You’ve probably heard of a browser’s cache before but might not know exactly what it is or why it would be useful. A web browser’s cache is essentially a folder where your browser stores all of the images, videos, and files that it retrieves from websites when you visit them.

This can be very helpful if you have a website with lots of media files like pictures or videos because your browser will be able to load them much faster the next time you visit that site.

The drawback to this, however, is that sometimes your browser will save an old version of an image instead of the most recent one, which can lead to some weird visual glitches from time to time.

It’s not uncommon for WordPress users to run into issues with their site’s performance and its caching system from time to time. In this blog post, we’ll go over how you can clear your WordPress site’s cache and get it running more smoothly for future visitors.

The problem with caching

Your browser typically saves data when you visit a new website, allowing its pages to load more rapidly the next time. But too much of this “cached” data can sluggish your browser. 

Additionally, it can keep you from seeing any recent site updates. 

You’ll frequently hear that the first step in troubleshooting is to clear your WordPress cache. It’s easy to remove outdated cached info. Regularly carrying out this task will speed up your browsing and enable you to view more recent website versions. 

What does “clearing cache” mean?

Data caching typically happens when you visit a website, whether from a desktop, tablet, or phone. To simplify your next visit, your browser will save a few webpage files to your computer. The website will load faster with this cache in place. 

Although it is a handy function, it does take up some room. Clearing your cache entails removing any saved information to make room on your server, browser, or device. 

WordPress caching is used and implemented in two forms:

1. Client-side caching:

Client-side caching is another term for browser caching. This cache stores static HTML pages locally on the user’s machine. Each time a user accesses the website, a copy is loaded from the user’s computer. Consequently, this approach is substantially faster.

2. Server-side caching:

When you have a large website with numerous databases, server-side caching is utilized. To maximize efficiency, static pages are kept on the hard drive or in the RAM of the website server. This is still quicker than without caching, even though it takes longer than browser caching.

Why do you need to clear the WordPress cache?

The caching system erases obsolete WordPress cache when you make a new post or modify your content.

However, occasionally your caching system could fail to recognize updates and continue to display the outdated, static, cached version. Your site could go down due to a disagreement between the cached version and the upgrades. Here are a few such scenarios when this might occur. 

How to clear your browser cache

Steps to clear your cache on Google Chrome

This can be done in two simple methods. 

  • Settings (3 dots) > More Tools > Clear Browsing Data 
  • Settings (3 dots) > Settings > Advanced > Clear Browsing Data > Select the cached data to clear > Select cache data to clear

Steps to clear your cache on Firefox

  • Hamburger-looking menu button > Preferences > Privacy and Security > Navigate to Cookies and Site Data > Clear Data > Select cached data to clear.

Steps to clear your cache on Safari

  • Safari menu > Preferences > Privacy > Manage site data > Remove all

How to clear cache in WordPress using a plugin

A caching plugin must have been used to speed up your WordPress website. The plugin effectively serves visitors’ browsers a cached copy of your website. Although this is meant to make your website load faster, obsolete cache content may accumulate.

You must purge the WordPress cache by the instructions provided by your web server if you’re using one of their caching plugins. Managed WordPress Hosts offer caching options with a simple way to remove the cache on your website. 

Here’s how to clean your WordPress cache if you’re using an external plugin. 

Clear cache in WP Rocket

The top WordPress caching plugin available is WP Rocket. The best feature of WP Rocket is its proactive background caching of your WordPress site so that users are always presented with a cached copy of your website. 

Additionally, it makes clearing cached files with a single click incredibly simple. 

Click the “Clear Cache” option in the plugin dashboard under Settings > WP Rocket.

All of your cached files will now be cleared for you by WP Rocket. 

NitroPack

Code minification, caching, CDN, and lazy loading are all used by the NitroPack WordPress plugin to optimize websites and make them load faster. 

The plugin can be customized to your site’s requirements after being uploaded and activated, and its caching functions can be used for your articles and pages. For tiny spots, the plugin’s free edition is a fantastic choice. 

Once downloaded, select NitroPack under Settings on your WordPress dashboard. Once there, you’ll notice the Purge option, which you can click toto clear the cache on your WordPress website rapidly

Additional methods of purging cache
  • Clearing your reverse proxy system’s cache.
  • The reverse proxy system’s operation is accurately shown in the Cloudflare image.

Clear cache in WP Super Cache

Another well-liked WordPress caching plugin is WP Super Cache. With only one click, you may erase or remove all cached content. 

Click the “Delete Cached Pages” in your WordPress admin dashboard’s Settings > WP Super Cache section. 

Clear cache in W3 Total Cache

A popular caching plugin for WordPress is W3 Total Cache. You can remove all caches with a single click, much like the other plugins mentioned above. 

You must first navigate to the Performance > Dashboard and select “clear all caches.”

Clear cache in your WordPress hosting

Some WordPress hosting companies include built-in caching solutions to help WordPress load more quickly. 

Clear cache in WP Engine

WP Engine is one of the top-managed WordPress hosting providers. Users already have a built-in caching solution. Therefore, they do not need to install a plugin. If changes you’ve made to your website aren’t showing up there, you can clear the WP Engine cache from your WordPress admin area.

Click the “Clear all caches” button after selecting “WP Engine” from the WordPress admin panel to clear all caches.

Clear cache in Bluehost

One of the top WordPress hosting companies is Bluehost, which WordPress officially endorses. They feature a built-in caching technology that immediately increases the speed and effectiveness of WordPress.

Bluehost simplifies removing your WordPress cache from the WordPress admin area. If you access your WordPress admin dashboard, you will see a “Caching” button in the toolbar at the top. Select “Purge All” after moving the cursor over this. 

Clear cache in SiteGround

Leading WordPress hosting company SiteGround is renowned for its lightning-fast servers and first-rate customer service. To enhance the functionality of your website, they provide an integrated caching solution. 

You must sign in to your hosting account dashboard and navigate to Speed > Caching in the site tool area to remove the cache from your Siteground control panel.

After that, choose the “Dynamic Cache” menu choice. Next, click the menu icon next to your domain name to bring up the drop-down menu, and then select “Flush Cache.”

Clear your WordPress Firewall Plugin cache

You’ll need to clear another caching layer if you protect your website with a WordPress firewall like Sucuri. By heading to Sucuri > Firewall (WAF) in your WordPress admin panel, you can erase your Sucuri cache. 

Click the “Clear Cache” button after choosing the “Clear cache” menu option. 

Conclusion

Your website has to support caching, and you should regularly clean the WordPress cache. You and your visitors can view the most recent version of your website by clearing the WordPress cache. 

Thankfully, deleting your cached files is a simple procedure. 

You can clean the WordPress cache using any of the tools above.