You installed LiteSpeed Cache, but pages still feel slow, or the site looks broken, or updates do not appear. The cause is almost always visible in one HTTP header. This guide shows how to read it and fixes for each case.
Before you start
- WordPress admin access with LiteSpeed Cache installed (see configuring LiteSpeed Cache).
- A browser with developer tools (F12).
Check the cache header
- Log out of WordPress, or use a private window. Logged-in users are not cached by default.
- Open the page, press F12 and select the Network tab.
- Reload the page twice. Click the first request (the page itself).
- Look at the response headers for
x-litespeed-cache.
| Header | Meaning |
|---|---|
x-litespeed-cache: hit | Served from cache. Working. |
x-litespeed-cache: miss | Not in cache yet; it is stored now. Reload: should become hit. |
x-litespeed-cache-control: no-cache | The page was marked not cacheable. |
| No header | The plugin is not active, the page is excluded, or a CDN hides the header. |
Always "miss" or "no-cache"
- Cookies on every page: a plugin starts a PHP session or sets a cookie for every visitor. Find it by disabling plugins one by one.
- Excluded page: check LiteSpeed Cache → Cache → Excludes for URIs, query strings, categories or cookies.
- Query strings: URLs with tracking parameters may be cached separately; add common ones (such as
utm_source) to Drop Query String in Cache → Advanced. - Another cache plugin: remove other page cache plugins such as WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache. Two caches fight each other.
No header at all
- Check LiteSpeed Cache → Cache → Enable Cache is On.
- Check
.htaccessstill contains the# BEGIN LSCACHEblock; security plugins sometimes rewrite the file. - If you use Cloudflare or QUIC.cloud CDN, the header may come from the CDN instead; look for
x-qc-cacheorcf-cache-status(see QUIC.cloud CDN).
Visitors see old content
- Click Purge All in the WordPress admin bar (LiteSpeed icon).
- Check Cache → Purge settings: Purge All On Upgrade on, and auto-purge rules for posts, categories and the home page.
- Purge the CDN as well.
Site looks broken after enabling
Page caching itself rarely breaks layout. Optimisation settings do. Go to LiteSpeed Cache → Toolbox → Debug Settings and turn on Disable All Features temporarily. If the site recovers, turn features back on one by one, starting with caching, then follow safe page optimisation.
Tip: Use Toolbox → Debug Settings → Debug Log to see exactly why a page was not cached. Turn it off afterwards; logs grow quickly.
Still slow with cache hits?
Then the server responds fast and the browser is the bottleneck: large images, heavy JavaScript or third-party scripts. Check the WordPress speed guide. If the admin area is slow, look at Resource Usage for limit faults.
Frequently asked questions
Can I flush the cache without WordPress?
Yes. Use LiteSpeed Web Cache Manager in cPanel, or delete the plugin cache from the admin bar of any logged-in browser.
Does LiteSpeed Cache work on other web servers?
Page caching only works on LiteSpeed servers. On MdmHost every server runs LiteSpeed, so it is always available.