A website was updated, so why do I still see the old version?

Question

Weirdo · Accepted Answer

Your browser is reusing old files from its cache. To load faster, browsers keep pages, images and scripts you've already fetched; a hard reload with Ctrl+Shift+R (Cmd+Shift+R on Mac) usually brings up the new version.

MDN's guide to HTTP caching explains that HTTP is designed to cache as much as possible: a site can use Cache-Control max-age to say how long a file may be reused, and even without it the browser may estimate a lifetime from when the file was last modified (heuristic caching). During that window your browser can keep serving the old copy even after the site changes.

Chrome's shortcut list shows both: F5 or Ctrl+R reloads the page, while Shift+F5 or Ctrl+Shift+R reloads the current page, ignoring cached content. MDN adds that on a force reload the browser sends no-cache headers, asking the server for a fresh response instead of a cached one.

Open the page in an Incognito window. If it is new there, the problem is your local cache: in Chrome's Delete browsing data, tick only Cached images and files, which won't sign you out. If Incognito is also old, a CDN or the site itself hasn't updated yet, and you can only wait or ask the site owner to purge their cache.

A website was updated, so why do I still see the old version?

Caches are built to avoid re-downloading

A hard reload is not a normal reload

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