Browser Cache

[pcdoc]

Occassionally, at the request of a client I'll make a change, see the change in my browser window, yet the client complains that the change was not made.

The reason the client did not see the change?

Their browser pulled the page from the local system's hard disk cache, not from the live web site.

Here's a link to clearing IE's browser cache

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/...learcache.mspx

or a Firefox extension

https://addons.mozilla.org/extension...mpg=10&id=1801

but even better, use a program like this

http://www.ccleaner.com/

each day.

[webmaster]

Holding shift and hitting the refresh button works as well doesnt it?

[princess275]

i normally use holding down shift and F5, normally resolves the problem. I have found that on some occasions, a machine restart has been necessary after clearing cache.


sonia
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[Charles Sweeney]

To be sure to get a fresh page, put a "?" after the URL or a question mark followed by mumbo jumbo if you are doing it more than once.

This is seen as a new URL by the browser, so it can't give you a cached version.

This doesn't just count for browser caches, but any cache between you and the web server.

[RichardDavies]

Holding shift and hitting the refresh button works as well doesnt it?

The shift-refresh only works on Netscape/Mozilla-based browsers. Internet Explorer, always trying to be "different," uses ctrl-refresh (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=306832).

[Sam Chapman]

pcdoc is right about ccleaner. I had troule with ie taking 60 or more seconds to load. I clared my cache, cookies and history daily, but it was still slow. pcdoc recommended ccleaner. I now use it every day and it really has sped things up.

[REW Fergus]

As a web developer, I find shift-refresh is not 100% reliable in Firefox. It's SUPPOSED to bypass the cache, and does to at least some extent, at least some of the time. But not always. There a few alternatives suggested in this thread, though some of them have limitations that haven't been discussed.

For developers, I recommend Chris Pederick's Web Developer 1.0.2 extension. It adds a toolbar with many useful features, including a disable menu that allows you to turn off caching while you're developing. Web Developer will not install in the Firefox 2 betas normally, but you can snag the Nightly Tester Tools, which will allow you to install extensions irrespective of their pre-set compatibility (Web Developer 1.0.2 seems to work fine with Firefox 2 betas 1 and 2).