Why you might want to clear your browsing history
Your browser keeps a record of every website you visit, every search you make, and every file you read. This history helps your browser load pages faster and suggest sites you've been to before. But it also means anyone who uses your device can see where you've been online.
Clearing your history removes that record from your device. This is useful if you share a computer with family members, use a public computer at a library, or straightforward want to keep your browsing private. It does not hide your activity from your internet service provider or from the websites themselves — only from people who can physically access your device.
Key Takeaways
- Clearing history removes the list of websites you visited from your device, but does not erase records kept by your internet service provider or the websites you visited.
- Most browsers let you clear history from the last hour, day, week, or all time — you do not have to delete everything.
- You can also clear cookies and cached files at the same time, which removes login information and temporary data stored by websites.
- Private or incognito browsing modes prevent history from being saved in the first place, though they still do not hide your activity from your internet service provider.
Clearing history in Chrome
Open Chrome and press Ctrl + H on Windows or Command + Y on Mac. This opens your history page. On the left side, click "Clear browsing data." A window will appear with options for what to delete and how far back to go.
At the top of that window, you will see a dropdown menu that says "All time" or shows a time range like "Last hour" or "Last 7 days." Choose the time period you want to clear. Below that, you will see checkboxes for different types of data: browsing history, cookies and other site data, and cached images and files. Check the boxes for what you want to remove, then click "Clear data."
Clearing history in Firefox
Open Firefox and press Ctrl + H on Windows or Command + Y on Mac to open the history sidebar. At the top of that sidebar, click the gear icon, then select "Clear Recent History." A window will open with a dropdown menu at the top.
Use that dropdown to choose how far back to clear — "Last Hour," "Last 2 Hours," "Last 4 Hours," "Today," or "Everything." Below that, you will see checkboxes for browsing and read history, cookies, cache, and other data. Select what you want to remove and click "Clear Now."
Clearing history in Safari
Open Safari and click the "History" menu at the top of the screen. Near the bottom of that menu, you will see "Clear History." Click it, and a dropdown will appear asking how far back you want to clear: "the last hour," "today," "today and yesterday," or "all history." Select your choice and click "Clear History."
Safari's clear function removes browsing history but keeps cookies by default. If you want to remove cookies and cached data as well, go to Safari menu, then Preferences, then Privacy. Click "Manage Website Data," select the websites you want to remove, and click "Remove."
Clearing history on your phone or tablet
On an iPhone or iPad using Safari, open Settings, scroll down to Safari, and tap "Clear History and Website Data." A menu will appear asking how far back to clear. Choose your time period and tap "Clear History and Data." This removes both your browsing history and cookies stored on the device.
On an Android phone using Chrome, open the app and tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner. Tap "History," then "Clear browsing data." A window will appear with a dropdown at the top to choose your time period. Check the boxes for what you want to remove and tap "Clear data."
Understanding cookies and cached files
When you clear your browsing history, you have the option to also clear cookies and cached files. Cookies are small files that websites store on your device to remember information about you — your login details, items in your shopping cart, or your preferences. Cached files are copies of images, videos, and other content that your browser saved to load pages faster next time.
Clearing cookies will log you out of most websites, so you will need to sign in again the next time you visit them. Clearing cache will make some websites load slightly slower the first time you visit them after clearing, because your browser has to read the files again. Both are safe to clear, and clearing them removes more traces of your activity than clearing history alone.
Using private or incognito mode
If you want to browse without saving history in the first place, you can use your browser's private mode. In Chrome, this is called Incognito mode. Press Ctrl + Shift + N on Windows or Command + Shift + N on Mac to open an incognito window. In Firefox, it is called Private Window — press Ctrl + Shift + P on Windows or Command + Shift + P on Mac.
In Safari on Mac, go to File menu and select "New Private Window." On iPhone or iPad, open Safari, tap the tabs icon at the bottom right, then tap "Private" and "Done." When you use private mode, your browser does not save your history, cookies, or search terms. However, private mode does not hide your activity from your internet service provider, your employer if you are on a work network, or the websites you visit.
What clearing history does and does not do
Clearing your browsing history removes the list of websites you visited from your device. It also removes cookies and cached files if you choose to clear those as well. This means someone who picks up your device cannot see where you have been browsing.
Clearing history does not erase records kept by your internet service provider, which can see all the traffic going in and out of your home network. It does not remove information that websites have already collected about you, and it does not prevent websites from tracking you in the future. If you want more privacy from your internet service provider, you would need to use a VPN (virtual private network), which is a separate tool that encrypts your internet traffic. If you want to prevent websites from tracking you, you can use your browser's tracking prevention settings or install privacy-focused browser extensions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does clearing my history delete emails I sent or received?
No. Clearing your browser history only removes the record of websites you visited. It does not affect your email account, messages, or any data stored in online services like Google Drive or Dropbox. Those are stored on the company's servers, not in your browser.
Will clearing my history speed up my device?
Slightly, but not much. Clearing cached files removes data your browser stored to load pages faster, so pages may load a bit slower the first time you visit them after clearing. Clearing history itself does not significantly affect device speed. If your device is running slowly, the issue is usually something else, like too many programs running at once or low storage space.
Can I recover my history after I clear it?
Once you clear your browsing history, it is gone from your device. You cannot recover it through your browser. However, if you synced your history to your Google account or Apple account, that synced copy may still exist in your account settings — you would need to remove it there as well if you want it completely gone.
Does clearing history on my phone also clear it on my computer?
Only if you use the same account and have sync turned on. If you use Chrome with a Google account and sync is enabled, clearing history on your phone will also clear it from your computer and any other device signed into that account. You can turn off sync in your browser settings if you want to keep history separate on different devices.
What is the difference between clearing history and using private mode?
Private mode prevents history from being saved in the first place — when you close a private window, nothing from that session is stored. Clearing history removes history that has already been saved. Private mode is useful if you know in advance that you do not want to save your browsing, while clearing history is useful after the fact.