How to Clear Browser Cache and Cookies?

Modern Browsers like Safari, Firefox, and  Chrome attempt to keep local copies of pages, images, JavaScript, and style sheets. Doing that ensures that your browser does not need to download these pages or resources again later.

Why is Clearing the Browser Cache Necessary?

Browsers usually know when they need to refresh the cache, but under certain circumstances, this renewal procedure does not work as intended, and the browser insists on showing outdated content. This happens because it loads the cached resources instead of loading fresh and updated resources from your web server.

When this happens, it is necessary to bypass the cache or better refresh and delete it completely.

Deleting the Browser Cache, History, and Cookies

Under certain circumstances, it may be worth clearing the entire cache of your local browser.

Below are some useful keyboard shortcuts for the following browsers: Safari, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.

Most Windows browsers use the keyboard shortcut below, which opens the cache-clearing settings: Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + Del.

Chrome: Browser Cache and Cookies

Safari browser uses the keyboard shortcut ⌥ Opt + ⌘ Cmd + E to clear all caches instantly.

Clear Safari Browser Cache

Bypassing the cache

When you encounter strange behavior and website elements do not load as expected, you can bypass your cache. That will force your browser to re-download a web page’s complete, up-to-date content. The rest of your cache is not affected.

Bypass your cache — Simple instructions ( source: Wikipedia )
In most  Windows and Linux browsers:
  • Hold down Ctrl and press F5.

In  Apple Safari:

  • Hold down ⇧ Shift and click the Reload toolbar button.

In  Chrome and Firefox for Mac:

  • Hold down both ⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift and press R.

Author: Rene Hermenau

I'm René Hermenau, founder of WP STAGING. I've been building WordPress infrastructure software since 2013 and writing code on GitHub since 2011. My repos live at github.com/rene-hermenau. WP STAGING started as a small developer project solving the same problem I kept hitting on client work: there was no fast, safe way to clone a WordPress site for staging or migration without breaking serialized data, file paths, or media references. Today we are a team of more than 10 people. The free plugin runs on hundreds of thousands of WordPress installations, and the Pro version powers backup, migration, and staging workflows for agencies, hosting platforms, and ecommerce stores. I'm still hands-on with the codebase and technical architecture. Our releases are built as a team, but many of the core architectural decisions are ones I helped design, test, and evolve over the years: how we handle large database exports, how we keep memory usage flat on multi-GB sites, and how we make migrations atomic against partially written tables. "When you touch code, leave it 10% better than before and write a test." If you're stuck on a WP STAGING question, the docs are at wp-staging.com/docs. If you hit a bug, file it on GitHub at github.com/wp-staging. Our team reads everything that lands there.