Why You’re Not Seeing Website Updates and How to Fix It

by | Mar 26, 2025 | Website Design

If you’ve ever thought, “Wait, I thought this was updated already?” — you’re not alone. One of the most common hiccups during website development (especially when we’re making lots of changes quickly) is browser caching.

The good news? There’s a quick fix — and this article will walk you through it.

What Is Browser Caching?

Web browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge store copies of website files — like images, stylesheets, and scripts — on your device. This is called a cache, and it’s designed to help websites load faster and save bandwidth.
But during active development or after a recent launch, your browser may serve up an older, saved version of the site — not the latest one we just published.

This can cause things like:

  • Pages looking outdated, even though we’ve made updates
  • Broken layouts or missing elements
  • Confusion about what’s “live” on your site

Quick Fix: Clear Your Browser Cache

To make sure you’re seeing the most current version of your website, you may need to clear your cache. Here’s how to do it on the most common browsers:

Google Chrome (Desktop)

Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner

Go to Settings → Privacy and security → Delete browsing data

Select “Cached images and files”

Choose “All time” from the time range dropdown

Click Clear data

delete cached images and files

Chrome (Mobile: Android or iOS)

Tap the three-dot menu

Go to Settings → Privacy and security

Tap Clear browsing data

Select “Cached images and files”, then confirm

Mozilla Firefox (Desktop)

Click the menu icon (three lines) → Settings

Go to Privacy & Security

Scroll to Cookies and Site Data and click Clear Data

Check “Cached Web Content” and click Clear

mozilla firefox clear data in cookies and site data

Firefox (Mobile)

Tap the menu icon → Settings

Go to Delete browsing data

Select “Cache”, then tap Delete browsing data

Microsoft Edge (Desktop)

Click the three-dot menu → Settings

Go to Privacy, search, and services

Under Clear browsing data, click Choose what to clear

Select “Cached images and files” and a time range

Click Clear now

Edge - clear browsing data

Microsoft Edge (Mobile)

Tap the three-line menu → Settings

Tap Privacy and security → Clear browsing data

Select “Cached images and files”, then tap Clear

Safari (Mac)

Go to the Safari menu → Settings

Click the Privacy tab → Manage Website Data

Click Remove All (or remove specific sites)

📝 Note: Safari clears cache and cookies together.

Safari (Iphone/Ipad)

Open Settings → Safari

Tap Advanced → Website Data

Tap Remove All Website Data

Pro Tip: Try a Hard Refresh First

Before clearing your full cache, try a hard refresh on the page:

Windows: Ctrl + F5 or Shift + Reload button

Mac: Cmd + Shift + R

Sometimes, that’s enough to pull in the latest version.

Tip: You can also do a “hard refresh” by pressing Shift + Reload on your keyboard or Cmd + Shift + R on Mac

Still Not Seeing Changes?

If you’ve cleared your cache and still don’t see updates, try:

  • Opening the site in a different browser (or incognito/private mode)
  • Restarting your device
  • Double-checking that you’re on the correct URL (staging vs. live)

And of course — feel free to reach out! We’re happy to confirm what’s live on our end.