Vercel deploy finished but the site didn’t update? Use this checklist

Main visual

Vercel shows a green check, but the browser still serves stale pages. That usually means a cache, DNS, or operational gap—not a mysterious bug. Below is a practical, high-repro checklist arranged from viewer-side to delivery to build/app so you can isolate the culprit without endless redeploys.

Start here (highest priority)

1) Verify you’re on the Production URL

Make sure you aren’t viewing a Preview Deployment link.
In the Vercel dashboard, confirm the latest deployment is tied to Production.
If you use Promote flows, check that the intended preview was promoted.

2) Kill browser cache first

Open a private/incognito window and hard-reload.
If possible, test from another network or device.

3) Rule out external CDN/DNS

If Cloudflare or another CDN fronts Vercel, purge/disable its cache temporarily.
Confirm the domain’s DNS points to the latest Production Deployment (no stale CNAME/IP).
Try hitting from another region to see if only some edges are stale.

When the cache is stuck on Vercel’s side

Edge Network cache (global CDN)

Vercel’s own edge may serve older assets regionally right after deploy.
Double caching is common when an external CDN sits in front of Vercel. Fix: Temporarily bypass the external CDN and compare regions.

Data cache / Next.js data cache

Common symptom: HTML updates, but data shown is old.
Causes: fetch cache, ISR settings, or revalidate intervals.
If revalidation fails, stale data keeps serving; revalidateTag/Path is not magic. Fix: Trigger revalidation, check logs, and consider shorter revalidate or on-demand revalidation.

Operational oversights to check

Not promoted

A successful build isn’t production until promoted (when using Promote flows).

Build cache hiding changes

Re-deploying the same commit can reuse the build cache and hide asset changes.
Disable build cache for the redeploy, or use VERCEL --force / VERCEL_FORCE_NO_BUILD_CACHE=1.

Git integration gaps

The commit might not be in the Production branch, or deploys might be blocked by team/permission rules.
Confirm the deployment for the commit exists and is marked Production in the Vercel dashboard.

Next.js (ISR/App Router) specifics

ISR regeneration failing

If regeneration throws, the old page keeps serving. Check function and build logs for the route.

Cache-layer mismatch

Determine whether the stale part is the rendered HTML or the fetched data. Fix the exact layer instead of redeploying blindly.

Quick isolation flow

Confirm Production URL → browser cache → external CDN/DNS.
Then check Vercel edge/data cache behavior.
Finally validate Promote/build cache/Git and ISR design.

Most “not reflected” cases are cache-layer drift or an operational miss. Follow the order above and you can resolve calmly without repetitive deployments.