Clearing the cache on a website is an important maintenance task, especially after making changes to your site’s content, design, or settings. Clearing the cache ensures that visitors see the latest version of your site.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to clear the cache on various platforms, including browsers, WordPress (Cache Enabler), and server-side caching solutions.
1. Clearing Browser Cache
Browsers store a local copy of website data (images, CSS, HTML files) to speed up subsequent visits. Clearing the browser cache ensures that your visitors see the most updated version of your site.
For Google Chrome:
- Open Chrome.
- Click the three dots in the upper right corner and go to More tools > Clear browsing data.
- A pop-up will appear. Ensure Cached images and files is selected.
- Choose the time range you want to clear (you can choose “All time” to remove everything).
- Click Clear data.
For Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Firefox.
- Click the three horizontal lines in the upper-right corner and choose Settings.
- Navigate to Privacy & Security and scroll to the Cookies and Site Data section.
- Click Clear Data and check Cached Web Content.
- Click Clear.
For Safari (Mac):
- Open Safari.
- Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences.
- Go to the Advanced tab, and at the bottom, check the box Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- Now, click Develop in the menu bar and choose Empty Caches.
2. Clearing Cache in Cache Enabler Plugin (WordPress)
If you use the Cache Enabler plugin to cache your WordPress site, clearing the cache is a straightforward process.
How to Clear Cache in Cache Enabler:
- From the WordPress Dashboard: After logging in, go to Settings > Cache Enabler.
- You’ll find a button labeled Clear Cache. Clicking this button will immediately clear the cache for the entire site.
- From the Admin Toolbar: If you’re logged in, the Cache Enabler plugin usually adds a “Clear Cache” button in the top admin toolbar (visible across any page). Simply click on this button to clear the cache.
- Automatic Cache Clearing: The Cache Enabler plugin also supports automatic cache clearing when you make changes to your posts or pages. If you’ve made updates to your content, you don’t always have to clear the cache manually.
3. Clearing Cache with Other WordPress Plugins
If you’re using other caching plugins for WordPress, here are the steps to clear cache for some popular plugins:
WP Super Cache:
- Go to Settings > WP Super Cache.
- Click on the Delete Cache button to clear the cache.
W3 Total Cache:
- Go to Performance > Dashboard in your WordPress admin area.
- Click Empty All Caches to clear the cache for your entire site.
WP Rocket:
- Go to Settings > WP Rocket.
- In the dashboard, click Clear Cache or Preload Cache to refresh the cached files.
4. Clearing Server-Side Cache
For websites hosted on platforms that offer server-side caching (such as managed WordPress hosting or a CDN), it’s important to clear those caches as well.
For NGINX Server Cache:
If you’re using an NGINX server, you can manually clear the cache by deleting the cached files stored on your server. This process usually requires command-line access:
- Access your server via SSH.
- Locate the cache directory (commonly found in
/var/cache/nginx/). - Run the following command to clear the cache:
sudo rm -rf /var/cache/nginx/*For Varnish Cache:
Varnish is a popular HTTP accelerator used to cache content on the server level. To clear the cache:
- Use the following command on your server’s terminal:
varnishadm "ban req.http.host ~ ."If you’re using a web host that offers Varnish (such as SiteGround), you may also find a “Purge Cache” button in your hosting control panel.
For Content Delivery Networks (CDNs):
If you use a CDN like Cloudflare, KeyCDN, or StackPath, clearing the cache at the CDN level ensures that your site’s static assets (such as images, CSS, and JavaScript) are updated across all the CDN’s servers.
Cloudflare:
- Log in to your Cloudflare account.
- Select your site from the dashboard.
- Go to Caching and click on Purge Everything to clear the entire cache.
KeyCDN:
- Log into your KeyCDN dashboard.
- Under the Zones tab, find your zone (site) and click Purge.
5. Clearing Cache with Hosting Providers
Some hosting providers offer built-in caching mechanisms to improve site performance. Here’s how to clear cache with some popular hosting providers:
SiteGround:
- Log into your SiteGround control panel.
- Go to Site Tools > Speed > Caching.
- You can clear the cache by selecting Dynamic Cache and hitting Flush Cache.
Kinsta:
- Log into your Kinsta dashboard.
- Navigate to Sites, select your website, and click on the Tools tab.
- Under Cache, click Clear Cache.
Bluehost:
- Log into your Bluehost account.
- Navigate to the Performance section.
- Click on Clear Cache to refresh the stored cache.
6. Manual Cache Clearing (File-Level)
If for some reason you don’t have access to a caching plugin or control panel tools, you can manually clear the cache by deleting cached files from the server.
- Use an FTP client like FileZilla to connect to your site.
- Navigate to the directory where your cache files are stored (this varies depending on your caching plugin or server setup).
- Delete the cached files manually.
Be cautious when manually deleting files on your server. Always back up your site first to avoid any potential issues.
Conclusion
Clearing cache is a crucial step to ensure that your website remains fast and up-to-date. Whether it’s clearing browser cache, plugin-based cache, or server-side cache, doing so regularly can resolve many common performance issues and prevent visitors from seeing outdated content.
Depending on your platform and hosting setup, you have several options to easily clear cached files and keep your site running smoothly.
