Browser caching is helpful for web browsing because it allows previously visited pages to load more quickly. Modern browsers like Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Safari often cache front-end resources to boost website and web application performance. While this speeds up browsing, cached resources can cause issues when significant changes are made to the website.

When updates don’t show immediately due to caching, a hard refresh or clearing the entire browser cache is usually required.

A hard refresh is a simple and effective way to clear the cache for a specific page, forcing the browser to load the latest version.

Google Chrome

Mac:

1. Hold the ⇧ Shift key while clicking the Reload button in Chrome.
2. Or press ⌘ Cmd + ⇧ Shift + R on your keyboard.

Windows:

1. Hold the Ctrl key while clicking the Reload button in Chrome.
2. Or press Ctrl + Fn + F5 on your keyboard.
3. Or open Chrome Dev Tools by pressing Ctrl + Shift + I or right-click anywhere on the page and select Inspect.
   Once Dev Tools is open, right-click the Reload button in Chrome and select Hard Reload or Empty Cache and Hard Reload.

Safari

Mac:

1. Hold the Shift key while clicking the Refresh button in Safari.
2. Or press Command (⌘) + Option (⌥) + R on your keyboard.

Windows:

This is no longer support for Windows computers. Apple discontinued support for it on that OS after 2012.

Microsoft Edge

Mac:

1. Hold the Shift key on your keyboard while clicking the Refresh button in Edge's address bar.
2. Or, you can press Cmd + ⇧ Shift + R on your keyboard to force a hard refresh.

Windows:

1. Hold the Ctrl key while clicking the Refresh button in Edge.
2. Or press Ctrl + Fn + F5 on your keyboard.

Mozilla Firefox

Mac:

1. Hold the ⇧ Shift key while clicking the Reload button in Firefox.
2. Or press ⌘ Cmd + ⇧ Shift + R on your keyboard.

Windows:

1. Press Ctrl + Fn + F5 on your keyboard.
2. Or press Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + R on your keyboard.

Is the Problem Still Unresolved?

If a hard refresh doesn’t solve the issue, try clearing your browser cache. Detailed instructions on how to clear cache in various browsers can be found on the how to clear browser cache in Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Microsoft Edge article.