How do I clear my Prerender.io cache?

TL;DR

You can clear your Prerender.io cache in three ways: a full purge that removes all cached URLs for a domain, a partial purge using wildcard patterns to target specific URL paths, or a programmatic purge via the Prerender.io API. All options are available from the Cache Manager in your Prerender.io dashboard.

Why this matters

After deploying site updates, correcting metadata, or fixing rendering issues, your Prerender.io cache may still serve the old version of your pages. AI crawlers and search engines that visit your site will see stale content until the cache is refreshed.

Clearing your cache ensures crawlers receive your latest content immediately, rather than waiting for the next scheduled recache cycle.

When to clear your cache

• You updated your site's content or layout and need AI crawlers and search engines to see the changes immediately.
• Outdated or stale URLs remain in your cache and should no longer be served.
• You want to test an uncached version of your site to verify a fix.
• You corrected metadata (titles, descriptions, structured data) and need the cached version updated.

Step 1: Open Cache Manager in your Prerender.io dashboard.

1. Log in to your Prerender.io dashboard.
2. Go to Cache Manager.
3. Click the Clear Cache button in the top right corner.

A confirmation modal appears.

Step 2: Choose between a full or partial cache purge.

Full cache purge

To remove all cached URLs for your selected domain:

1. In the Clear Cache modal, type clear cache into the confirmation field.
2. Click "Yes, I understand the consequences" to confirm.

This immediately deletes all cached URLs for the selected domain.

Partial cache purge

To remove only specific URLs matching a pattern:

1. In the Clear Cache modal, enter a wildcard expression in the text field (e.g., https://your-site.com/blog/*).
2. Click "Clear Partial Cache..." to preview the matching URLs.
3. Review the list of URLs that will be cleared.
4. Confirm to proceed with deleting only the matched entries.

This is useful for refreshing content under a specific path without clearing your entire cache.

Step 3: Clear cache using the API (optional).

You can also clear your cache programmatically using the Prerender.io API. The /cache-clear endpoint supports both full and partial cache deletion.

See the Prerender.io API documentation for endpoint details and examples.

Step 4: Verify the cache was cleared.

After purging, confirm the cache clear worked:

1. View one of the purged pages and check for a cache miss, indicating it will be re-rendered on the next crawler visit.
2. If you used a wildcard pattern, verify that the matched URLs are no longer listed in your cached pages.

Best practices

• Set up cache expiration rules to avoid stale content automatically. See how the Cache Manager works for configuration options.
• Check your ignore rules. If you use URL ignore rules, make sure excluded URLs are not interfering with your purge.
• Use partial purges when possible. A targeted wildcard purge is less disruptive than a full cache clear and helps avoid unnecessary render usage.

Related articles

• How do I stop Prerender from caching certain URLs?
• How to reduce the number of renders
• How does cache expiration work in Prerender.io?
• Prerender.io API documentation