The quickest way to check if LiteSpeed Cache is working on your Instant Access Internet Services site is to look at one response header, x-litespeed-cache, in your browser's developer tools. It tells you whether a page came straight from the cache (hit) or was built fresh (miss). This guide shows how to find it in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, what each result means, and why you'll see a miss while you're logged in to WordPress.
Before you check: log out or use a private window
Logged-in WordPress users, especially administrators, don't get the shared page cache that visitors get. Their pages are built fresh or kept in a small private cache, so an admin normally sees miss (or no header at all) even when caching works perfectly for everyone else. Always test in a private (incognito) window where you're not logged in:
- Chrome or Edge: Ctrl+Shift+N (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+N (Mac).
- Firefox: Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P.
- Safari: File > New Private Window.
How to check the x-litespeed-cache header
- In the private window, go to the page you want to test, for example
https://example.com/. - Open the developer tools: press F12, or right-click the page and choose Inspect. On a Mac, press Cmd+Option+I. (In Safari, first turn on Show features for web developers in Settings > Advanced, then right-click and choose Inspect Element.)
- Click the Network tab.
- Reload the page (F5 or Cmd+R) while the developer tools are open.
- Click the first item in the list. It has your page's name or domain and the type document.
- In the Headers panel, scroll to Response Headers and find
x-litespeed-cache. - Reload once more and check again. The second visit should say
hit.
Header names can appear in lowercase or as X-LiteSpeed-Cache. They mean the same thing.
What the results mean
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
x-litespeed-cache: hit | The page was served from the LiteSpeed cache. Caching is working. |
x-litespeed-cache: miss | The page wasn't in the cache yet, so it was built and has now been stored. Reload: it should change to hit. The first visit after a purge or an edit is always a miss. |
x-litespeed-cache: hit,private or miss,private | A private cache just for you. You're probably logged in or have items in a shop cart. |
x-litespeed-cache-control: no-cache | The page is deliberately not cached, for example a cart, checkout or a page you excluded. |
| No LiteSpeed cache header at all | Caching isn't active for this page. See Troubleshooting below. |
Other quick ways to check
- Speed: in the Network tab, a cached page's first request usually finishes in a few dozen milliseconds, much faster than a miss.
- Online header checkers: any "HTTP header checker" website shows response headers for a URL. These test as a logged-out visitor, so they're handy. Run it twice; the first run may be a miss.
- Command line:
curl -sI https://example.com/ | grep -i x-litespeed-cache
Troubleshooting
It always says miss, even logged out
- Make sure you're reloading the same address.
example.comandwww.example.com, orhttpandhttps, are cached separately. - Query strings you add yourself (such as
?test=1) or tracking tags can create a separate cache copy. Test the plain address. - Check the page isn't excluded in LiteSpeed Cache > Cache > Excludes or by the Disable Cache switch in the page's LiteSpeed Options box.
- If a plugin sets a cookie for every visitor, the page may be treated as private. Deactivate plugins one at a time to find it, or open a ticket.
There's no x-litespeed-cache header at all
- Check the LiteSpeed Cache plugin is active and Enable Cache is ON in LiteSpeed Cache > Cache.
- Check Disable All Features is OFF in LiteSpeed Cache > Toolbox > Debug Settings.
- In cPanel, go to Advanced > LiteSpeed Web Cache Manager, scan, and check your site's cache status.
- If you use a proxy such as Cloudflare in front of your site, it may hide or replace the header. Check its settings, or test with the proxy paused.
Is caching the reason my site is still slow?
If you see hit, the page cache is working. Remaining slowness is usually large images, heavy scripts or third-party embeds. See the guides on image optimization and minifying CSS and JavaScript, and check Resource Usage in cPanel.
Related guides
- How to Turn On LiteSpeed Cache with the Web Cache Manager in cPanel
- How to Clear (Purge) the LiteSpeed Cache in WordPress
- How to Optimize Images and Serve WebP with LiteSpeed Cache
- How to Fix Website Problems Caused by LiteSpeed Cache
- cPanel Resource Usage Explained: CPU, Memory and Entry Process Limits
Still stuck? Open a support ticket and the Instant Access Internet Services team will help.
