Recently, one of our readers asked us how to clear cache in WordPress?
Your web browser, hosting server, and caching plugins can all serve cached content which can make it difficult for you to see the changes you made to your website right away.
Clearing your WordPress cache is also the first troubleshooting advice that you’ll often hear.
In this article, we will show you how to properly clear the cache in WordPress. We’ll cover browser cache, web hosting cache, and top WordPress caching plugins in this guide.
What is Cache and When Do You Need to Clear Cache?
Caching solutions store a static version of your website. This allows WordPress to skip running the heavier PHP scripts and improve your website speed.
There are many different type of caching solutions available. The most popular ones are WordPress caching plugins like WP Rocket and WP Super Cache.
These plugins offer an easy to use interface for controlling what to cache, when to expire cached content, and cleaning up cache on demand.
Managed WordPress hosting providers like WP Engine also run their own caching solutions, so that you don’t have to install a caching plugin.
If you are using a CDN service like MaxCDN, then they would also serve cached copies of static content.
If you’re using a web application firewall like Sucuri or CloudFlare to improve your WordPress security, then they also have their own cache to speed up your site and reduce downtime.
Lastly, most modern web browsers will also store cached versions of pages on your computer.
The purpose of caching is to speed up the website and improve overall user experience. However, sometimes this causes you to not see the changes you make right away which can be frustrating. In that case, you will need to clear caches to see your changes live.
Having said that, let’s take a look at how to clear your cache in WordPress.
Video Tutorial
If you don’t like the video or need more instructions, then continue reading.
Step 1: Clear Your Browser Cache
First, you need to clear your web browser cache. Most web browsers can store static content like stylesheets, JavaScript, images from a website to make your subsequent visits faster.
However, sometimes web browsers may fail to realize that a web page has changed. Instead of fetching a fresh copy, they may still reload the page from the cached version stored on your computer.
Here is how you will clean your browser cache in Google Chrome. First, you need to click on the menu icon and then select More Tools » Clear Browsing Data.
This will bring up a popup where you can select the content you want to remove. Make sure that cached images and files option is checked and then click on the ‘Clear browsing data’ button.
You have successfully cleared your browser cache, and you can now try visiting your website. For more details, see our guide on how to clear cache in all major browsers.
If you are still not seeing the changes you made, then move on to the next steps in this article.
Step 2: Clear Cache in Your WordPress Caching Plugin
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.
Clear Cache in WP Rocket
WP Rocket is the best WordPress caching plugin on the market. The best part about using WP Rocket is that it proactively builds your WordPress cache in the background, so your users are always served a cached version.
It also makes it very easy to clear caches files with a single click.
Simply go to the Settings » WP Rocket page and click on the ‘Clear Cache’ button under the dashboard tab.
WP Rocket will now clear all cached files for you.
Clear Cache in WP Super Cache
WP Super Cache is a popular WordPress caching plugin. It allows you to clean or purge all cached content with a single click.
You need to visit Settings » WP Super Cache page and click on ‘Delete Cache’ button.
That’s all, WP Super Cache will now delete all cached files from your website.
Clear Cache in W3 Total Cache
W3 Total Cache is another popular WordPress caching plugin. It also makes it super easy to clear cache with one click.
Head over to Performance » Dashboard page and click on ’empty all caches button.
W3 Total Cache will now delete all cached content for your site.
Clear Cache on WP Engine
WP Engine is a managed WordPress hosting provider. They run their own caching solution, so their customers don’t need to install a caching plugin.
If you are unable to notice changes take effect immediately, then you can easily clear WP Engine cache from your WordPress admin area.
You need to click on the WP Engine menu item in the admin bar and then under ‘General’ settings click on purge all caches button.
WP Engine will now purge all stored cache for your WordPress site.
Clear Cache on Bluehost
Bluehost is one of the best WordPress hosting companies in the business. They offer a built-in caching solution that instantly improves your WordPress performance and speed.
You can clear your Bluehost WordPress cache from WordPress admin area.
Simply login to your WordPress admin area and you will notice a ‘Caching’ button in the admin tool bar. Take your mouse over and you’ll see the option to ‘Purge All’ cache.
Bluehost will now clear all files from their WordPress cache.
Clear Cache in SiteGround
SiteGround is a leading WordPress hosting provider that’s known for speed and top-notch customer support. They offer a built-in caching solution to improve your website performance.
You can clear SiteGround cache from your hosting account control panel as well as the WordPress admin area. We’ll show you both methods.
Clear SiteGround cache from your hosting dashboard
Login to your hosting account dashboard go to Speed » Caching page under site tools.
From here, switch to the Dynamic cache tab. Click on the menu icon next to your domain name and then select Flush cache option.
Clear SiteGround cache from WordPress admin dashboard
You can also manage SiteGround cache by installing and activating the SG Optimizer plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, you need to click on the Purge SG Cache button in the WordPress admin toolbar.
The plugin will now clear your SiteGround WordPress cache.
Clear Cache in Sucuri
If you’re using a WordPress firewall like Sucuri to protect your website, then they also have their own layer of caching.
You can clear the cache from your Sucuri plugin by going to Sucuri » WAF menu in your WordPress admin area.
Bonus Tip: If you have recently moved your WordPress website, then you may also need to clear your DNS cache. This will ensure that you are getting the updated DNS information and accessing the newer version of your website.
We hope this article helped you learn how to clear cache in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to boost WordPress speed and performance.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
My host support is telling me the following when I asked them to help me clear my sites cache:
“There is no server-side caching on any of our servers, so this message may be caused by one of your installed WordPress plugins that enables some kind of caching.”
My question is therefore how I can locate what plugin that needs clearing. Do you know?
You would want to go under Plugins > Installed Plugins and see if any of your plugins say in their description that they are a caching plugin.
Hi thanks for the article. I have followed every step mentioned but when i designing home page there in no background overly set by me but when browse that page it showing background image but not when i editing page
You would want to check with the support for your specific theme if clearing the cache is not updating your changes to ensure it is not an issue with the theme itself.
Hi,
I have a question please. Do I need to always clear all the cache manually using w3 total cache or any other plugin.. Isn’t it possible to make it automatically clear all cache daily.
The caches should clear over time based on the caching you are using, this guide is how to force it to clear in case there are any issues or something that needs to be displayed that isn’t showing.
I have bluehost in-built cache and now I purge all cache from WordPress and how to upload new cache memory again? also, do I need another paid cache service like wp rocket? What would be better
If you need another cache would be a question of personal preference. Your site will generate a new cache so you don’t need to worry about uploading a new cache.
does that fix style.css problem
when you make changes to the file the web site dont change at all
If your CSS changes are not appearing then this would be the first step for having those changes appear
sir if i reset my caches or empty my catches my site data will be lost or not??
Your posts and other content will not be lost if you clear your cache
Some of my website users are facing problem with their browser cache. I am suggesting them to delete the cache, but I can’t do it for everyone.
Is there anything I can do to stop browser caching for some pages on my website?
You would need to check with the support for the caching you are using for what is available.
If i clear my cache on my wordpress would it clear cache on other mobile users?
It should clear the cache for your users as well other than their browser cache.
Can I clear cache from my hosting Cpanel?
Thanks for your help!
It would depend on what caching you’re talking about, if it is caching from your host then you would need to reach out to your hosting provider and they should be able to show you what options are available.
Dear admin please can i do something to get back the caches after is been deleted in case i need it
Sadly not, clearing your cache would remove what is in your cache.
Thankss for this awsm info..
You’re welcome
So if you have caching available (and are using) on WPEngine or Securi firewall, then is your article saying that we should NOT implement a caching plugin on wordpress?
No, you can still use caching on your site with those plugins, this article is to show how you clear the cache if you are having an issue that would require you to clear your cache.
If I clear my WordPress cache, is there any chance for getting lost of existing data.
You shouldn’t lose any of your saved content when clearing the cache on your WordPress site.
I am having this problem
The site is experiencing technical difficulties.
Only for my homepage please assist me
To start out, you would want to start with our troubleshooting article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/beginners-guide-to-troubleshooting-wordpress-errors-step-by-step/
I have same on my website. i had been tried all of your step but till not getting any kind result. help me
If none of these methods cleared your cache, you would want to reach out to your hosting provider to see if they have any caching that is affecting your site on their end.
Hello to all,
Great article. I have a closely related question.
When I edit a page of my website in WP, it strangely shows the code of the cdn’s pull zones, not the original code. How do I get back to the original code?
Thanks for the help, Mark
For that, you would want to check with your CDN to ensure it is properly configured as a likely cause of the problem
Hi , i want to ask if i do clear cache with one of these plugins there any content or design disappear, plz help i want to clear cache and i’m afraid to lost the design and content
Unless you were editing the design and you are clearing your cache to see that update, your design should not be modified.
Hi everyone, it really is a good article….but a question came to my mind. If we face caching problems while building our websites, then how about for visitors to our sites. This may be an insane question, but i am afraid that some of our visitors may not see our updates. Thanks a lot and looking forward an answer from some.
Following the site and server steps should help allow your users to see your changes.
Hello, I do everything to clear cache from wordpress, chrome and deleted everything on ftp server. I did a new instalation of wordpress on the same web site, but on the web is the old look of the web. So please, how can i delete old web ?
You would want to reach out to your hosting provider to ensure nothing on their end would be causing the issue.
Hi, I noticed that the Soliloquy slider images are only loading on mobile screens or if I make my browser window way smaller on my desktop screen. I have pretty large images loaded in the slider (1500×1500 px). Is there something I’m missing?
You would want to reach out to Soliloquy and let them know to be able to assist you.
Hello i have the newspaper theme on word press. My posted views sudently are zero and do not give me the real numbers of visitors. i have over 35.000 uniqs! How can i fix it please?
Thanks for this article. But what if I’m not using any of these WP plugins, yet my page still won’t update…?
? Can deleting of cash removed my admin login…
Am always afraid that Cashing can delete a database or anything within my host file.
But i need to do it to see some changes.
?I want also know if “database establishing errors” can be cause by cleaning cash.
Hi Christian,
No cache files are temporary files which means they can be deleted without affecting your website’s functionality.
Great Article! I have a question. After updating plugins do I have to clear out all my caches again? Thanks!
Hi Ann,
It is not necessary as most caching plugins are setup to automatically purge cache at regular intervals. However, you can also go ahead and manually clear cache if you find something missing.
Thank you for the helpful post! Clearing my browser cache fixed issues for me, but Is it correct to say that any repeat visitors to my site could run into issues from not clearing their own browser cache? I would like to universally clear cache so that it’s dummy proof and doesn’t require my users to go in and fix it themselves. Is that possible in any way?
Thanks for this awesome suggestions and listings, I think super cache one the best cache plugin I have ever used.
And it is working like a .
I love it
Thanks for your useful article! What does the CLEAR CACHE button on the Publish menu in the WordPress admin section do?
It amazes me that most important question has been ignored. How to clear cache saved in other peoples’ browsers? I.E. people who visit you wordpress website and maybe have no idea how to clear icache or that they need to do it. Thousands of plugins but not one which would add some version parameter to all website urls therefore forcing browsers to request them as new files.
I have also been looking for a way to do the same. Have realised that if we do not enable the cache at all it will work but impact the performance of the website.
Hi, how do I clear cache if I don’t have a cache plugin – taken over a community group site and presumably previous webmaster used then deleted a cache plugin without clearing the cache first?!
Hi!
I use Fastest Cache and I was wondering what is the difference between
CLEAR CACHE OF THIS PAGE
DELETE CACHE
DELETE CACHE AND MINIFIED CCS/JS
Can you tell me please?
Thanks in advance and thanks for this post!
Esther
Hi Esther,
Clear cache of this page, removes the cached files for the page you are currently viewing. Delete cache, deletes cached files and the last deletes everything including minified CSS/JS.
So,
when I make changes in a specific page and someone else can’t see them, I should just use “clear the cache” of that page; but if I make changes to a couple of pages or more, I should either clear cache of each separately or use “delete cache”, which would let them see the changes in the whole site. Is this right?
Thanks again for your patience!
Hi Esther,
Most caching plugins will automatically clear the cache for a page when you make changes those pages. You will only need to use those features if you are working on your website’s theme or adding some new plugin and those changes are not showing up on your website.
When I try to install WP Super Cache, I get the message that says “Plugin not allowed on our system due to performance, security, or compatibility concerns. Contact support with any questions”. But at the bottom there’s a check to tell me that it is “compatible with your version of wordpress”. This is the same with W3 Total Cache. What is wrong?
Hi Cherisa,
Some WordPress hosting companies block caching plugins because they have their own caching installed on their servers. Please contact your hosting provider to confirm.
Similar problem here. Nothing happens when you click on my menu on mobile devices.
Any help is appreciated.
Thank you!
Damn just what I need.
I feel so stupid that I had people from my web host just to clear this mess.
Anyway,
how you set this website gone from comment form. this is awesome. I want to have things like this in my blog pencaricerah.com.
Do you have the tutorial? Are you using the default comment form 7?
Not using a plugin but my CSS changes are not showing in Chrome until the cache is cleared. How do I ensure that my website visitors get the new styling without asking them to clear their browser’s cache.
NB: Its only on Chrome.
Thanks.
Looking for the same answer, Whenever making change in CSS it’s not showing till hard refresh and it’s not suggestible to ask visitor to do hard refresh. So, How we can serve new css changes to the visitors? How to clear all the cookies/browser cache file.
As of now I am using W3 Total Cache plugin, Even after clicking on Performance > Dashboard > Empty All Caches it’s not showing new changes until hard refresh. Can you please suggest some good method for wordpress? I am not using any version css version number as well as GT Matrix suggesting to remove query string I have removed using function.php
Waiting for some positive feedback.
thank you for this. but
i am not using a cache plugin,
and i only enabled wordpress built in cache ,
i placed this code into my wp-config.php
/* WordPress Cache */
define( ‘WP_CACHE’, true );
define(‘ENABLE_CACHE’, true);
define(‘CACHE_EXPIRATION_TIME’, 360000);
would you mind pleaseee tell , how to flush this cache please ?
I do not have a plugin installed, but I am having trouble. If I install one now, after the fact, will that help?
Dear Admin I want you to post some tutorial regarding advertisement on website for beginners who have less tariffs in their site.
By the way I love your work.
Hi Rohan,
Thanks for the feedback. We will try to cover it more in future. Meanwhile, have you checked our guides on optimizing Adsense revenue in WordPress and best Ad management plugins for WordPress?
This is very useful and nice articles.
It would be great if you could show how to clear the cookie of another 2 popular browsers: Firefox & Safari.
Thanks but how frequently which should clear caches . Also would be better if you can mention sequence of caches to be clear. So we can take note of it point by point
Good read. Didn’t know about the Sucuri caching. Also, recommending adding a tip for the browser cache. CTRL + SHIFT + R usually works just as well by forcing a refresh that bypasses cache and keeps you having to dump your browser cache, every time.
This is a valuable article. I learned much about the role of cache, how to optimize its use and maintenance measures. Thank you.