One of the most common phrases we hear from our digital team is "Have you cleared the cache?".

Pronounced "cash", it is a collection of images and data from a loaded website page stored on a server, network or in your browser (eg. Chrome) that makes a website quicker to load by reducing the amount of data downloaded when you return to a page.

This temporary storage area in your browser memory or disk holding the most recently downloaded web pages is called the 'Cache'. Depending on the settings, it can save data for a few days or several weeks.

To ensure that the latest version of the page is displayed, your browser compares the dates of the cached page with the current page. However, this does not always mean the whole page is reloaded, as not all elements are always checked, and images, CSS or Javascript may not be updated.

The cached page will be displayed immediately if the webpage has not changed. If the web page changes, it is re-downloaded, displayed and cached.

This optimised data is often saved where the website is hosted, across a 'content delivery network' and in the browser, so when an update is made on the actual website - it doesn't always appear on the end user's screen instantly.

This is where 'clearing your cache' is needed. It should trickle down the network, but when making minor updates on your website, it is often more practical to clear the cache on the browser to see the most recent page.

Many people use the 'incognito' browser window to achieve this as this only saves the cache for the browsing session, so when you close it down, the data is forgotten.

Stands for HyperText Markup Language. A standard markup language that web browsers use to display websites.