Did you know that you can easily hard refresh any web page in Microsoft Edge or Chrome with a simple keyboard shortcut? Here’s how.
Most of you already know that you can refresh a webpage in Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome by clicking the refresh icon in the address bar, pressing F5 (or “Fn + F5” on some keyboards), or using the “Ctrl + R” keyboard shortcut. However, did you know that you can perform a hard refresh also using a different keyboard shortcut in both Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome? A hard refresh is particularly helpful when a normal refresh doesn’t resolve the issue. In this quick and easy guide, let me show you how to hard refresh a web page in Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.
Note: Most people wrongly assume pressing “Ctrl + R” performs a hard refresh. It doesn’t.
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Normal Refresh vs Hard Refresh
Normal refresh: When you perform a normal refresh, your browser tries to load the web page as soon as possible. That means it relies heavily on cached data unless it has expired. That means, even if a web page is updated with new content or the cached files are corrupted, the browser still stubbornly tries to load the cached version of the web page.
Hard refresh: This kind of refresh is the complete opposite of a normal refresh. i.e., it tells your browser to ignore cached files and fetch everything anew, as if you are visiting the web page for the first time. That means it might take the web page a couple of seconds longer to load, but you can be sure that all cached files are ignored and that you are seeing the up-to-date version of the website.
For example, let’s say you are visiting a news website on a special day and want up-to-date information as soon as it becomes available. However, whenever you refresh, you are only seeing the old content. In those cases, a hard refresh will solve the problem by fetching the latest content and ignoring cached files.
Keyboard Shortcut to Hard Refresh in Microsoft Edge and Chrome
To hard refresh in Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome, press the “Shift + F5” or “Ctrl + Shift + R” keyboard shortcut. As soon as you do that, the browser will force reload the page as if you are visiting it for the first time, with no cached files.
Alternatively, you can also hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and then click the refresh icon on your browser’s address bar. This also performs the hard refresh.
That is all. It is that simple to hard refresh in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. If you have any questions or need help, comment below.
