
The internet is constantly changing. Just because your host was not caching your site when you first registered with them, doesn’t mean they haven’t added this feature recently.
Anytime that you are updating your website, but not seeing your expected changes or if your view is different than someone else looking at the same site, there may be a cached version of the site that needs to be cleared.