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Ultimate Web Cache Clearing Guide

Browser cache is a temporary storage of files (HTML files, CSS stylesheets, JavaScript, images and other content) to make the web faster. Here's a guide to the types and how to clear them.

The Types of Caching

Depending on your hosting set up, caching occurs at several levels:

Level 1: Domain

If you are utilizing Cloudflare or WP Engine’s Advanced Network, your domain URL itself is routing through Cloudflare.

Cloudflare inherently caches from the domain level, so even if you clear server cache — or your local browser cache — it may need a clear before changes are visible.

If you don’t use these solutions — or something similar — this is likely not in effect.

Level 2: Network Cache

This is dependent on your internal IT infrastructure. Sometimes network requests, especially for your organization’s email domain, may be cached.

IT would be required to clear this out.

Level 3: Server Cache

Hosting providers like WP Engine will cache requests made to individual web pages to more quickly serve content to the very next user.

Every time you clear this, the process repeats.

Level 4: Plugin Cache

For WordPress sites specifically, this comes into effect. Common examples include:

  1. W3 Total Cache
  2. WP Super Cache
  3. WP Rocket
  4. LiteSpeed Cache
  5. Cache Enabler
  6. Comet Cache
  7. Breeze
  8. Nitropack

These offer an additional WordPress level of cache. Plugins like WP Rocket will crawl your entire site seeking to pre-cache before a user even hits the page, but every page-by-page request strengthens the cache.

Level 5: Your Browser Cache

Finally, when you access a resource with your browser it will store a copy to make things faster.

Your browser does this to create a faster web experience, but sometimes caching can prevent you from seeing web changes. Below are guides to clearing it out based on your browser.

No, You Don’t Need to Clear Cookies

Cookies purely store credentials like entered passwords, successful logins, and opt-ins to email subscriptions. They do not need cleared and are completely different than cache.

Clearing Caches

After a cache clear on your browser, it’s very possible changes are not being seen by you and your super users.

Before clearing any of the below caches, be sure to discuss with your web developer.

Level 1: Domain

For Cloudflare:

  1. Log in to your Cloudflare dashboard, and select your account and domain.
  2. Select Caching > Configuration.
  3. Under Purge Cache, select Purge Everything. A warning window appears.
  4. If you agree, select Purge Everything.

For WP Engine Advanced Networks:

  1. Log in to your WP Engine Account
  2. Head to the install of the site in question
  3. Head to Domains
  4. Click the three little dots next to the domain and click “Clear Cache”

Level 2: Network Cache

Contact IT for this. It’s very rare to be needed, but may be the culprit for your internal network users.

Level 3: Server Cache

  1. Log in to your hosting server
  2. Look for cache
  3. Clear cache

For WP Engine:

  1. Log in to the WordPress website
  2. Hit the WP Engine navigation item in the sidebar
  3. Head to caches
  4. Clear Cache

You can also do so via your WP Engine portal. 

Level 4: Plugin Cache

  1. Log in to your WordPress site
  2. Look for the Plugin’s name (usually in the top navigation, but may also be in the sidebar)
  3. Hit Clear Cache

Level 5: Your Browser Cache

Chrome

  1. Open Chrome.
  2. On your browser toolbar, tap More More.
  3. Tap History, then tap Clear browsing data.
  4. Under “Clear browsing data,” tick Cached images and files. Note: do not tick anything else.
  5. Click the “Clear Browsing Data” button
  6. Done

Safari

  1. Click Safari in the upper left hand side of your screen. In the menu that appears, click Preferences.
  2. In the window that appears, click the Privacy tab. Click the button Remove All Website Data….
  3. Click Remove Now in the pop up window that appears.

Mozilla Firefox

  1. Click the menu button  and choose Preferences.
  2. Select the Privacy & Security panel.
  3. In the Cached Web Content section, click Clear Now.
  4. Close the about:preferences page. Any changes you’ve made will automatically be saved.

Internet Explorer

  1. Select Tools (via the Gear Icon) > Safety > Delete browsing history…. NOTE: You can also access this menu by holding Ctrl + Shift + Delete.
  2. Make sure to uncheck Preserve Favorites and Cookies website data and check only Temporary Internet Files then click Delete.
  3. You will get a confirmation at the bottom of the window once it has successfully cleared your cache and cookies.

Microsoft Edge

  1. To view your browsing history, select Hub > History.
  2. Select Clear all history.
  3. Choose the types of data you want to remove from your PC, then select Clear.
  4. If you use Cortana and want to clear browsing history that’s stored in the cloud, select Change what Microsoft Edge knows about me in the cloud, then select Clear browsing history.
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