 | This is an information page. It is not an encyclopedic article, nor one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels of consensus and vetting. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Bypassing your cache means forcing your web browser to re-download a web page from scratch, which can often solve website display glitches. It is also required after installing user scripts. Bypassing your cache is simple, safe, and causes no permanent changes. |
| Bypass your cache — Simple instructions |
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In most Windows and Linux browsers:
In Apple Safari:
In Chrome and Firefox for Mac:
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| See full instructions below |
To speed things up and conserve communications bandwidth, browsers attempt to keep local copies of pages, images, and other content you've visited, so that it need not be downloaded again later. Occasionally this caching scheme goes awry (e.g. the browser insists on showing out-of-date content) making it necessary to bypass the cache, thus forcing your browser to re-download a web page's complete, up-to-date content. This is sometimes referred to as a "hard refresh", "cache refresh", or "uncached reload". The rest of your cache is not affected.
When you encounter strange behavior, first try bypassing your cache. In most cases you can use the simple instructions shown to the right, or see the complete browser-specific instructions below. If this is not enough, you can try performing a "purge" of Wikipedia's server cache (see instructions below). If problems persist, report them at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical).
If you are editing templates, you may need to wait a few minutes before bypassing your browser cache in order to see the change in a page with the transcluded template.
In unusual circumstances, it may be worth clearing the entire cache (of your local browser).