Updated Your Website But Can’t See Changes Live? Here’s How to Fix It

Have you made updates to your website—like modifying your CSS, JavaScript, or images—but can’t see those changes live even after refreshing the page?

Don’t panic! This is a common caching issue that can occur on the browser, server, or CDN (like Cloudflare) level. Let’s walk through exactly why this happens and how to fix it.

💡 Quick Tip Before You Dive Into Cache Clearing

Before diving into plugin settings or server-side tools, it’s smart to check whether your updates are simply being blocked by cache.

✅ Try This First:

Append a query string to your website’s URL like this:

https://www.yourwebsite.com/?version=1234

This tricks the browser and most caching layers into thinking it’s a brand-new URL, forcing them to load the most recent version of your site. If your changes appear this way, then it’s a caching issue for sure—and you’ll know you need to start clearing caches at different levels (browser, WordPress, CDN, or server).

🚫 Why Changes Don’t Show Instantly

When you update files on your website, those changes may not reflect immediately because various layers of cache are still serving the older versions. This can happen due to:

• Browser Cache
• WordPress Page Cache
• Server Cache (NGINX, Varnish, etc.)
• Content Delivery Network (CDN) Cache like Cloudflare

Each of these caches is designed to improve speed and reduce server load—but they can become a roadblock when you’re actively updating your site.

✅ 1. Clear Browser Cache (Client-Side Fix)

🔄 Hard Refresh Your Browser

The easiest fix is a hard refresh to bypass the browser cache.

• Windows: Ctrl + F5
• Mac: Cmd + Shift + R

This forces your browser to pull fresh files (CSS, JS, images) from the server.

🧹 Manually Clear the Browser Cache

1. Open your browser settings.
2. Navigate to Privacy / Clear browsing data.
3. Select Cached images and files.
4. Click Clear data.

🧪 Open in Incognito/Private Mode

Private browsing typically skips most cached files, so you can test updates without clearing your cache.

🔧 2. Clear WordPress Cache (Server-Side)

If you’re using WordPress, caching plugins like W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, or WP Rocket could be storing old content.

How to Clear WordPress Cache:

• WP Rocket: Go to Settings → WP Rocket → Clear Cache
• W3 Total Cache: Go to Performance → Dashboard → Empty All Caches
• LiteSpeed Cache: LiteSpeed → Toolbox → Purge All
• WP Super Cache: Settings → WP Super Cache → Delete Cache

Also, don’t forget to clear object cache if you’re using Redis or Memcached.

🌐 3. Clear Cloudflare Cache (CDN-Level)

If you’re using Cloudflare, it may still be serving cached versions of your site.

Steps to Clear Cloudflare Cache:

1. Log in to your Cloudflare Dashboard.
2. Select your domain.
3. Go to Caching → Configuration.
4. Click Purge Everything (or use Custom Purge for specific files).

⚠️ Note: Purging everything might temporarily increase load time until the cache is rebuilt.

⚙️ 4. Clear NGINX Cache (via cPanel or Server)

If your server uses NGINX with FastCGI or Reverse Proxy caching, you may need to clear it.

For Hosting with cPanel and NGINX:

• Access cPanel.
• Navigate to Cache Manager (if available).
• Clear NGINX cache using the UI.
• If not visible, contact hosting support to flush NGINX or Varnish cache.

On a Dedicated or VPS Server:

If you have root access, run:

sudo rm -rf /var/run/nginx-cache/*
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Always back up before clearing manually.

👨‍💻 Pro Developer Tip: Use Cache Busting for Static Files

To avoid these issues long-term, add version parameters to static resources:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css?v=2.5">
<script src="script.js?v=3.1"></script>

This tricks the browser and CDN into fetching the latest file.

📝 Final Thoughts

If you’re not seeing your updates live, it’s almost certainly a caching issue—either in the browser, WordPress, server, or CDN.

✅ Fix Summary:

• Use Ctrl + F5 for a hard refresh.
• Clear WordPress plugin cache.
• Purge Cloudflare cache.
• Flush NGINX or server-level caches.

Once cleared, your new changes should be live instantly.

WebfulHost Nginx Cache also can be problematic when you are trying to view the changes so it’s always recommended to clear cache after making certain changes so HTML and all other static resources can be refreshed.