How to Clear Cache for Just One Website (Without Losing Everything)

You are debugging a website layout, testing a new deployment, or trying to fix a login issue on a single site. So you open Chrome settings and clear your cache. Immediately, you are logged out of every site you use. Your shopping carts vanish. Your form autofills reset. Two-factor authentication codes need re-entering everywhere.

There is a better way. Every modern browser has a method to clear cache for a specific site while leaving everything else untouched. This guide shows you exactly how to do it in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, starting with the fastest methods first.

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Why Would You Clear Cache for Just One Website?

Browser cache stores copies of images, scripts, stylesheets, and other assets so pages load faster on repeat visits. Most of the time this works perfectly. But cached files can cause real problems in specific situations:

You deployed a code update and your browser keeps showing the old version of the site. CSS changes are invisible, JavaScript features are missing, or images look wrong because Chrome is serving stale files from disk.
A login or session is broken. Corrupted cookies or cached authentication tokens can cause infinite redirect loops, "Session expired" errors, or being stuck on a loading screen.
A website looks broken on your machine but works fine for everyone else. This usually means your browser has cached a broken version of a stylesheet or script.
You are testing responsive design or A/B experiments and need a clean slate for one specific domain.
A payment or checkout page is glitching because of stale session data or cached form values.

In every one of these cases, clearing cache globally is overkill. You need a scalpel, not a sledgehammer.

Method 1: Chrome's Built-In Site Settings (Manual)

Chrome has a dedicated per-site storage manager hidden in its settings. Here is how to reach it:

Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://settings/content/all in the address bar. This opens the full list of websites that have stored data on your machine.
Use the search bar in the top-right to find the domain you want to clear (for example, type github.com).
Click the site entry to expand its storage details. You will see exactly how much data Chrome has stored: cache, cookies, local storage, IndexedDB, and service workers.
Click Clear data to remove everything for that domain only.
Reload the page. Chrome will fetch all assets fresh from the server.

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Chrome Site Settings showing per-site storage data

Pros: No extensions needed, built directly into Chrome, shows you exactly what data is stored.
Cons: Takes 5+ clicks to reach and requires navigating Chrome settings every time.

Method 2: Chrome DevTools (For Developers)

If you are a developer, DevTools offers the most granular control over site-specific data. This method lets you clear specific types of storage individually.

Navigate to the website you want to clear.
Press F12 (or Ctrl+Shift+I / Cmd+Option+I) to open DevTools.
Go to the Application tab in the DevTools panel.
In the left sidebar, click Storage.
You will see checkboxes for each storage type: Local Storage, Session Storage, IndexedDB, Web SQL, Cookies, Cache Storage, and Application Cache. Check the ones you want to clear.
Click Clear site data at the top of the panel.

There is also a faster approach for just clearing the cache without touching cookies:

Open DevTools with F12.
Right-click the browser's refresh button (the circular arrow in the toolbar).
Select Empty Cache and Hard Reload. This clears the cache for the current site only and forces a full re-download of every asset.

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DevTools Application tab with Clear site data option

Pros: Maximum granularity, can clear individual storage types, no extension needed.
Cons: Requires developer knowledge, DevTools must be open, not user-friendly for non-developers.

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Pro tip: Keyboard shortcut for hard reload

With DevTools open, you can press Ctrl+Shift+R (or Cmd+Shift+R on Mac) to do a hard reload that bypasses cache. This does not clear stored data like cookies or localStorage, but it forces all files to be re-fetched.

Method 3: Use a Chrome Extension (Fastest)

If you find yourself clearing site-specific cache frequently, doing it through Chrome settings or DevTools every time gets tedious. This is exactly the problem that the Clear Cache for Specific Site extension was built to solve.

Here is how it works:

Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store.
Navigate to the website with the problem.
Click the extension icon in your toolbar.
Choose what to clear: cache, cookies, or both.
Click Clear. The page automatically reloads with fresh data.

The entire process takes under two seconds. You never leave the page, you never open settings, and you never risk clearing data from other sites. It operates exclusively on the current domain.

Pros: One-click operation, stays on the current page, clears only the current domain, visual confirmation of what was removed.
Cons: Requires installing an extension.

How to Clear Cache for One Site in Firefox

Firefox has excellent per-site data controls built directly into its privacy features.

Method A: Address Bar Shortcut

Navigate to the site.
Click the padlock icon to the left of the URL in the address bar.
Click Clear cookies and site data.
Confirm the action in the dialog that appears.

Method B: Firefox Settings

Open about:preferences#privacy in the address bar.
Scroll to Cookies and Site Data and click Manage Data.
Search for the domain you want to clear.
Select it and click Remove Selected.
Click Save Changes.

Firefox groups cookies, cache, and local storage under "Site Data," so clearing one site removes all stored data for that specific origin.

How to Clear Cache for One Site in Safari (Mac)

Safari requires enabling the Develop menu first, but once you do, site-specific clearing is straightforward.

Open Safari and go to Safari > Settings > Advanced.
Check Show features for web developers (this enables the Develop menu in the menu bar).
Go to Safari > Settings > Privacy.
Click Manage Website Data.
Search for the domain, select it, and click Remove.

For a cache-only clear (without touching cookies), use the Develop menu:

Navigate to the website.
Click Develop > Empty Caches in the menu bar.

Note that "Empty Caches" in Safari clears cache for all sites. For true per-site clearing, use the Manage Website Data approach described above.

How to Clear Cache for One Site in Microsoft Edge

Edge is Chromium-based, so the process mirrors Chrome closely.

Navigate to edge://settings/content/all in the address bar.
Search for the domain you want to clear.
Click the site entry and then click Clear data.

Alternatively, you can use the same DevTools method (F12 > Application > Clear site data) since Edge uses the same Chromium DevTools as Chrome.

What Actually Gets Cleared? A Breakdown

When you clear "cache" for a site, different browsers may remove different types of data. Here is what each category contains:

Data Type	What It Stores	Effect of Clearing
Browser Cache	Images, CSS, JS, fonts	Page reloads slower once, then re-caches
Cookies	Login sessions, preferences, tracking	You get logged out of that site
Local Storage	App state, dark mode settings, drafts	Site resets to default state
IndexedDB	Offline data, large datasets	Offline features may break temporarily
Service Workers	Background sync, push notifications, PWA shell	PWA needs to re-register workers

For most troubleshooting scenarios, clearing Browser Cache alone is enough. Only clear cookies if you are having login or session issues. Only clear Local Storage and IndexedDB if the app itself behaves erratically.

When Should You Clear Cache? Common Scenarios

Here is a quick decision guide to help you choose the right action:

Site looks outdated or styling is broken: Clear browser cache only. This forces fresh CSS and JavaScript downloads without affecting your login.
Stuck in a login loop or "Session expired" error: Clear cookies for that site. You will need to log in again, but the session issue should resolve.
A web app is acting erratic (wrong data, features missing, UI glitched): Clear all site data including Local Storage and IndexedDB.
Testing a deployment in production: Use hard reload (Ctrl+Shift+R) first. If that does not work, clear cache for that domain.
Privacy cleanup for a single site: Clear all data types to remove every trace of your visit to that specific domain.

Want an easier way? Clear Cache does this automatically in one click.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does clearing cache for one site affect other websites?

No. When you use any of the per-site methods described above, only data for that specific domain is removed. Your logins, preferences, and cached data for every other website remain completely untouched.

Will clearing cache fix a website that is down?

No. If a website's server is down or returning errors, clearing your local cache will not fix the problem. Cache issues are specifically about your browser serving outdated local copies of files that have been updated on the server.

How often should I clear cache?

Only when you encounter a specific problem. Modern browsers manage cache intelligently, and clearing it unnecessarily just makes pages load slower on the next visit. If you are a web developer, you may want to clear cache for your own sites more frequently during active development.

Is there a keyboard shortcut to clear cache for one site?

Not natively, no. The closest built-in option is Ctrl+Shift+R (hard reload), which bypasses cache for the current page but does not permanently delete the cached files. For a true one-shortcut solution, a dedicated extension is the fastest option.

Does clearing cache delete saved passwords?

No. Saved passwords are stored separately from cache and cookies. Clearing site data will not affect your saved passwords in any browser.