How to Configure LiteSpeed Cache in WordPress (Step by Step)
LiteSpeed Cache is one of the fastest and most powerful caching plugins available for WordPress — especially if your hosting provider uses the LiteSpeed Web Server. It not only handles page caching but also optimizes images, CSS, JavaScript, and database queries. In this guide, we’ll walk through the full setup, step by step, to help you get the best performance and PageSpeed scores.
What You’ll Need
- ✅ A WordPress site (any theme)
- ✅ LiteSpeed Web Server (recommended, but plugin works with Apache/Nginx too)
- ✅ The LiteSpeed Cache plugin installed and activated
- ✅ (Optional) QUIC.cloud account for CDN and image optimization
Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin
- Go to your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to Plugins → Add New.
- Search for LiteSpeed Cache.
- Click Install Now → Activate.
Once activated, a new menu item LiteSpeed Cache will appear in your admin sidebar.
Step 2: Enable Caching
Go to LiteSpeed Cache → Cache → Cache → Enable Cache and make sure it’s set to ON.
This enables basic page caching for visitors and logged-out users. For logged-in users or eCommerce pages, LiteSpeed uses smart cache rules to avoid showing stale data.
Recommended Settings:
- Cache Logged-in Users: OFF (unless it’s a membership site)
- Cache Commenters: OFF
- Cache REST API: ON
- Cache Login Page: ON
- Cache Mobile: ON (for mobile-specific layouts)
Click Save Changes.
Step 3: Configure TTL (Time to Live)
TTL defines how long cached pages remain before being refreshed.
Go to LiteSpeed Cache → Cache → TTL and set:
- Default Public Cache TTL: 604800 seconds (7 days)
- Front Page TTL: 3600 seconds (1 hour)
- Feed TTL: 86400 seconds (1 day)
These values balance performance and freshness for most sites.
Step 4: Purge Rules
Purging removes outdated cache automatically when content changes.
Go to LiteSpeed Cache → Cache → Purge:
- Auto Purge Rules for Publish/Update:
- Front Page
- All Pages
- All Categories
- All Tags
- Related Pages
Leave these ON to ensure newly published content appears instantly.
Step 5: Optimize Images
LiteSpeed Cache includes built-in image optimization through QUIC.cloud.
- Go to LiteSpeed Cache → Image Optimization.
- Click Request Key to connect to the optimization server.
- Once connected, click Send Optimization Request.
Recommended Settings:
- Optimize Original Images: ON
- Create WebP Versions: ON
- Auto Request Cron: ON
- Replace Images with Optimized Versions: ON
After processing, optimized WebP images will be automatically served to supported browsers.
Step 6: Minify and Combine CSS/JS
Go to LiteSpeed Cache → Page Optimization.
CSS Settings
- CSS Minify: ON
- CSS Combine: OFF (only enable if it doesn’t break layout)
- CSS HTTP/2 Push: OFF (deprecated with HTTP/3)
JS Settings
- JS Minify: ON
- JS Combine: OFF (can cause conflicts with some themes/plugins)
- Load JS Deferred: ON
- Load Inline JS Deferred: ON
HTML Optimization
- HTML Minify: ON
- Inline CSS/JS Minify: ON
Click Save Changes and test your site thoroughly after enabling these settings. If layout breaks, disable “Combine” features first.
Step 7: Enable Browser Cache
Go to LiteSpeed Cache → Cache → Browser.
- Browser Cache: ON
- Browser Cache TTL: 31536000 (1 year)
This lets returning visitors load your site faster by using cached files in their browsers.
Step 8: Database Optimization
Go to LiteSpeed Cache → Database to clean up unnecessary data.
- Clean post revisions, drafts, spam comments, and transients.
- Click Optimize All.
This reduces database size and improves backend speed.
Step 9: Setup QUIC.cloud CDN (Optional)
For global performance and DDoS protection, connect your site to QUIC.cloud CDN.
- Go to LiteSpeed Cache → CDN.
- Click Use QUIC.cloud CDN.
- Follow the setup wizard to get a QUIC.cloud API key.
- Update your DNS if prompted to route traffic through QUIC.cloud.
Once connected, you’ll get CDN-level caching, image optimization, and HTML edge caching for even faster delivery worldwide.
Step 10: Test and Verify Performance
Use these tools to confirm performance improvements:
Check key metrics such as:
- 🚀 LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) — should be under 2.5s
- ⚡ CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) — near 0.0
- 🔄 TTFB (Time to First Byte) — reduced by caching
Step 11: Advanced Tweaks (Optional)
1) Enable Guest Mode
Found under LiteSpeed Cache → Page Optimization → Guest Mode. This pre-caches pages for first-time visitors and can dramatically boost initial load speed.
2) Object Cache (for dynamic sites)
If your host supports Redis or Memcached, go to LiteSpeed Cache → Cache → Object and enable it. This improves query performance for eCommerce and membership sites.
3) ESI (Edge Side Includes)
Allows dynamic blocks (like cart or login info) to bypass caching while keeping other content static. Enable under Cache → ESI.
Final Checklist
- ✅ Cache enabled and tested
- ✅ CSS/JS minified and deferred
- ✅ Images optimized and served as WebP
- ✅ Browser cache configured
- ✅ Database cleaned up
- ✅ CDN connected (optional)
Conclusion
LiteSpeed Cache is a complete performance suite that can transform your WordPress site’s speed, Core Web Vitals, and user experience. Start with the basic cache setup, enable optimization features gradually, and test each step with PageSpeed Insights. Combined with QUIC.cloud CDN and image optimization, LiteSpeed Cache delivers near-instant load times and better SEO performance — all for free.
Summary: Install → Enable Cache → Optimize Images → Minify CSS/JS → Use QUIC.cloud → Test → Enjoy blazing-fast performance.
🔌 Looking for more? Check out our WordPress Plugins Hub to discover recommended tools and how to use them.
