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Lovable Live Preview Not Reflecting Code Changes

When you make changes in Lovable's editor, the live preview doesn't update. You modify text, add components, or change styles, but the preview still shows the old version. You have to manually refresh or sometimes even restart the preview to see changes.

The live preview is one of Lovable's key features — seeing your changes instantly is essential for an iterative design workflow. When it breaks, development becomes painfully slow as you're constantly refreshing and waiting.

The issue might be intermittent (works sometimes, not others), specific to certain file types, or happen consistently after making certain kinds of changes.

Error Messages You Might See

[HMR] Waiting for update signal from WDS... WebSocket connection to 'ws://...' failed [vite] Failed to connect to HMR server Module build failed
[HMR] Waiting for update signal from WDS...WebSocket connection to 'ws://...' failed[vite] Failed to connect to HMR serverModule build failed

Common Causes

  • Browser cache serving stale content — The browser aggressively caches JavaScript and CSS files, ignoring updates
  • Hot module replacement (HMR) disconnected — The WebSocket connection for live reloading has been lost
  • Build error preventing update — A syntax error in your code prevents the preview from rebuilding
  • Service worker caching — If your app has a service worker (PWA), it may serve cached content

How to Fix It

  1. Hard refresh the preview — Use Ctrl+Shift+R (or Cmd+Shift+R on Mac) to bypass the browser cache
  2. Check for build errors — Look in the Lovable console/terminal for any compilation errors that would prevent updates
  3. Clear browser cache — Open DevTools → Application → Storage → Clear site data
  4. Check WebSocket connection — In DevTools Network tab, look for the WebSocket connection (ws://) and verify it's still active
  5. Disable service worker — In DevTools → Application → Service Workers, click 'Unregister' to stop service worker caching

Real developers can help you.

Prakash Prajapati Prakash Prajapati I’m a Senior Python Developer specializing in building secure, scalable, and highly available systems. I work primarily with Python, Django, FastAPI, Docker, PostgreSQL, and modern AI tooling such as PydanticAI, focusing on clean architecture, strong design principles, and reliable DevOps practices. I enjoy solving complex engineering problems and designing systems that are maintainable, resilient, and built to scale. Bastien Labelle Bastien Labelle Full stack dev w/ 20+ years of experience Vlad Temian Vlad Temian 15+ years shipping production infrastructure for startups. Former CTO at qed.builders (acquired by The Sandbox). Cursor ambassador and agentic tooling builder. I've scaled systems, automated deployments, and built observability tools for AI coding workflows. I specialize in taking vibe-coded apps from broken prototype to production-ready: fixing Supabase auth/RLS, Stripe integrations, deployment pipelines, and cleaning up AI-generated spaghetti. I build tools in this space (agentprobe, claudebin, micode) and understand both sides: how AI generates code and why it breaks. https://blog.vtemian.com/ Jaime Orts-Caroff Jaime Orts-Caroff I'm a Senior Android developer, open to work in various fields Luca Liberati Luca Liberati I work on monoliths and microservices, backends and frontends, manage K8s clusters and love to design apps architecture hanson1014 hanson1014 Full-stack developer experienced in fixing and deploying AI-generated apps from Lovable, Bolt.new, Cursor, and Replit. I specialize in debugging Supabase integration issues (auth flows, RLS policies, database connections), fixing broken deployments, resolving routing/blank screen problems, and cleaning up messy React/Vite codebases. I also build production apps with the Claude API and have shipped a Mac desktop dev tool (Nexterm from scratch. Based in Hong Kong, fast turnaround. Milan Surelia Milan Surelia Milan Surelia is a Mobile App Developer with 5+ years of experience crafting scalable, cross-platform apps at 7Span and Meticha. At 7Span, he engineers feature-rich Flutter apps with smooth performance and modern UI. As the Co-Founder of Meticha, he builds open-source tools and developer-focused products that solve real-world problems. Expertise: 💡 Developing cross-platform apps using Flutter, Dart, and Jetpack Compose for Android, iOS, and Web. 🖋️ Sharing insights through technical writing, blogging, and open-source contributions. 🤝 Collaborating closely with designers, PMs, and developers to build seamless mobile experiences. Notable Achievements: 🎯 Revamped the Vepaar app into Vepaar Store & CRM with a 2x performance boost and smoother UX. 🚀 Launched Compose101 — a Jetpack Compose starter kit to speed up Android development. 🌟 Open source contributions on Github & StackOverflow for Flutter & Dart 🎖️ Worked on improving app performance and user experience with smart solutions. Milan is always happy to connect, work on new ideas, and explore the latest in technology. Franck Plazanet Franck Plazanet I am a Strategic Engineering Leader with over 8 years of experience building high-availability enterprise systems and scaling high-performing technical teams. My focus is on bridging the gap between complex technology and business growth. Core Expertise: 🚀 Leadership: Managing and coaching teams of 15+ engineers, fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. 🏗️ Architecture: Enterprise Core Systems, Multi-system Integration (ERP/API/ETL), and Core Database Structure. ☁️ Cloud & Scale: AWS Expert; architected systems handling 10B+ monthly requests and managing 100k+ SKUs. 📈 Business Impact: Aligning tech strategy with P&L goals to drive $70k+ in monthly recurring revenue. I thrive on "out-of-the-box" thinking to solve complex technical bottlenecks and am always looking for ways to use automation to improve business productivity. Costea Adrian Costea Adrian Embedded Engineer specilizing in perception systems. Latest project was a adas camera calibration system. Rudra Bhikadiya Rudra Bhikadiya I build and fix web apps across Next.js, Node.js, and DBs. Comfortable jumping into messy code, broken APIs, and mysterious bugs. If your project works in theory but not in reality, I help close that gap.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the preview work after a full page refresh but not automatically?

This usually means the Hot Module Replacement (HMR) WebSocket connection has been lost. The build system compiles your changes but can't push them to the browser. Try reconnecting by refreshing once, and the HMR connection should re-establish.

Can a service worker interfere with live preview?

Yes. If your app registers a service worker for PWA functionality, it can cache and serve old versions of your files. Unregister the service worker in DevTools during development.

Related Lovable Issues

Can't fix it yourself?
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