What does the "Disable Cache" have to do with gzip and compression? How come if "Disable Cache" is checked the Response Headers shows content-encoding: gzip, but when "Disable Cache" is not checked(2nd screenshot) the Response Headers does not show content-encoding: gzip? Which one is correct or how do I make both of them to show gzip? Thank you.
What does the "Disable Cache" have to do with gzip and compression?
Nothing directly. Except that when "Disable Cache" is checked (ie. the local browser cache is disabled) the server is forced to send a fresh response (and body). You'd get the same response if you simply cleared your browser cache before making the request (with "Disable Cache" unchecked).
Conversely, when the local cache is enabled then the server may not send a complete response (which is what's happening here). In some situations the browser may not send a request at all (depending on the caching mechanism).
How come if "Disable Cache" is checked the Response Headers shows content-encoding: gzip
Because the server is forced to send a complete/fresh response, including a full response body. It is the response body that is gzip'd.
but when "Disable Cache" is not checked(2nd screenshot) the Response Headers does not show content-encoding: gzip?
In this instance your server is responding with Status: 304 "Not Modified" as the locally cached copy is deemed fresh. With a 304, the server does not send a response body (there is no Content-Length header) and consequently there is no content to gzip. The response is ultimately pulled from the browser cache.
Which one is correct or how do I make both of them to show gzip?
Both are correct. One is a complete server response and body, the other is a short (HEAD only) 304 response indicating that the locally cached version should be used instead.
