If you can’t see the changes you’ve made to your website, the cause can be outdated WordPress cache files. In this article, we’ll show how to clear the WordPress cache in various caching plugins, including WP Rocket, WP Fastest Cache, and W3 Total Cache.
Let’s start by exploring how cache works!
What is Caching?
Before we dive into how to clear WordPress Cache, first, you need to understand what WordPress Caching is.
The purpose of caching is to speed up the website and improve the overall user experience.
For a WordPress website there are three types of cache:
- Browser – a place on your computer or device where your browser stores the information about a website that doesn’t change often. Rather than downloading the same information every time you visit the website, the browser pulls the information from its memory. The web page loads faster and the network uses fewer data.
- Cache Plugin – a plugin designed specifically to deliver premade web pages, speeding up the time it takes to recreate the page from HTML instructions.
- Server Cache – using their own cache plugins or scripts your host might store premade web pages in memory to deliver to your visitors, reducing the load on the server.
In short, Whenever you visit a website, your browser will download static content, such as HTML, Javascript, CSS, and image. The data is then stored as cache files in your local storage. So when you revisit the same website, it will load faster as you already have parts of the content in your device.
Reasons Why You Need to Clear Your WordPress Cache
New Content Isn’t Displaying
If you’ve ever used caching on your website and made an update, chances are you’ve run into this issue.
Most commonly, this happens when you make changes in the WordPress customizer, or you update an existing page or post on your WordPress website.
Some WordPress caching plugins automatically clear (also known as “purge”) their cache when you make an update to a page or post. However, in some instances, you may still need to clear the WordPress cache manually.
It’s worth noting though that even if you clear your WordPress cache, you’ll also need to clear your browser cache. Or alternatively, use an incognito window to see your changes if the content has been cached by your browser.
Plugin & Theme Updates
After you’ve updated your plugins and your theme, you should always clear your WordPress cache, why?
Picture this, your caching plugin has cached all the assets (CSS, JS) of your other plugins and theme, you update, and suddenly your website is broken. 😱This is because the CSS/JS files are out of date.
Clear your WordPress cache, refresh your browser cache and et voila! Your site should be working again!
One of the most common questions any WordPress plugin or theme company receives is, “why did my website stop working after the last update?” And the most common response to that is “clear your cache and try again.”
And often it works! That’s why you need to clear the WordPress cache after each and every plugin or theme update you perform.
Having said that, let’s take a look at how to clear your cache in WordPress.
How to Clear Cache in WordPress?
Browser Cache
In a bid to provide a better user experience while browsing, modern-day browsers come fitted with caching capabilities. Whether you are using Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Edge, or Safari, your browser automatically caches content from the websites you visit.
Clear your web browser cache
The steps to do this vary based on which browser you’re using. Here’s what to do for each of the main three:
Chrome
Click on the three dots in the top right corner of the browser. Select More Tools from the dropdown menu, then Clear Browsing Data.
For more details, click here
Firefox
Click on the hamburger menu in the top right, then choose Preferences.
Select Privacy and Security on the right side of the screen, then scroll down to find the Cookies and Site Data section. Click Clear Data.
Make sure the box next to Cached Web Content is checked (you can remove the one next to Cookies and Site Data. If you don’t want to deal with having to re-log into your various accounts). Click Clear.
Safari
Choose Preferences from the main Safari menu.
Select Privacy from the Preferences menu, then click Manage Website Data and Remove All.
Select Privacy from the Preferences menu, then click Manage Website Data and Remove All.
Plugin Cache
If you are using a WordPress caching plugin on your site, then you need to clear your plugin cache. Most caching plugins allow you to easily do that from the plugin’s Settings page.
