---
title: Purging all content via the control panel
summary: null
url: >-
  https://www.fastly.com/documentation/guides/full-site-delivery/purging/purging-all-content
---


Fastly provides several levels of cache purging. You can use the *Purge all* option to purge all content under a service.

> **WARNING:** Exercise caution when purging all content from cache, especially if you're seeing an increase in [503 errors](/guides/full-site-delivery/fastly-vcl/synthetic-errors-in-vcl). Purging all content overrides other caching-related settings that allow you to [serve stale content](/guides/full-site-delivery/performance/serving-stale-content) and forces Fastly to retrieve that content again from your origin servers before it can be re-cached in Fastly POPs. This means that purging all content will temporarily cause your [cache hit ratio](/guides/full-site-delivery/caching/caching-best-practices#use-your-cache-hit-ratio-to-diagnose-potential-problems) to drop dramatically and cause an associated spike of traffic to your origin servers. Be certain your origins can handle that temporary spike in traffic until the cache repopulates

## Before you begin

Be sure you know how to [access the web interface controls](/guides/getting-started/navigating-fastly/about-the-web-interface-controls) before learning about each of the pages you'll encounter there.

## Purging all content

To instantly purge all content under your service, follow the steps below:

1. <Partial name='step-login' inline />
1. <Partial name='step-select-service' inline />
1. From the **Purge** menu, select **Purge all**. The Purge all window appears and displays the service name you'll be purging.

   ![a purge all](/img/purge-all-example.png)

1. In the field of the **Purge all** window, confirm you want to purge all cached content on a service by entering the exact name of the service that appears (e.g., `An Example Service`).
1. Click **Purge all**.

## What's next

Explore the other purging methods available with Fastly such as [purging with surrogate keys](/guides/full-site-delivery/purging/purging-with-surrogate-keys) and [purging a URL](/guides/full-site-delivery/purging/purging-a-url).


## Related content

* [Image Optimizer purging reference](/reference/io/#purging-images-from-the-fastly-cache)
* [Purging API documentation](/reference/api/purging/)