How to flush your Magento cache

Key takeaways

• You can clear the Magento cache three ways: through the admin panel, the command line, or by manually deleting cache files.
• “Clean” removes only stale entries, while “flush” wipes the entire cache storage, so knowing which to use saves you time during updates.
• The right method depends on your access level and the change you made: the admin panel works best for daily updates, and the CLI works best for developers.
• Stores running memcached or Redis need a different flush procedure than the standard methods below.

Magento includes a caching system by default to improve performance. When you make changes to your store, you may not see them right away. To push your latest updates live, you need to clear the cache. This guide covers every method for both Magento 1.x and Magento 2.

 Read Magento 1 End of Life: What You Need to Know.

Before you start: memcached and Redis users

If your store uses memcached, follow the steps in How to flush memcached instead of the methods below.

If your store uses Redis, follow the steps in How to flush Redis instead of the methods below.

Clearing cache via the admin panel

The admin panel is the most common method for day-to-day store management, and it’s the best fit if you’re not comfortable with SSH or CLI commands.

1. Log in to your Magento admin panel.
2. From the System tab, click Cache Management (in Magento 2, you’ll find this under System > Tools > Cache Management).
3. Click Flush Magento Cache. If successful, you will see the message, “The Magento cache storage has been flushed.”

Once you’re on the Cache Management page, you have a few options depending on what you need to update:

• Flush Magento Cache: Removes only the default Magento cache items.
• Flush Cache Storage: Wipes all cache entries, including those from other applications or external providers. If you’re unsure which to use, Flush Cache Storage guarantees that every cache file is removed.
• Individual cache types: Tick specific boxes, such as Layout or Config, and select Refresh from the Actions dropdown.
• Asset-specific buttons: Use Flush JavaScript/CSS Cache or Flush Catalog Images Cache at the bottom of the page to update those assets on their own.

Clearing cache via the command line (CLI)

The CLI is often faster for developers, and you’ll need it when the admin panel is inaccessible. You must have SSH access to your server to use this method. If you don’t have SSH access, see How to obtain SSH access from Liquid Web for details.

After you log in to your server, run these commands from your site’s root folder.

Clean the cache (removes only invalidated entries):

Flush the cache (purges everything completely):

Target a specific cache type:

If you’re on Magento 1.x, run this command from your site’s root folder instead:

Not sure how to reach your root directory? Here’s where it typically lives:

• Ubuntu: cd /var/www/magento2
• CentOS: cd /var/www/html/magento2
• Windows: cd /d/xampp/htdocs/magento2

Clearing cache manually (FTP or File Manager)

If you can’t use the admin panel or the CLI, you can delete the cache files by hand. This works well when you’re already in FTP or cPanel File Manager.

1. Navigate to the root directory of your Magento store via FTP or File Manager.
2. Open the var/cache folder.
3. Select all the contents and delete them. Also clear var/page_cache if it applies to your setup.
4. Refresh your website. You should now see all the changes you made.

Clean vs. flush: which should you use?

The two terms get used interchangeably, but they do different things. Cache clean deletes only the data Magento has marked as stale, then lets the system regenerate it. Cache flush removes the entire cache storage at once. Disabled cache types stay untouched during a flush.

Enabling and disabling cache types

Sometimes you’ll want to turn cache types off, usually during development or troubleshooting. Just remember to turn them back on once you’re done, since disabled cache types slow down page loads.

Disable all cache types:

Disable a specific cache type:

Enable all cache types:

Enable a specific cache type:

You can also handle this from the admin panel. Go to System > Cache Management, tick the cache types you want, then choose Enable or Disable from the Actions dropdown and click Submit.

Understanding Magento cache types

Magento 2 uses 12 cache types by default. Knowing what each one stores helps you decide which to refresh when something on your store isn’t updating.

To check the status of your cache types at any time, run:

Benefits of cache management for your store

A quick-loading store keeps customers engaged. Studies show that shoppers leave a page if it takes more than two seconds to load, so cache management has a direct line to your sales.

Clearing the cache also keeps your content accurate. When you update product details or change a configuration, old data can stick around in the cache and show outdated information to your customers. Flushing it makes sure people always see your latest changes. Your business depends on this. It has to work.

Troubleshooting: changes still not showing?

If you’ve cleared the cache and your changes still aren’t live, try these checks:

• Run a full flush. If a clean didn’t do it, use php bin/magento cache:flush to wipe everything.
• Check file permissions. If the cache won’t clear, your var/cache directory may have permission issues that block Magento from writing to it.
• Reindex your store. Some changes need a reindex, not just a cache clear. See How to reindex in Magento 2 (from admin).
• Confirm your cache type is enabled. A disabled cache type won’t update through a standard flush.

A note on Magento versions

These methods cover both Magento 1.x and Magento 2, but keep in mind that Magento 1 reached end of life in June 2020. If you’re still running it, read Magento 1 End of Life: What You Need to Know and consider upgrading to Magento 2 or Adobe Commerce. For advanced cache management on current versions, the official Adobe Commerce documentation goes deeper.

Next steps for clearing your Magento cache

Clearing your Magento cache is a routine part of running a store, and you now have three reliable ways to do it. The admin panel handles daily updates, the CLI gives developers speed and precision, and manual deletion is there when you need a fallback.

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Jason Dobry