Though Google Chrome is the most popular browser, it will show different types of errors in many occasions. Err_cache_miss is one such error you will see frequently, which indicates that the browser couldn’t able to get the cached copy of webpage you are trying to access. Generally, you will see this error message in the frontend as shown below. However, Chrome may also show the message in developer tools section or in a pop-up. In this article, what exactly this err_cache_miss error in Chrome and how to fix the issue to load webpages.
Learn how to fix err_connection_reset, err_internet_disconnected, err_network_changed, err_connection_refused, DNS_probe_finished_nxdomain and err_connection_closed errors in Google Chrome.
Why Err_Cache_Miss Error Appears?
Chrome caches website’s content locally on your device to reuse without requesting the same data every time from the server. This will help to increase the page loading speed when you frequently visit the same page or website. Whenever Chrome is not able to load the cached data, you will see the error message like err_cache_miss.
Below are some of the general reasons for this error along with how to fix it.
1. Resubmitting Form Data
Though caching helps to increase the page loading speed, browsers will not cache many dynamic elements of the webpages like forms. In most cases, Chrome does not cache the content when you fill the data in form fields. For example, the payment form details like credit card and password are not cached due to security reasons. When you submit the form, the submission can fail due to many reasons like poor Internet connection and unavailability of the server. This may happen on login, registration, contact and payment filling forms.
In such cases, when you press back button on Chrome, you will see the err_cache_miss message. This is simply because the cached content of the form is not available with Chrome. You should fill the form again and resubmit it.
2. Accessing Webpages from Bookmarks
Sometime you will see “err_cache_miss” message when accessing the pages from bookmarks. When the bookmarked URL is not available, Chrome might have overwritten the cache with the new unavailable response. This will result in showing the cache miss error.
Copy the URL from bookmarks and open it directly from Chrome address bar. If that resolves the problem, the site owner might have redirected the URL to a new page. You should also replace bookmarked URL with the new one.
3. Opening a Cached Page
Are you trying to access the cached copy of a webpage? When the webpage is not available online, Chrome will show the cached copy of the page. If Chrome does not find the cached copy in the browser’s cache then you may see the “err_cache_miss” error.
In this case, wait for the webpage to be available online and try again.
4. Missing Website Cache
Caching happens at multiple levels throughout the web to speed up the loading. Website owners use server caching, caching plugins and content delivery network to cache and serve the content. So, it is possible to see the caching related errors when the site is under maintenance or owner is updating the site currently.
Try to open the site in another network or using another browser. If the problem persists wait for sometime and try again.
5. Clear Chrome Cache
Corrupted browser cache can also cause “err_cache_miss” error. You can delete all browsing history to check whether the page is properly loading in Chrome.
- Press “Control + Shift + Delete” in Windows and “Command + Shift + Delete” in Mac Chrome.
- This will open “Clear browsing data” dialog box.
- Under “Advanced” tab, select the time range as “All time”.
- Check “Browsing history”, “Download history”, “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files” options.
- Click on the “Clear Data” button to delete all the historical data stored in Chrome.
Restart your browser and check whether the website is now accessible.
6. Flush DNS Cache
Browser errors may happen if the network settings or DNS is misconfigured. Resetting network settings and flushing DNS should resolve a lot of Chrome related issues, including err_cache_miss error. Follow the instructions in this article to flush DNS in Windows PC and check this article for Mac. After flushing DNS, restart Chrome and check whether the problem has been resolved.
7. Disable Chrome Extensions
Chrome extensions are so useful that many computer users have dozens of them installed on the browser. However, outdated and unsupported extensions may cause issues including err_cache_miss error.
- Go to the command URL “chrome://extensions/”.
- Identify extensions that you have installed before err_cache_miss error first appeared.
- Turn off all those extensions.
Restart the browser and check whether the problem has been resolved. If the problem is resolved then enable the extensions one by one to narrow down the issue. After identifying the culprit, click the remove button to delete the extension. You can find an alternative extension that offers the same features.
Note: You can also use incognito mode in Chrome to load the webpages by disabling all installed extensions.
8. Reset Chrome
Resetting Chrome will restore all original browser settings when you have installed it initially. This will help to fix any errors caused by misconfigured settings. Go to “chrome://settings/reset” page and click on the “Reset” option. Confirm the popup and reset your browser to initial settings. As you can see in the pop-up, it will remove customizations of startup page, new tab page, search engines, remove pinned tabs and also disable all extensions. Though you can enable extensions back, other things will be permanently removed.
If you are playing with experimental features, then go to “chrome://flags/” in the address bar. Look for the “Reset all” button at the top right corner. These settings may have been changed by third-party extensions without your knowledge, so resetting here may fix errors in some cases.
9. Update Chrome
Older Chrome versions may not be stable enough and have a few glitches that cause err_cache_miss error. You should be able to fix this by bringing your Chrome browser to the latest version. Open Chrome and type in “chrome://settings/help” in the address bar. Google will automatically look for new updates and install.
10. Disable Caching in Developer Tools
In certain cases, Chrome also shows the “Failed to load resource: net::ERR_CACHE_MISS” message in Developer Tools. You have an option in Developer Tools to completely disables cache.
- Open Chrome and go to “View > Developer > Developer Tools” menu. You can also right-click and choose “Inspect” to open Developer Tools.
- Click on the three dots inside developer tools (remember this is not the three dots on top right corner of the browser window, this is inside the Developer Tools dock).
- Go to “Settings” and enable the option “Disable cache (while DevTools is open)” under “Preferences > Network” section.
Restart Chrome , open the website and check in Developer Tools whether you are getting the “err_cache_miss” error.
Note: There is an open issue ongoing for years on this topic in Chromium site which you can read for more details.
11. Fixing Your Own Site
If you are seeing the error on your own site, then follow the below guidelines:
- Purge cache from your caching plugin, server side and CDN.
- If you have access, check the “Cache-Control” HTTP header and make sure the correct value is set. This controls the caching period of resources in browser and may create problems when you have changed or set incorrect value.
The best option is to contact the responsible support person for checking caching setup on your site (like your hosting company) and make sure everything is setup correctly.
Conclusion
In most cases, err_cache_miss happens when Chrome could not find the cached content. As explained, this could happen due to resubmitting the form content or when accessing the cached pages which are not available. You can try other mentioned solutions if the error happens when accessing normal webpages.
