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The short answer: purging tells the CDN to throw away the copies it holds, so the next request goes to the origin for the current version. It is for when something changed without its address changing. There are three things a purge does not do: it does not clear your visitors’ browser caches, it does not clear the server or plugin cache, and it does not fix a badly chosen lifetime (the new copy is kept just as long). We do not sell a CDN: what follows applies to whichever CDN you choose, on an account of your own, opened directly with that provider.
Which purge to use
| Kind of purge | When to use it |
| One address | You changed one specific file and kept its name. Type the full address exactly as visitors request it: with or without www, with https, and with the query string if your CDN includes it in the cache key. |
| By prefix, folder or hostname | You changed a whole folder (the theme, the images for one section) or everything on one subdomain. Not every provider or plan offers it. |
| By tag (or surrogate key) | The site labels responses with tags (a product’s, for example) and purges every page carrying that tag at once. It needs support in the CDN and in the site or plugin. |
| Soft purge | Instead of deleting, it marks copies as out of date: the CDN can keep serving the old one while it fetches the new. Easier on the origin. Not every CDN has it. |
| Everything | A theme change, a migration, or an error stored on many pages. The last resort, not the routine. |
In what order to clear things when something changes
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| Purging everything at a busy moment sends every request to the origin at once. On a site that lives off its cache, that can leave the hosting short of breath and throw errors for a while (error 503 and the rest of the 5xx family). And a scheduled job that purges everything all the time cancels the CDN out: visitors get almost nothing but MISSes. |
| For things that change often, the best purge is none. A file with a version in its name (style.3f9a1c.css) has a new address that was never cached, and the old one dies on its own. Careful: some CDNs ignore the query string in the cache key, so a ?v=2 is not enough there; rename the file. |
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Purged and the site still shows the old version? Tell us the exact address and what you already cleared, in order. Open a support ticket |
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