How to clear your Safari history on iPad
Open Safari and tap the book icon at the bottom right of the screen (or the sidebar icon if you're in landscape mode). Tap History at the bottom of the menu. Tap Clear History and Website Data in the bottom right corner. Choose how far back you want to clear — the options are the last hour, today, today and yesterday, or all time. Tap the blue Clear History button to confirm.
That single action removes your browsing history, cookies, and cached website data all at once. Safari doesn't separate these into different steps the way some browsers do. If you want to delete only your history without touching cookies or cached data, you'll need to use iPad Settings instead, which takes a few more taps but gives you finer control.
Key Takeaways
- The fastest way to clear everything is through the History menu in Safari itself — tap the book icon, then History, then Clear History and Website Data.
- You can choose to clear only the last hour, today, today and yesterday, or all time — Safari doesn't offer custom date ranges.
- If you want to delete history but keep cookies and cached data, go to Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data instead.
- Clearing history does not sign you out of websites, but it does remove saved passwords if you choose the full clear option.
- Private browsing mode prevents Safari from recording history in the first place, so nothing needs clearing afterward.
Clearing history through iPad Settings for more control
Go to Settings on your iPad home screen. Scroll down and tap Safari. Scroll to the bottom and tap Clear History and Website Data. A popup appears with three options: Clear History and Website Data, Clear History Only, or Clear Website Data Only. Choose whichever matches what you want to remove, then tap the option again to confirm.
This route takes longer than using Safari's menu, but it's the only way to delete history alone without also removing cookies and cached files. Cached data speeds up websites you visit often by storing images and code locally. Cookies remember your login sessions and preferences. If you clear all three together, you'll have to log back into websites and they may load slightly slower on your first visit.
What gets deleted and what stays
When you tap Clear History and Website Data from Safari's menu, you remove three things: your list of visited websites, cookies from those sites, and cached website files. Your saved passwords and autofill information stay intact unless you specifically choose to clear them separately in Settings.
Clearing history does not sign you out of iCloud or Apple services. It does not delete bookmarks, reading list items, or tabs you have open. It does not affect your iPad's storage in any meaningful way — cached website data typically uses only a few hundred megabytes. If you want to delete saved passwords, go to Settings > Passwords and Accounts > Website & App Passwords, find the entry, swipe left, and tap Delete.
Using Private Browsing to avoid creating history
If you want to browse without Safari recording your activity, use Private Browsing mode instead of clearing history afterward. Open Safari and tap the overlapping squares icon at the bottom right. Tap Private at the bottom left, then tap Done. The address bar turns dark, signaling that Safari is not saving your history, cookies, or autofill data for this session.
Private Browsing is useful when you're shopping for gifts on a shared iPad, researching sensitive topics, or using someone else's device. Websites can still see that you're visiting them — Private Browsing only hides your activity from Safari itself and from other users on the same iPad. When you close all private tabs, Safari automatically forgets everything from that session.
Clearing history on a shared iPad
If multiple people use the same iPad, each person's Safari history is stored separately if they each have their own iCloud account. Clearing your history only removes your own browsing record, not anyone else's. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud to see which account is currently active in Safari.
If you share an iCloud account with other users, clearing history will remove everyone's browsing record. In that case, use Private Browsing mode for sensitive searches instead. If you want to prevent other users from seeing your history, the only reliable option is to use a separate iCloud account on the iPad, which requires going through Settings > [Your Name] > Sign Out and signing in with a different account.
Why Safari might not clear history completely
If you clear history but still see old websites appearing in Safari's suggestions, those entries may be coming from your iCloud Keychain or from websites you've bookmarked rather than from your history. Clearing history removes the visited list, but bookmarks stay put. If a website appears in your suggestions because you bookmarked it, removing the bookmark will stop it from showing up.
Safari also syncs history across your Apple devices if you have iCloud Sync turned on. Clearing history on your iPad removes it from that device, but it may still appear on your iPhone or Mac until you clear it there too. To turn off syncing, go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud and toggle off Safari. After that, clearing history on one device won't affect your other devices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does clearing history delete my saved passwords?
No. Clearing history and website data removes cookies and cached files, but your saved passwords stay in your iCloud Keychain. If you want to delete a specific password, go to Settings > Passwords and Accounts > Website & App Passwords, find it, swipe left, and tap Delete.
Can I clear history for only certain websites?
Safari doesn't have a way to delete history for individual sites. You can only clear all history within a chosen time range. If you want to hide your activity on specific websites, use Private Browsing mode for those visits instead.
Will clearing history sign me out of websites?
No. Clearing history removes cookies, but most websites keep you logged in through other means. You may need to log back in to some sites, but it's not automatic. If you want to stay logged in everywhere, clearing history alone won't sign you out.
What's the difference between clearing history and using Private Browsing?
Clearing history removes past activity after it's already been recorded. Private Browsing prevents Safari from recording activity in the first place. Private Browsing is better if you want to avoid leaving a record; clearing history is better if you've already browsed and want to clean up afterward.
Does clearing history on my iPad clear it on my iPhone too?
Only if you have iCloud Sync turned on for Safari. If you do, clearing history on your iPad will eventually sync to your iPhone and Mac. To keep them separate, turn off Safari syncing in Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud.