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# Vercel serves stale index.html to Windows clients despite no-store headers

19 views · 2 likes · 3 posts


Seanieg87 (@seanieg87) · 2026-03-30 · ♥ 1

## Problem

I have a React (Create React App) application deployed on Vercel (Hobby plan) at `goldenscope.app`. After every new deployment, Windows clients (Chrome and Edge on Windows 11) continue to receive an old version of the app while Mac clients receive the correct updated version. This has persisted through multiple deployments and all standard cache-busting attempts.

## Environment

- **Framework:** Create React App
- **Plan:** Hobby
- **Custom domain:** `goldenscope.app` (registered via Cloudflare, DNS only — no proxy, grey cloud)
- **Vercel subdomain:** `golden-scope.vercel.app` 
- Both domains exhibit the same issue

## Current Behavior

Mac clients receive a minified single-line `index.html` referencing the new bundle `main.0175b3b6.js`. Windows clients receive an unminified/formatted `index.html` referencing the old bundle `main.795e84e1.js`. Both responses return `x-vercel-cache: HIT`. 

The difference in formatting (minified vs unminified) suggests Vercel’s edge network has two separate cache entries for `index.html` and is routing clients to different versions based on something in the request headers — possibly `Accept-Encoding`.

**Verified via:**
- DevTools Network tab → Response body on both machines
- Same IP address (`216.198.79.1`) on both machines
- Issue persists on both `goldenscope.app` and `golden-scope.vercel.app`
- Issue affects both Chrome and Edge on Windows 11

## What I've Tried

- Hard refresh (`Ctrl+Shift+R`)
- Full browser cache clear (All time, all data types)
- Incognito/private browsing window
- DNS flush (`ipconfig /flushdns`)
- Chrome `net-internals` DNS and socket pool flush
- `vercel --prod --force` (multiple times)
- Empty Cache and Hard Reload via DevTools
- `vercel.json` with `Cache-Control: no-store`, `Surrogate-Control: no-store`, `Pragma: no-cache`, `Vary: ""` on both `/` and `/index.html` routes
- Restarting Windows laptop
- Testing via phone hotspot (different network)
- Clicking **Refresh** on domain in Vercel Domains dashboard

## Configuration (vercel.json)

```json
{
  "headers": [
    {
      "source": "/index.html",
      "headers": [
        { "key": "Cache-Control", "value": "no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, max-age=0" },
        { "key": "Surrogate-Control", "value": "no-store" },
        { "key": "Pragma", "value": "no-cache" },
        { "key": "Vary", "value": "" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "/",
      "headers": [
        { "key": "Cache-Control", "value": "no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, max-age=0" },
        { "key": "Surrogate-Control", "value": "no-store" },
        { "key": "Pragma", "value": "no-cache" },
        { "key": "Vary", "value": "" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "/static/(.*)",
      "headers": [
        { "key": "Cache-Control", "value": "public, max-age=31536000, immutable" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

## Key Observation

The old bundle `main.795e84e1.js` returns a `404` on Mac but loads successfully on Windows, confirming the Windows client is being served a completely different `index.html` that references a bundle from a previous deployment. The new bundle `main.0175b3b6.js` returns a `404` on Windows.

**Response headers on Windows (`x-vercel-cache: HIT`, age: 2-27):** 
`Cache-Control` headers we set in `vercel.json` are visible in the response but the edge is still caching and serving stale content.

Any help from the community or Vercel engineers would be greatly appreciated. This has been a persistent issue across many deployments and is preventing Windows users from accessing the latest version of the application.


system (@system) · 2026-03-30 · ♥ 1

There's another community post with 404 debugging tips that might be helpful. Please give these solutions a try and let us know how it goes.

https://community.vercel.com/t/debugging-404-errors/437

A human should be around soon to offer more advice. But you can also get helpful information quickly by asking [v0](https://v0.dev/).


Pauline P. Narvas (@pawlean) · 2026-04-02

Could you try the following?

Go to your Vercel dashboard → Project Settings → Caches → Purge Everything

See if that fixes it!