CodeHS Knowledge Base

How to Clear Your Browser Cache and Hard Refresh

Browser caches are great, but sometimes they need a hard refresh to get the latest info

Written by Zach Galant

Updated over 11 months ago

Understanding Your Browser Cache

When you browse any website, your browser is storing information in its local cache so that it doesn't need to re-request resources from the website.

This is useful, but can come with downsides:

Your browser may be storing outdated information
More often than you'd expect, the browser cache can become corrupt, causing all sorts of issues to arise.

You generally should not need to worry about clearing your browser cache, but there are situations where this can be the exact fix you need to get your browser working properly. Specifically, if you are experiencing 502 or 504 errors, this can be a sign that your browser has cached an outdated response and needs to clear the cache.

Find instructions for your browser below!

Google Chrome

Google Chrome Icon

1. Open the Developer Console

There are a few ways to do this

Control+Shift+I (Windows or Linux)
Option+Command+I (Mac)
Tools > Developer > Developer Tools...
Simply right-click anywhere on the page and choose Inspect

2. Press and hold the Refresh Icon

3. Choose Empty Cache and Hard Reload from the dropdown

Screenshot of the Chrome browser with the refresh button held down. This pops up the menu with a few reload options. The "Empty Cache and Hard Reload" option is highlighted.

Brave

1. Open the Developer Console

There are a few ways to do this

Control+Shift+I (Windows or Linux)
Option+Command+I (Mac)
Tools > Developer > Developer Tools...
Simply right-click anywhere on the page and choose Inspect

2. Press and hold the Refresh Icon

3. Choose Empty Cache and Hard Reload from the dropdown

Screenshot of the Brave browser with the refresh button held down. This displays a few reload options. The "Empty cache and Hard Reload" option is highlighted.

Firefox

1. Click the Menu button:

2. Click History

3. Choose Clear Recent History...

4. Make sure "Time range to clear" is set to "Everything"

5. Make sure "Cache" is checked (you can keep the other options unchecked)

6. Choose OK

7. Reload the page

Screenshot of Firefox's "Clear All History" window.

Safari

Choose Safari in the top menu
Choose Preferences...
Go to Advanced
Make sure that Show Develop menu in menu bar is turned on

Screenshot of the Safari browser, with the "Safari" tab in the top navigation bar clicked on. This displays an options menu, and "Preferences" is highlighted.

5. Go to Develop in the top menu and choose Empty Caches

Screenshot of the "Develop" tab opened and the option "Empty Caches" highlighted.

6. Reload the page

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge icon

1. Open the Developer Tools

There are a few ways to do this

Control+Shift+I (Windows or Linux)
Option+Command+I (Mac)
Tools > Developer > Developer Tools...
Simply right-click anywhere on the page and choose Inspect

2. Press and hold the refresh icon

3. Choose "Empty cache and hard refresh"

Screenshot of the Microsoft Edge browser with the refresh button held down. This displays a few reload options. The "Empty cache and Hard Reload" option is highlighted.

Still have questions? Contact our team at hello@codehs.com to learn more!