Help:Bypass your cache

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This page is a help page
It is meant to detail processes or procedures of some aspect or aspects of The Sims Wiki's norms and practices. It is not a policy page.

To help speed things up and save on bandwidth, your web browser will automatically save copies of pages, images, and other content you've visited, so that they don't need to be downloaded again later. This is called caching, and the saved copies is known as a cache. When you visit a page again, your browser will check to see if there is an updated version of the content, and if there isn't, it will show you the cache so you can view the page more quickly. Occasionally, however, this caching system doesn't work out as planned, and you will continue to see outdated content from the cache. This can be fixed by telling your browser to bypass its cache which will force it to re-download the page, images, and other content so that you can see the updated versions.

Bypassing your cache should not be confused with clearing your cache, which will delete all of the items in your browser's cache. This will have the same effect as bypassing your cache, except that your browser will then be forced to re-download all of the pages you've visited, not just the current page you are viewing. While bypassing your cache should work in most one-time situations, clearing your entire cache may be necessary if that doesn't work.

Bypassing cache[edit source]

Google Chrome[edit source]

On Windows and Linux, use one of the following:

  • Hold the ^ Ctrl key and press the F5 key.
  • Hold the ⇧ Shift key and press the Reload button on the navigation toolbar.
  • Hold both the ^ Ctrl and ⇧ Shift keys and press the R key.

On macOS:

  • Hold both the ⌘ Cmd and ⇧ Shift keys and press the R key.
  • Hold the ⇧ Shift key and press the Reload button on the navigation toolbar.

On ChromeOS:

  • Hold the ⇧ Shift key and press the Reload button on the navigation toolbar.

Firefox[edit source]

These instructions work for Firefox and for any Firefox-based browsers.

On Windows and Linux, use one of the following:

  • Hold both the ^ Ctrl and ⇧ Shift keys and press the R key.
  • Hold the ^ Ctrl key and press the F5 key.
  • Hold the ⇧ Shift key and press the Reload button on the navigation toolbar.

On macOS:

  • Hold both the ⌘ Cmd and ⇧ Shift keys and press the R key.
  • Hold the ⇧ Shift key and press the Reload button on the navigation toolbar.

Microsoft Edge[edit source]

On Windows:

  • Hold the ^ Ctrl key and press the F5 key.

Internet Explorer[edit source]

  • Hold the ^ Ctrl key and press the F5 key.
  • Hold the ^ Ctrl key and press the Reload button on the navigation toolbar.

Safari[edit source]

For version 4 and newer:

  • Hold the ⇧ Shift key and press the Reload button on the navigation toolbar.

For version 3 and older:

  • Hold the ⌘ Cmd key and press the R key.

Opera[edit source]

Use one of the following:

  • Hold the ^ Ctrl key and press the F5 key.
  • Hold the ⇧ Shift key and press the Reload button on the navigation toolbar.

Konqueror[edit source]

Simply press F5 or click the Reload button on the navigation toolbar. Unlike other browsers, reloading the page appears to bypass the cache automatically.

Clearing cache and disabling[edit source]

If bypassing the cache doesn't work, you can try clearing your entire browser cache. Depending on the browser you're using and the situation you're in, it may be helpful to also disable caching so that your browser will re-download entire pages every single time. While you can safely clear your cache at any time, you should not disable caching unless you are sure of what you are doing, since disabling caching can drastically slow your browser down and consume more bandwidth.

Google Chrome[edit source]

To clear the cache
  1. Go to the "Tools" menu (the three horizontal ellipsis at the top-right of the window) ⋮, then to "More tools" → "Clear browsing data" (Keyboard shortcut: ^ Ctrl+⇧ Shift+⌦ Del).
  2. Select "Cached images and files". Remember to uncheck anything else you do not want to delete.
  3. Select the time range of data you want to clear. For example, "Last 24 hours" deletes all cached data created within the past day. "All time" will delete the entire browser cache.
  4. Click on "Clear data".
To disable the cache (not recommended for most users)
  1. Go to the "Tools" menu (the three horizontal ellipsis at the top-right of the window) ⋮, then to "More tools" → "Developer tools" (Keyboard shortcut: ^ Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + I).
  2. Click on the three horizontal ellipsis at the top-right of the Dev Tools interface, then to "Settings" (Keyboard shortcut: F1)
  3. Under "Network", select "Disable cache". This will only disable the cache while the developer console is open.
Tip
The easiest way to disable caching is to simply open an incognito window (^ Ctrl+⇧ Shift+N) and then visit The Sims Wiki with it. The cache will not be used while you are in incognito mode, but will continue to work normally in your regular browsing window. Incognito mode will not save any cookies, browsing history, or cached data while you are using it.

Firefox[edit source]

To clear the cache
  1. Click on the "Tools" menu (the "hamburger" menu with three horizontal bars) , then to "Options".
  2. Click on the "Privacy & Security" menu.
  3. Under "Cookies and Site Data", click on "Clear Data..."
  4. Make sure "Cached Web Content" is checked.
  5. Click "Clear".
Note
In older versions of Firefox that display the orange "Firefox" button, click that button and select "Preferences" or "Options", go to "Advanced" → "Network", then click the "Clear Now" button.
To disable the cache (not recommended for most users)
  1. Type about:config into the address bar. Click on "I accept the risk".
  2. Type browser.cache into the search bar.
  3. Double-click on browser.cache.disk.enable and browser.cache.memory.enable to change their values to "false".
  4. Restart Firefox.
Note
In older versions of Firefox that display the orange "Firefox" button, click that button and select "Preferences" or "Options", go to "Advanced" → "Network", then change the cache size to zero.
Tip
The easiest way to disable caching is to simply open a private browsing window (^ Ctrl+⇧ Shift+P) and then visit The Sims Wiki with it. The cache will not be used while you are in private browsing, but will continue to work normally in your regular browsing window. Private browsing will not save any cookies, browsing history, or cached data while you are using it.

Microsoft Edge[edit source]

Click the ellipsis in the upper-right corner, then go to "Settings" → "Clear browsing data" → "Choose what to clear". Tick only the box "Cached data and files". Select "Clear".

Internet Explorer[edit source]

To clear the cache
  1. Click "Tools" (the gear icon in the top-right of the window) , then to "Safety" → "Delete Browsing History" (Keyboard shortcut: ^ Ctrl+⇧ Shift+⌦ Del).
  2. Select "Temporary Internet Files" at the top, uncheck "Preserve Favorites website data" (if The Sims Wiki is in your Favorites), then click "Delete".

Safari[edit source]

To clear the cache
  • Use keyboard shortcut ⌥ Opt+⌘ Cmd+E; or

Opera[edit source]

To clear the cache
  • From the "Tools" menu, choose "Delete private data", then "Details". Make sure the "Delete entire cache" option is checked.
To disable the cache (not recommended for most users)
  • From the "Tools" menu, choose "Preferences", then expand the "Advanced" option and choose "History". Click on the dropdown menu for "Disk Cache" and select "Off".
Note
For macOS users, the "Tools" menu does not have a "Preferences" option. Instead, go to "Opera" → "Preferences".

Konqueror[edit source]

To clear the cache
  • From the "Settings" menu, go to "Configure Konqueror", then scroll down to "Cache" and select the icon. Click "Clear Cache".

Purging the server cache[edit source]

The servers that power The Sims Wiki, run by Miraheze, also cache content so they can be shown to users more quickly. Like with your browser cache, this cache can contain outdated or incorrect content, especially when the content is displayed in a template or other transcluded page.

To correct this, simply purge the page, which will clear its cache and force the server to rebuild the page again.

See also[edit source]