Overview
HTTP caching can speed up your page load time on repeat visits.
When a browser requests a resource, the server providing the resource can tell the browser how long it should temporarily store or cache the resource. For any subsequent request for that resource, the browser uses its local copy, rather than going to the network to get it.
Recommendations
Configure your server to return the Cache-Control HTTP response header.
Cache-Control: max-age=31536000
The max-age directive tells the browser how long it should cache the resource, in seconds.
31536000 corresponds to 1 year: 60 seconds * 60 minutes * 24 hours * 365 days =
31536000 seconds.
When possible, cache immutable static assets for a long time, such as a year or longer. Configure your build tool to embed a hash in your static asset filenames so that each one is unique. See Caching for webpack guidance.
Use no-cache if the resource changes and freshness matters but you still want to get some of the speed
benefits of caching. The browser still caches a resource that's set to no-cache, but checks with the
server first to make sure that the resource is still current.
There are many directives for customizing how the browser caches different resources. See the links below for more guidance.
Verifying cached responses in Chrome DevTools
The Size column in Chrome DevTools can help you verify that a resource has been cached.
Chrome serves the most requested resources from the memory cache, which is very fast, but is cleared when the browser is closed.
The Headers tab can help you verify a resource's Cache-Control header is set
as expected.
Cache-Control header via the Headers tab
More information
Lighthouse considers a resource cache-able if all of the following conditions are met:
- It's a font, image, media file, script, or stylesheet.
- It has a
200,203, or206HTTP status code. - It doesn't have an explicit no-cache policy.
Lighthouse then estimates how much network data you could have saved your users if the resources had been cached. This estimate includes some calculations of optimal cache duration for each resource, based on aggregate usage statistics reported to Chrome. A longer duration is not necessarily better. Check out the audit source for details. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide what the optimal cache duration is for your resources.
Sources: