Help 2:Bypass your cache

In order to reduce loading times and save bandwidth when you visit Memory Alpha, your web browser is instructed to save the current view of the page. This is called your "cache". If you visit that page again, your browser will check to see if there is a newer version of a page available – if there is, a new version is downloaded. If not, it will quickly load much of the page straight from your cache.

Sometimes, however, you might continue to see the cached version of the page even when a newer one is available, for a variety of reasons. This can be frustrating if a change has recently been made to the page.

In order to ensure you're getting the latest version of the page you can manually bypass your cache. Bypassing your cache helps you to get the most recent version of a page, which will often clear errors you may see. This process is also sometimes called a hard refresh.

When to bypass your cache
Generally, you may need to bypass your cache if you have made changes to:
 * A CSS page (personal or community-level)
 * A JS page
 * The Memory Alpha favicon

You may need to update your cache in other cases, such as updates to images, or to clear a "broken" page view. In general, if you see anything "odd" or not changing it is worth trying to clear your browser cache to see if it resolves the issue.

How to bypass your cache
For most browsers, bypassing the cache is simple. Below are some browser-specific ways to do so:


 * Chrome
 * Windows: Hold the "Ctrl" key and press the "F5" key.
 * OS X: Hold both the "⌘ Cmd" and "⇧ Shift" keys and press the "R" key.


 * Safari
 * Hold down the "⇧ Shift" key and click the "Reload" toolbar button.


 * Firefox
 * Windows: Hold the "Ctrl" key, and press "F5".
 * OS X: Hold the "⌘ Cmd" and "⇧ Shift" keys, and then press "R".


 * Internet Explorer
 * Hold the "Ctrl" key, and press "F5" (or click the "Refresh" button).

For more information (including other browsers), see.

Forcing the server to re-render a page
Bypassing your own cache might not be enough if the updated content is not being properly displayed or is contained in a or other transcluded page. You may need to the server cache of old versions of the page in order for the new material to be visible.

Further help and feedback

 * Browse and search other help pages at
 * Check for how to report any errors or unclear steps in this article