Browser cache
The browser cache is a local copy of data that has been requested before, maintained by the browser itself. In the context of OpenStreetMap it is typically mentioned when someone asks "I made an edit, but it's not shown on the map. Why?". The typical reason is that the browser shows a cached, now outdated, version of map. The solution is to force clearing the cache. This results in the browser requesting the map tiles again, often resulting in showing an updated version.
How To
Clearing the browser cache depends on your operating system and browser.
| OS | Browser | How |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | Firefox & Chrome | Press Ctrl+F5 |
| Windows | Firefox & Chrome | Press Ctrl+F5 or Press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+R |
| macOS | Firefox & Chrome | Press ⇧ Shift + reload button or press ⌘ Command+⇧ Shift+R |
| Safari | Press ⌥ Option + reload button or press ⌥ Option+⌘ Command+R | |
| Android | Firefox | Press the three vertical dots in the top right, then press & hold the reload button in the pop-up menu. |
If you know others, please add them.
Exceptions
Zoom levels 1–12 are only rerendered once a day[1], so clearing your browser cache will not help for those[2].
Some maps are updated less often - for example mapy.cz map is not updated based on minutely updates, so browser cache refresh will usually not help.
In past edits affecting only relations would not trigger rerendering[2]. This is now changed[3].