Google removed their documentation for the cache: search operator because it no longer works. The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine shows the documentation was live as of September 17, 2024. The URL now redirects to a changelog notice announcing its removal.
It was announced on March 2024 by Google Search Liaison via X (formerly Twitter) that the cache: search operator was removed.
He posted about the removal of the cache: search operator:
“Hey, catching up. Yes, it’s been removed. I know, it’s sad. I’m sad too. It’s one of our oldest features. But it was meant to help people access pages when way back, you often couldn’t depend on a page loading. These days, things have greatly improved. So, it was decided to retire it.
I hope that maybe we’ll add links to @internetarchive from where we had the cache link before, within About This Result. It’s such an amazing resource. For the information literacy goal of About the Result, I think it would also be a nice fit — allowing people to easily see how a page changed over time. No promises. We have to talk to them, and see how it all might go — involves people well beyond me. But I think it would be nice all around.”
Adding links to Internet Archive is exactly what’s happened, it was announced on September 11, 2024, that links to Internet Archive are added to Google search.
A Google spokesperson was quoted at the time:
“We know that many people, including those in the research community, value being able to see previous versions of webpages when available. That’s why we’ve added links to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to our ‘About this page’ feature.”
Google’s documentation changelog noted:
“Removing the cache: search operator documentation What: Removed the cache: search operator documentation. Why: The cache: search operator no longer works in Google Search.”
The disappearance of the documentation is a reminder that Google Search is continually changing which means that anyone involved with publishing and search should keep that expectation in mind, particularly for SEO.