When you update images on your storefront, those changes may not appear immediately due to content caching. This article explains how to refresh your images so customers see the latest versions.
Your site uses a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to store images at locations around the world. This makes your site load faster for customers by serving images from the nearest physical location.
When to purge the CDN:
- You've replaced an image file with a new version using the exact same filename
- You uploaded a completely new image with a different filename
- The updated image isn't appearing on your storefront after uploading
- You need the change to appear immediately instead of waiting 24 hours
Step 1: Get the Image File Path
1Navigate to the page where your image appears on the storefront.
2Right-click on the image and select Open Image in New Tab (or Copy Image Address).
3Copy only the path after your domain name. For example:
- Full URL:
https://yoursite.com/images/products/item-main.gif - Path to copy:
/images/products/item-main.gif
Step 2: Submit the Purge Request
1Go to Settings in the top navigation menu.
2Click Content Delivery Network (CDN).
3Select one of the options (e.g. Purge Specific Files).
4Paste your image path(s) into the text box. You can enter multiple paths by putting each on a separate line.
5Click Submit.
What happens next:
- The purge processes immediately
- Allow approximately 15 minutes for the new image to propagate worldwide
- The system displays "Last Purge initiated by [user] on [date/time]" to confirm
If you've made multiple image changes or want to refresh all LOCAL cached content at once, you can flush the entire system cache instead of purging individual files.
1Go to Settings in the top navigation menu.
2Click Flush All System Cache.
3Click Flush System Cache to refresh all cached content including:
- Storefront images and assets
- Header and footer content
- Navigation menu links
- Homepage content
- Static content and application variables
Clear Your Browser Cache
After purging the CDN, you may still see the old image because your browser has cached it locally. To see the updated image:
- Clear your browser's cache and cookies
- Or do a hard refresh: Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac)
- Or open the page in an incognito/private browsing window
CDN Automatic Refresh
If you don't manually purge, the CDN automatically checks for updates approximately every 24 hours. Manual purging is only necessary when you need immediate changes.
Best Practices
- When replacing images, consider using a new filename to avoid CDN caching issues entirely
- Purge only the specific files you've changed rather than flushing all cache when possible
- Allow 15 minutes after purging before testing changes in a clean browser session
Watch this tutorial for a visual demonstration of the CDN purge process: