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How to check cached versions of your URLs?

Use Prerender’s Dashboard or your browser’s developer tools to check how a URL is cached and verify integration is working correctly.

Overview

If you're troubleshooting SEO, verifying integration, or validating what search engines see, it's important to view the cached HTML that Prerender serves to bots. This lets you confirm that your page is rendering server-side and shows what Prerender delivers to crawlers like Googlebot.

There are two easy ways to check the cached page content served by Prerender: via the Dashboard or using browser developer tools with a spoofed crawler user agent.

Possible Causes / Scenarios

  • You want to preview what bots like Google see when they access your prerendered page.
  • You're debugging missing content, metadata, or layout issues specific to the cached version.
  • You need to confirm that Prerender is serving the correct version of a URL.

Method #1 – Check Cached HTML via Prerender’s Dashboard

  1. Log into your Prerender Dashboard and go to the Cache Manager menu.
  2. If multiple domains are in use, select the relevant domain.
  3. Pick the target URL from the list or search for it using the search bar.
  4. Select the checkbox next to the desired URL on the left-hand side.
  5. Click on the three-dot menu at the bottom center of the screen.
  6. Click "View Cached HTML" to open the cached view.

Method #2 – Check Cached HTML Using Browser Developer Tools

⚠️ Note: This method only works if your Prerender integration is set up correctly.

  1. Open your website – Navigate to the specific URL you want to test.
  2. Open Developer Tools:
    • Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + J
    • Mac: Press Option + ⌘ + J
  3. Enable Network Conditions Panel:
    • Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + P
    • Mac: Press Command + Shift + P
    • Type “Show Network Conditions” and select it

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  4. Set User Agent to Googlebot:
    • In the Network Conditions tab, uncheck “Use browser default”
    • Select “Googlebot” from the dropdown list
    • If you’ve modified your Prerender allowlist, select a bot that is permitted

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  5. Reload the page: You should now see the Prerender-cached HTML served to bots.

Additional Tips / Best Practices

  • Always confirm that the x-prerender-request-id header appears in your response headers. This confirms Prerender served the content.
  • Use Method #2 for the most accurate reflection of what Prerender has stored in its cache.
  • Combine this test with Search Console's URL Inspection Tool to diagnose bot-rendering differences.

When to Contact Support

If you followed the steps above and cannot see cached content or the x-prerender-request-id is missing:

  • Send the affected URL to support@prerender.io
  • Include browser screenshots showing missing headers or content
  • Let us know if you've recently changed any token or bot access settings

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