This page in a nutshell: Bypassing your cache means forcing your web browser to re-download a web page from scratch, which can often solve website display glitches. It is also required after installing user scripts. Bypassing your cache is simple, safe, and causes no permanent changes.
Bypass your cache — Simple instructions
In most Windows and Linux browsers
Hold down Ctrl and press F5.
In Apple Safari
Hold down ⇧ Shift and click the Reload toolbar button.
To speed things up and conserve communications bandwidth, browsers attempt to keep local copies of pages, images, and other content you've visited, so that it need not be downloaded again later. Occasionally this caching scheme goes awry (e.g. the browser insists on showing out-of-date content) making it necessary to bypass the cache, thus forcing your browser to re-download a web page's complete, up-to-date content. This is sometimes referred to as a "hard refresh", "cache refresh", or "uncached reload". The rest of your cache is not affected.
When you encounter strange behavior, first try bypassing your cache. In most cases you can use the simple instructions shown to the right, or see the complete browser-specific instructions below. If this is not enough, you can try performing a "purge" of Wikipedia's server cache (see instructions below). If problems persist, report them at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical).
If you are editing templates, you may need to wait a few minutes before bypassing your browser cache in order to see the change in a page with the transcluded template.
Go to the "Tools" menu (the three horizontal ellipsis on the upper right of the browser) and click on "History" (Shortcut: Ctrl+H).
Click on "Clear browsing data…" (Shortcut: Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Del).
Select the types of data you want to clear, and include "Cached images and files" option.
If you would like to keep the data in your cache but test Wikipedia without using it, you can use the private browsing option.
To disable the cache:
Open Developer Tools (F12, Ctrl+⇧ Shift+I or Tools▸ Developer Tools).
Click on the horizontal ellipsis on the upper right corner of the Dev Tools interface and select "Settings" (Shortcut: F1).
Check the "Disable Cache" check-box.
Note: This method only works if the developer console remains open. Browser extensions are available for download that force the cache to be disabled at all times.
Click "Tools" (the Gear-shaped button on the top-right section of the browser), point to "Safety" and click "Delete Browsing History…" (keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Del).
Select "Temporary Internet Files" at the top, and click "Delete". (If Wikipedia is in your list of favorites, you may need to turn off the "Preserve Favorites website data" at the top of the dialog box.)
Internet Explorer will now silently delete the items you have chosen. Once finished, the notification bar appears at the bottom of the screen, stating that the selected browsing history has been deleted.
To change cache settings (not recommended for most users):
Select Tools▸ Internet Options▸ Temporary Internet files▸ Settings… to make advanced configuration changes to the cache.
Click the "Open menu" button (three stacked, horizontal bars in the upper right corner). Select "Options", then the "Privacy & Security" section. Go to the "Cookies and Site Data" subsection and click the "Clear Data..." button. Make sure the box for "Cached Web Content" is checked and click "Clear", (be sure the "Cookies and Site Data" box is unchecked if you do not want to clear this data as well).
In versions of Firefox that display a single, orange "Firefox" button: click the "Firefox" button and click "Options". Select the "Advanced" section, and go to the "Network" tab, and click the "Clear Now" button. Then click "OK".
When Firefox displays a menu bar, from the "Edit" or "Tools" menu, choose "Preferences" or "Options". Select the "Advanced" section, and go to the "Network" tab. Click the button called "Clear Now". Then click "OK".
In SeaMonkey and later versions of Netscape, choose Edit▸ Preferences…, expand the "Advanced" section and choose "Cache". Click on the "Clear Cache" button.
If you would like to keep your data in your cache and test Wikipedia with an empty cache, you can use Private Browsing mode.
To disable caching in Firefox (not recommended for most users):
Choose Tools▸ Options… (or Edit▸ Preferences in the Linux version).
Choose "Advanced" at the top.
Choose the "Network" tab.
Change the cache size to 0 (zero).
To disable caching in SeaMonkey (not recommended for most users):
Use keyboard shortcut ⌥ Opt+⌘ Cmd+E to instantly clear all caches
Alternatively:
From the "Safari" menu, choose "Preferences..." (Shortcut: ⌘ Cmd+,)
Click on the "Advanced" tab
Check the box at the bottom next to "Show Develop menu in menu bar"
Close preferences and click Develop ‣ Empty Caches
Purging Wikipedia's server cache
The Wikimedia servers cache a version of articles. When improperly displayed content is contained in a template or other transcluded page, bypassing your own cache might not be enough. You may need to purge the server cache of old page versions.
The server can be instructed to refresh its cache of a page's contents with the action=purge web address parameter. Add this to the end of the address. For example, to purge this page, visit one of the following:
For pages you think may need to be purged on a regular basis, include {{purge}}, which provides readers with an easily-accessible purge link. Don't put this on article space pages.
![[icon]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
