Further information
Hard refresh
You can also force a web page to reload from the server via a 'hard refresh':
- Windows: Control-F5
- Mac: Shift-Command-R
If you are seeing out-of-date information on a web page you have just updated or if your browser takes a long time to shut down, you may need to clear your browser cache.
What is a browser cache?
The web browser cache, (called the 'Temporary Internet Files' folder in Internet Explorer) stores copies of files you have seen or heard on the internet, including images, sounds, web pages and cookies.
Caching a web page (that is, storing a copy of the page and its elements on your own computer) speeds up reloading a previously visited page.
Rather than waiting for the web server to send each of the elements in a page to your browser again, browser just presents you with the local copy it has saved. However, this means that any cached pages will not reflect changes that have been made to the page since your last visit.
You will only need to delete your Temporary Internet Files or Cache your browser history or cookies do not need to be deleted.
Clearing the cache in a variety of browsers
Internet Explorer
- IE 9, IE 10, IE 11 [University of Wisconsin-Madison]
- IE 8
- IE 7
- IE 6
Chrome
Chrome [Google]
Firefox
- Firefox for Windows and Mac [Mozilla]
Safari
University information
CRICOS Code: 00126G
