When Cloudflare is active for a domain, some website content may be served from Cloudflare’s cache instead of being loaded directly from your mybox hosting environment. This can make recent changes appear delayed, even if the update was already saved correctly in mybox or in your website admin panel.
This article explains why this happens, what is considered normal behavior, and what you can do when changes are not visible right away.
Table of Contents
How Cloudflare cache works
Cloudflare sits between visitors and your hosting environment when its proxy is enabled for a domain. Instead of every visitor request reaching the hosting server directly, Cloudflare may serve cached versions of certain files from its own network.
This usually applies to static files such as:
- images
- CSS files
- JavaScript files
- fonts
- cached page versions, depending on the Cloudflare configuration
Caching can improve loading speed because visitors may receive files from Cloudflare instead of waiting for the origin server to send them again.
Why changes may not appear immediately
When you update your website in mybox, the change is made on the hosting side. However, if Cloudflare already has an older cached version of the same file or page, visitors may continue seeing that older version until the cache expires or is cleared.
This can happen after changes such as:
- replacing an image
- editing website design files
- updating CSS or JavaScript
- changing a page layout
- modifying a website through a CMS such as WordPress
- deploying updated website files
The change may be correct on the server, but Cloudflare may still be serving the previous cached version.
mybox changes vs. Cloudflare cache
mybox stores and serves your website files from the hosting environment. Cloudflare can store temporary copies of some website resources in front of that environment.
These are separate layers:
- mybox hosting is where your website files, database, and application run.
- Cloudflare cache is a temporary delivery layer that may serve older copies of some website resources.
Because of this separation, clearing or updating something in mybox does not always automatically clear Cloudflare’s cache.
How to check whether Cloudflare cache is the cause
A simple way to test this is to compare the website through different viewing methods.
You can try:
- Open the website in a private or incognito browser window.
- Refresh the page using Ctrl + F5 or Cmd + Shift + R.
- Test the website from another network or device.
- Temporarily pause Cloudflare or disable the proxy for the domain.
- Clear the Cloudflare cache and check the website again.
If the change appears after clearing or bypassing Cloudflare cache, the hosting-side update was likely correct and the delay was caused by cached content.
How to make the changes visible
To make recent updates appear faster, clear the cache from Cloudflare.
In Cloudflare, you can usually use one of these options:
- Purge Everything, which clears cached files for the domain
- Custom Purge, which clears only specific URLs
- Development Mode, which temporarily bypasses Cloudflare cache while you work on the website
For small updates, clearing only the affected URL or file is usually enough. For larger design or content changes, clearing all cached content may be more practical.
When Development Mode is useful
Cloudflare Development Mode is useful while actively editing a website. It temporarily bypasses Cloudflare cache, allowing you to see changes from the origin server more directly.
This is helpful when working on:
- design changes
- CSS adjustments
- JavaScript changes
- image replacements
- WordPress theme edits
- layout troubleshooting
Development Mode is temporary and should normally be used only while making or testing changes.
What is normal behavior
It is normal for cached content to remain visible for a period of time after a website update. This does not always mean the update failed.
The change may already be saved correctly in mybox, while Cloudflare continues serving an older cached version to visitors. The visible result depends on cache rules, browser cache, Cloudflare settings, and how the website generates its content.
When to contact support
Contact support if the change still does not appear after:
- clearing Cloudflare cache
- refreshing the browser cache
- checking from another device or network
- confirming the file or content was updated correctly
- temporarily bypassing Cloudflare cache
When contacting support, include the affected domain, the exact URL where the change should appear, and a short description of what was changed.
Summary
Changes made in mybox may not appear immediately when Cloudflare cache is active because Cloudflare can continue serving older cached versions of files or pages. Clearing the Cloudflare cache, using Development Mode, or temporarily bypassing the proxy can help confirm whether the update is already correct on the hosting side.