How to Clear Your Cache
Your web browser, hosting server, and caching plugins can all serve cached content. Caching "saves" a static version of your website by downloading the site's HTML, Javascript, CSS, PHP and images. The data is then stored as cache files in your local storage. So then when you revisit the same website, it will load much faster as you already have parts of the content in your device storage.
While this makes your site run & load much faster, it can make it difficult for you to see the changes you've made to your website right away! If you need to see changes you've made right away, you will need to manually clear/purge the cache. In this article, I'm going to show you how!
The three main types that we'll cover in this article: browser caching (desktop & mobile), WordPress caching plugins, and host/server caching.
If you're having trouble seeing new site changes, try clearing the browser cache first, then move onto plugin cache, and host/server cache.
1. CLEAR YOUR BROWSER CACHE
First, try clearing your web browser cache. Most web browsers save static content from websites like CSS stylesheets, JavaScript, images, etc. However, sometimes web browsers fail to realize that a web page has changed. So instead of fetching a fresh copy of the site, they may still reload the page from the older cached version stored on your computer.
How to clear cache in Google Chrome:
In the Chrome menu at the top of your browser, go to History > Show Full History > click Clear Browsing Data on the left > Check the box to clear Cached Images and Files, and then press the Clear Data button.
Or you can just copy & paste in this into your browser + hit enter to open it up: chrome://settings/clearBrowserData
2. WORDPRESS PLUGIN CACHING
The two most popular caching plugins are W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache. I also recommend Hummingbird. Choose whichever caching plugin you prefer, but do not install more than one caching plugin! Having multiple caching plugins activated on a site can cause issues.
Clear W3 Total Cache
To clear the cache using W3 Total Cache, go to Performance > Dashboard in your WordPress dashboard. Click the "Empty All Caches" button.
Clear WP Super Cache
To clear the cache using WP Super Cache, go to Settings > WP Super Cache in your WordPress dashboard. Click the "Delete Cache" button.
Clear Hummingbird Cache
To clear your cache using Hummingbird, go to Hummingbird > Caching > Page Caching > Click the "Clear cache" button.
SG Optimizer
See Host/Server Cache below.
If you are using a different caching plugin than any of the above, please refer to the plugin documentation to learn how to empty the cache.
3. HOST/SERVER CACHE
Many hosts will automatically install a caching feature on your site. If you do have a caching feature installed on your site by your hosting, you should see a Caching tab in the top admin bar of your site. It will say something like "Purge Cache". You can clear the host cache there.
Siteground Hosting – SG Optimizer Cache
If you have Siteground hosting, you most likely have the SG Optimizer plugin installed. From your dashboard, go to SG Optimizer > next to Manual Cache Purge, click the "Clear Cache" button. You should also have a caching button in the admin bar that says "Purge SG Cache". You can click this button to clear the cache.
Bluehost Hosting
If you have Bluehost hosting, you might have a caching plugin already installed on your site. Go to Plugins > All Plugins > Must Use. Click "Purge Cache" under Endurance Page Cache. Bluehost users may also have a caching button at the top of the dashboard in the admin bar. Hover over it, and click "Purge Cache".