Clear Your Browser History

Windows keeps a chronological history on all web pages that are visited. It’s hard to absolutely guarantee that your travels on the net can’t be traced at all, but here are some simple things you can do to reduce the chances that someone can look through your computer and find out what you’ve been reading.

In general, you want to erase two different things after you’ve left this web site and/or any other site that you don’t want traced.

Instructions provided by Computer Hope (last updated: 02/27/2019)

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows 10, replacing Internet Explorer on new computers.

To view your Edge browsing history:

In a Microsoft Edge browser window, open the history menu using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+H. You can also access this menu with the following steps:

  1. Click the Hub  button in the upper-right corner of the window.
  2. Click the History  icon to open the history menu.
Microsoft Edge History menu

This menu allows you to view the pages you’ve visited in chronological order.

To clear your Edge browsing history:

  1. Open the history menu as described above.
  2. Click Clear history.
  3. Check the box next to each type of data you’d like to clear. Browsing history is the first item listed, so make sure this is checked.
  4. Click Show more for additional options. Select any that you would like to clear.
  5. Click Clear to erase the selected data.
  6. If you want the selected items to be cleared automatically when you close your browser, set Always clear this when I close the browser to On.
  7. When you’re done, click the Hub  button.
Microsoft Edge History menu options

Mozilla Firefox

To view your browsing history in Firefox:

  1. If you do not have a custom homepage set, you can click the view history, saved bookmarks, and more button in any browsing window. You may also press Ctrl+H.
  2. Or you can always view your browsing history in the History sidebar. Open it by pressing Alt to show the menu bar, then choosing View → Sidebar → History.
  3. You can also open your browsing history in the Firefox Library. To open this view, press Alt to show the menu bar, then choose History → Show All History. The keyboard shortcut for this view is Ctrl+Shift+H. When viewing your history here, you can highlight individual pages in your history and press Del to delete them. Right-click any item for more options.

To clear your browsing history in Firefox:

  1. Click the hamburger menu  button.
  2. Select Options.
  3. Click on the Privacy & Security option in the left navigation pane.
  4. In the History section, click the Clear History button.
  5. In the Clear Recent History window, change the Time range to clear option to desired time frame.
  6. Click the Clear Now button to clear browsing history data for the selected time frame.
Deleting browsing history through the Firefox hamburger menu

You can also access this menu using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Del.

Google Chrome

To view your browsing history in Chrome:

  1. In any Chrome window, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+H, or navigate to the URL chrome://history.
  2. Or, click the Menu  button, which is located near the top-right side of the browser window, and choose History, then History again.

To clear your browsing history in Chrome:

  1. Click the Menu button , choose More tools and then Clear browsing data. Or, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Del.
  2. Select what data you’d like to clear from your history using the drop-down menu and check the appropriate boxes.

When you’re ready to clear your history, click Clear data.

Google Chrome on Android phone or tablet

Viewing and Deleting History

  1. Open the Google Chrome browser on your Android phone or tablet.
  2. Tap the More  menu icon in the top-right corner of the screen next to the address bar.
  3. In the drop-down menu, tap History.
  4. Tap Clear browsing data… at the bottom of the screen.
  5. Select the appropriate boxes.
  6. Tap the Clear browsing data button.

Google Chrome on iPhone or iPad

  1. Open the Google Chrome browser on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap the More  menu icon in the top-right corner of the screen next to the address bar.
  3. In the drop-down menu, tap History.
  4. Tap Clear browsing data… at the bottom of the screen.
  5. Select the appropriate boxes.
  6. Tap the Clear browsing data button.

Opera

The Opera browser has a very straightforward interface for viewing and editing your history.

To view your browsing history in Opera:

The menu button in Opera.

In an Opera browser window, click the Opera menu button  in the upper-left corner of the window and choose History to open the History tab. Or, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+H.

Opening the Opera History tab

To clear your browsing history in Opera:

  1. Open the History tab as described above and click Clear browsing data…
  2. In the Obliterate the following items from drop-down menu, choose how far back in time you want to clear your history. To clear everything, choose the beginning of time.
  3. Check the boxes next to the specific types of history you want to clear.
  4. Click Clear browsing data.

Safari

Safari is the default web browser on Apple’s macOS and iOS operating systems. Although it was previously available for Microsoft Windows, as of 2012, Apple no longer supports Safari on Windows.

To view your browsing history in Safari:

  1. Open the Safari browser.
  2. Click the History menu at the top of the screen. The menu lists recent pages from your browsing history, which you can navigate to by clicking on them. To edit your history or view it in detail, click Show All History…

To clear your browsing history in Safari:

  1. Open the Show All History view. To delete individual history items, right-click them and choose Delete, or press the Delete key to clear selected history items.
  2. To clear everything, click Clear History.
  3. Use the drop-down menu to choose how far back to delete your history.
  4. Click Clear History.

Safari on iPhone and iPad

To view or delete your browsing history on iOS:

  1. Open the Safari browser on your mobile device.
  2. Scroll up until you see the address bar at the top of the screen and a toolbar on the bottom.
  3. On the toolbar at the bottom, click the fourth icon from the left that looks like a book.
  4. Click the History icon, which looks like a clock.
  5. Click Clear in the lower-right corner of the screen.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer was Microsoft’s Internet browser until 2015, when it was replaced by Microsoft Edge. If you are still using Internet Explorer on your computer, you can use the following steps to view or clear your browsing history.

To view your browsing history in Internet Explorer:

Press Ctrl+H in any Internet Explorer browser window to view your history.

To clear your browsing history in Internet Explorer:

  1. Open an Internet Explorer browser window.
  2. Press Ctrl+Shift+Del to open the Delete Browsing History window.
  3. Check the boxes of the data you’d like to clear.
  4. Click Delete.

To view your browsing history (Internet Explorer 7 and above):

  1. In a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser window, click Tools  in the upper-right corner.
  2. Select Internet Options from the drop-down menu.
  3. In the General tab, under Browsing history, click the Settings button.
  4. In the Temporary Internet Files tab, click the View Files button.

To clear your browsing history (Internet Explorer 7 and above):

  1. Open a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser window.
  2. Click Tools  in the upper-right corner.
  3. Select Internet Options from the drop-down menu.
  4. On the General tab, in the Browsing history section, click the Delete button.
  5. Check the boxes of the data you’d like to clear.
  6. Click Delete.

To view your browsing history (Internet Explorer 6):

  1. Open a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser window.
  2. In the toolbar at the top of the screen, click Tools.
  3. In the Tools drop-down menu, select Internet Options.
  4. Click the Settings button.
  5. Click the View Files button.

To clear your browsing history (Internet Explorer 6):

  1. Open a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser window.
  2. In the toolbar at the top of the screen, click the Tools menu.
  3. In the Tools drop-down menu, select Internet Options.
  4. Click the Clear Browser History button.
  5. Click the Delete Files button.
  6. Click OK.

To clear your browsing history (Internet Explorer 4):

  1. Open a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser window.
  2. Click the History icon.
  3. Click Clear Internet History.
  4. Click OK.

To clear your browsing history (Internet Explorer 3 and below):

  1. Open a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser window.
  2. In the toolbar, click the View menu.
  3. Click Options.
  4. Open the Advanced tab.
  5. Click the Settings tab.
  6. Click the Empty Folder button.

Netscape

To view your browsing history in Netscape Navigator:

  1. Open a Netscape Navigator browser window.
  2. From the toolbar, click EditPreferencesHistory.
  3. Locate the folder in which Netscape is storing your files.
  4. Double-click this folder within Explorer to view your browser history.

To clear your browsing history in Netscape Navigator:

  1. Open a Netscape Navigator browser window.
  2. From the toolbar, click EditPreferencesHistory.
  3. Click the Clear History button.

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