As a small business owner, web manager, or a consultant, this must be among the most common and frustrating situations. Why? Because it may be an update that’s required urgently. You know the work has been done, the site has been updated, but… your client or customer cannot see it.

That can lead to the website conversation nobody wants to have. If you’re interacting with someone who has limited knowledge about how web browsers work (after all, that’s why you were hired in the first place), this can lead to a tense moment and the dreaded question: “Do you guys really know what you’re doing?” 

As web developers, we’re like…” Been there many times!” Let’s look into this common matter and how it can be avoided.

Every time a website is loaded from the server, certain things happen and certain things do not. In order to reduce the network load and to achieve faster website performance, most web browsers store a copy containing bits of information that do not typically change. For example, these may be styles, images, and scripts that are stored locally on your computer. While this is a benefit for users who want to zip around the website at a quick pace, it can become an issue when new updates and edits don’t appear when the site loads. 

Next time you encounter this issue, there is a solution: Clear your browser cache. Here’s how: 

Google’s Chrome and Apple’s Safari account for over 70% of all web traffic, so we’ve compiled simple steps for those two popular browsers:

• Google Chrome: 

  •  On your Desktop or Laptop:

    • Open Chrome
    • At the top right, click More
    • Click More tools Clear browsing data
    • At the top, choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time.
    • Next to “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files,” check the boxes
    • Click Clear data

• • On your Android Phone or Tablet:

    • Open Chrome.
    • At the top right, click More
    • Click More tools Clear browsing data
    • At the top, choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time.
    • Next to “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files,” check the boxes
    • Click Clear data

• • On your iPhone or iPad:

• • • Open the Chrome app
    • At the bottom, tap More
    • Tap History Clear browsing data
    • Make sure there’s a checkmark next to “Cookies, Site Data,” and “Cached Images and Files”
    • Tap Clear browsing data

• Safari:

• • On your Desktop or Laptop:

    • Open Safari app on your Mac
    • Choose History > Clear History, then click the pop-up menu
    • Choose how far back you want your browsing history cleared

  • On your iPhone or iPad:

    • Go to Settings 
    • Click on Safari
    • Tap Clear History and Website Data

If you’re concerned that by clearing cookies, you will lose all stored browser data, there’s a workaround. Follow these steps to clear only cookies from a specific website:

• Google Chrome: 

• • Right-click anywhere on your webpage and click on inspect
  • Select Application
  • Under Storage, select cookies 
  • Right-click on the URL you would like to clear and click on “clear”
  • Now refresh the web URL to reflect the changes

• Safari:

• • Click on the Safari menu and select preferences
  • Go to Privacy and select “manage website data”
  • In the search bar, type your web URL, select and click on remove
  • Now refresh the web URL to see the changes

Following these simple instructions, you can ensure that the next time you encounter a web browser cache issue, you’ll know what to do. 

If you’re looking to do website development, redesign, refresh, audit, or a simple tune-up for top performance, do let us know how we can help. Just Add Spritz.