When we send clients amended versions of their websites that we are working on, it often shows them the previous version that they would've last looked at (commonly referred to as a cache), and they cannot view some of the changes made to it. This is due to the fact that the browser has stored a copy of the website, and the browser's old cache still exists on their machine.
While this can make the website load up faster, on the downside, it can also mean that some changes made to a website may not show up in the latest version.
A hard refresh is a way to refresh your browser and clear its cache. This forces the browser to load the most recent version of that website.
It is also important to note that only clicking the Refresh button in the address bar (which is usually an icon depicting a circular arrow) is not a hard refresh and will not clear your cache.
This is how to do a hard refresh in different browsers
Google Chrome
- On Windows: Hold down Ctrl and click F5 on your keyboard
- On Mac: Hold down Cmd, Shift and R on your keyboard
Firefox
- On Windows: Hold down Ctrl and click F5 on your keyboard
- On Mac: Hold down Cmd, Shift and R on your keyboard
Safari on Mac
- On Safari, hold down the Option key, Cmd and E on your keyboard
Internet Explorer/Microsoft Edge on Windows
- On Internet Explorer and Edge, hold down Ctrl and click F5 on your keyboard