Choose what WordPress caches

W3 Total Cache Pro is the paid performance edition of W3 Total Cache. It brings page, object, database, fragment, feed and browser caching together with minification, compression and content delivery network (CDN) options.

Cache targets include pages and posts, site and category feeds, search results, database objects and selected dynamic fragments. Depending on the configured method, content can be cached in memory, on disk or through supported CDN setups. Methods include local disk, Redis, Memcached, APC, APCu, eAccelerator, XCache and WinCache.

Control delivery and page rendering

CDN management covers the WordPress Media Library, theme files and WordPress itself. Full Site Delivery can serve an entire website through a CDN. Browser caching uses cache-control, future expiration headers and entity tags (ETags).

Minification settings cover HTML, CSS and JavaScript, including inline, embedded and third-party assets, posts, pages and RSS feeds. JavaScript can be grouped by template and embed location, with non-blocking embedding controls. Other Pro tools can remove render-blocking CSS, delay non-essential scripts, preload requests, remove unused CSS or JavaScript, and lazy-load offscreen pictures or Google Maps when visible.

• Fragment Cache: Cache selected dynamic content while improving overall page performance.
• REST API Caching: Cache REST API calls for headless WordPress sites.
• Image Converter extension: Convert common picture formats to WebP or AVIF on upload or on demand.
• WPML extension: Optimize performance on multilingual websites using WPML. The extension framework also works with integrations such as Cloudflare.
• Statistics and purge logs: Review cache usage and performance information for enabled functions, and manage cache entries.

WP-CLI commands support cache purging and query-string updates. The broader toolkit also includes security features.

Match methods to the hosting setup

The extension is designed for shared hosting, virtual private servers, dedicated servers and server clusters. It supports SSL/TLS, Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), mobile caching by referrer or user-agent group, and reverse proxies through Nginx or Varnish.

Disk-based database or object caching can be slow on shared hosting, so test its effect before relying on it. To use all features in the suite, the supplied requirements are WordPress 6.0 or higher and PHP 7.4 or higher.

Install and configure

Install and activate W3 Total Cache Pro in WordPress, then open its settings. Configure caching, minification, CDN delivery, image conversion and other Pro options for the hosting environment and site structure. Test each major feature after enabling it, then review the available statistics and use cache-purging tools as needed.