Ctrl+Shift+r should always work, so when I see reports like this a couple times a year, I'm always puzzled. The problem seems to affect external files (e.g., .css and .js) more than the main page itself. (E.g., Newest update broke ctrl+f5 cache javascript refresh?)

One possibility is that the cache is corrupted: the entire cache2 folder can be deleted from disk (further details below). Another is that there is an intermediary cache used by Firefox but not your other browsers, which would be very rare.

Remove the cache2 folder from disk

If you want to try this:

While Firefox is not running, type or paste the following into the Windows search box or into the address bar of a Windows Explorer window:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

That should expand to this:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

(You can navigate there manually, but because AppData is a hidden folder, you may need: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files)

At this point, you may see one folder with a partially random name, or multiple folders. You want to click into the most recently updated folder. Right-click the cache2 folder and either choose Delete or, if you're not sure, choose Rename and give it some other name, like cache2old so Firefox can't find it.

When you start Firefox up again, it should create a new cache2 folder.

Removing the cache folder does indeed work, and solves my immediate issue (it was the main page that was affected, not css or js, and for your info, ctrl shift r displayed "transferring data..", just didn't change what was displayed). It leaves me with an ongoing problem now of lack of confidence in FF - how do I know whether I am getting an up to date page on any website that I have visited before? Maybe there is a need for some kind of integrity check of the cache folder?

Update Problem has recurred, and this time deleting the cache folder made no difference - I have tried twice, the first time I noticed a cache and cache2 folder were created, so I renamed both for the second attempt. As before, ctrl shift r says it is transferring data, but page is not updated. A possible clue to the cause may be that I had the page open when the updated page was uploaded, not that I can see why that should make a difference! I am also puzzled by how much is carried through the cache delete - colours indicating links that have been visited, and recent pages on creating a new tab - presumably this is in history rather than cache, so could clearing history help?

Clearing history shouldn't be needed. Firefox has to do a fresh retrieval if the page is not in cache.

When you see "Transferring data" is the page still loading? During page load, the "reload" arrow in the address bar turns into a "stop" x icon. On some web servers I have used, there were occasional glitches loading a modified page that I just FTP'd. Sometimes I would just get a blank page. In that case, canceling the request and trying again in 5 seconds worked for me.

If you just try that -- reload a few times a minute bypassing the cache -- how long does it take to get the updated page?

Do you use any external filters or proxies between Firefox and the website? These may include security software, parental control filters, or debugging proxies like Fiddler.

One way to bypass history and cache is to launch the page in a new private window. If you have a link to your page, you can use right-click > Open Link in New Private Window. Could be a temporary workaround.

No filters or proxies in place, and other browsers work, so it is not a system cache. The page is very light, so only takes a moment to load anyway, and I have tried multiple reloads. My real question is where is the old page coming from if the cache has been deleted - there must be some other place it is held. I have closed FF, deleted the cash, reopened FF, and navigated to the page, only to get the old page, so where has it come from? Just to compound the issue, I gave up last night and left the computer in sleep mode. This morning I did a refresh and it showed the updated page without me doing anything in between. Completely baffled! Just to be clear, getting this page working is not really an issue, my problem is whether I have to stop using FF, so I am really interested in identifying the cause to get FF fixed rather than finding a workaround. My concern is that in this instance I know there is a problem because it happened with a site I was working on, how many times does this happen that I don't know about?

paulrw said

Just to be clear, getting this page working is not really an issue, my problem is whether I have to stop using FF, so I am really interested in identifying the cause to get FF fixed rather than finding a workaround. My concern is that in this instance I know there is a problem because it happened with a site I was working on, how many times does this happen that I don't know about?

How would either of us know, hmm?