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I am used to doing this in Windows with FireFox or IE by pressing Ctrl+F5.

Is there a way to do this for Safari on a Mac?

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10 Answers 10

Reset to default
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On the latest version of Safari, Empty Cache isn't on the Safari menu any more. It's now on the Develop menu. To show the Develop menu it, go to Safari > Preferences..., click the Advanced tab, and check Show Develop menu in menu bar. The keyboard shortcut remains unchanged, though.

Safari > Reset Safari isn't an option any more. To clear history you can use History > Clear History... and to clear cookies/local storage data, go to Safari > Preferences..., click the Privacy tab, and either click Remove All Website Data... or Details... to view and remove it for individual sites.

On older Safari versions, you could go to Safari > Empty Cache, or hit ⌘ Command+⌥ Option+E. To refresh, click the refresh button on the addressbar or press ⌘ Command+R.

Another tip. If you want to restore Safari, like completely clear all the caches, or parts of it, go to Safari > Reset Safari. I use it usually when I need to clear a lot of memory from Safari, for it will clear the webpage screenshots, the cookies, the favicons, etc.

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  • What can be done on an iPad or iPhone Safari? Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 15:36
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⇧ Shift and clicking the Refresh button generally does a full refresh. You can also empty cache with ⌘ Command+E, and then refresh.

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    The command sequence for that should be Cmd + Shift + R. As described here: dotjay.co.uk/2007/05/hard-refresh-firefox-mac Commented Jun 20, 2014 at 22:35
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    I really need this solution to work, but it doesn't. I'm looking at a css file at url ending style.css?ver=1.0 If I view this URL in chrome, or with wget, it's showing the restored version, but safari is refusing to refresh. If I change the URL in any way then it refreshes but that's no use to me. So now I'm left trying to figure out how to backup my saved passwords so I can try the 'Remove All Website Data...' nuclear option. All this so that safari will lose its cache on one poxy little css file. Infuriating! Commented Dec 13, 2016 at 13:16
  • While looking into it yesterday I came across a couple of other ideas which I'll stick here: RichardF suggests "open resource (alone) in a new window, shift-cmd-R, then go back to first window and shift-cmd-R" . Mathias Bynens suggests "focus the Web Developer Tools while performing the keyboard combo" I can't confirm whether those would fix it for me, because when I came back after lunch the problem had gone away. Commented Dec 14, 2016 at 14:57
  • Just to counter @HarryWood (my sympathies). This does in fact work for at least Safari 11.0.2 at time of writing this. That does not mean your cache, browser, etc. cannot get thoroughly confused/broken (happens eventually in every browser I've ever used), which may well be what Harry has encountered. Commented Jan 25, 2018 at 21:38
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    June 2024 update: ✅ ⇧ Shift and clicking the Refresh button works. ❌ ⌘ Command+E does NOT appear to be doing anything (in fact, it's assigned to the Edit > Find > Use Selection for Find command). ⚠️ ⌘ Command+⌥ Option+E will empty all caches (not just the current website's one), so beware of that. ✅ Finally, for a pure keyboard based way to force refresh, you can use ⌘ Command+⌥ Option+R. Commented Jun 16, 2024 at 14:05
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⌘ Command⌥ OptionR

This is the correct answer for people looking for Safari's equivalent for ⌘ Command⇧ ShiftR in Chrome. This works for both Safari and the Web Inspector when connected to an iPad/iPhone.

Keep in mind this does not clear cache, it simply does a "Hard Refresh".

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    This is the correct answer. The OP isn't asking for clearing caches, but doing a hard refresh, which is what Ctrl-F5 does on a Windows browser. Commented Mar 15, 2019 at 13:58
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    @cjbarth Seriously. How is it that one has to scroll down so far to find the answer. Commented Feb 11, 2024 at 2:52
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    June 2024: Still the correct answer. ⇧ Shift and clicking the Refresh button also works. Commented Jun 16, 2024 at 13:52
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If you haven't already, enable developer tools: open settings (Cmd + ,), go to the advanced tab, and check the box that says "Show Develop menu in menu bar."

Empty caches a single time: Develop > Empty Caches

Keyboard shortcut to empty caches a single time: Opt + Cmd + E

If you want to disable caching (for example, if you are developing a website and need to consistently reload changes to files on your site) you can do so: Develop > Disable Caches. Select this option again to reenable caching.

Note: for Safari 11 the disable caching feature was moved to the Network section of the web inspector. Open the web inspector with Cmd + Shift + I, go to the Network tab, and click the icon on the far right that looks like this:

disable caches button

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You must click References->Advanced->check to Show develop menu in menu bar. Later in Inspect Element press ShiftCmdR.

Note: Your mouse must click into the element within "Elements tab", then you can press Shift+Cmd+R.

enter image description here

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  • It's just command⌘ + R nowadays (Safari 14). The trick being to open the Web Inspector (option⌥ + command⌘ + I) before triggering a refresh. Commented Jul 14, 2020 at 12:09
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On Develop Menu If Develop Menu not show in your bar, setting it on Safari→Preferences→Advanced and check in "Show Develop menu in menu bar"

Or, you can press ⌥ Option ⌘ Command E

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⌥ + ⌘ + R

Tested in Safari Version 12.0.1 (14606.2.104.1.1)

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on Safari version Version 11.1.2 (13605.3.8), it seems to be Opt+Cmd+E.

You can check by open up Develop menu on top > look for Empty Caches item on the drop down list > see what the shortcut is.

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If you are use safari browser in windows, then ctrl + alt + e use for empty cache.

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    No-one should still be using Safari on Windows. It was last updated in 2012. Commented Sep 4, 2018 at 8:09
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If you are using safari, use command + option + R to do a hard refresh.

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