How to clear your Safari history on iPhone
Open the Safari app and tap the book icon at the bottom of the screen (on older iPhones, it may be at the top). Tap "History" — the clock icon — then tap "Clear History and Website Data" at the bottom. Choose how far back you want to clear: 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 stores this information to load pages faster and remember your preferences, but clearing it also means websites won't recognize you the next time you visit — you may need to log in again.
If you want to clear history without closing Safari or navigating menus, you can also swipe up from the bottom of the screen (or down from the top on newer iPhones) to open Control Center, long-press the Wi-Fi icon, and look for a "Clear History" option if you've enabled it in Settings — though the manual method above is more reliable.
Key Takeaways
- The fastest way is to open Safari, tap the book icon, select History, and tap "Clear History and Website Data" at the bottom.
- You can choose to clear only the last hour, today, or all time — you do not have to clear everything at once.
- Clearing history also removes cookies and cached data, which means you will need to log back into websites afterward.
- If you want Safari to never store history, you can use Private Browsing mode for individual tabs or sessions.
What gets deleted when you clear history
Clearing history removes three things at once: your list of visited websites, cookies (small files that remember your login and preferences), and cached website data (images and code Safari saved to load pages faster next time). You cannot delete just one of these — the "Clear History and Website Data" button removes all three together.
After you clear, websites will not remember you logged in, so you will need to enter your username and password again. Pages may also load slightly slower the first time you visit them, because Safari has to read images and code fresh instead of using the saved copies. This slowdown is usually not noticeable unless your internet connection is slow.
Using Private Browsing to avoid storing history
If you do not want Safari to store history in the first place, use Private Browsing mode. Open Safari, tap the overlapping squares icon at the bottom right, then tap "Private" and confirm. Any tabs you open in Private mode will not appear in your history, and Safari will not save cookies or cached data from those sites.
You can mix private and regular tabs in the same Safari session — tap the overlapping squares icon again to switch between them. When you close a private tab, Safari forgets it completely. This is useful if you are shopping for a gift on a shared device or browsing something you do not want to appear in your history, without having to clear everything afterward.
Private Browsing does not hide your activity from your internet provider or the websites you visit — it only hides it from other people who use your phone. If privacy from your provider matters, you would need a VPN app, which is a separate tool.
Clearing history on a schedule with Settings
You can set Safari to clear history automatically when you close the app. Open Settings, scroll down and tap Safari, then tap "Clear History and Website Data". Toggle on the switch next to "Clear History and Website Data". Now every time you close Safari completely, it will erase your history, cookies, and cached data without you having to do it manually.
This setting only works when you fully close Safari — swiping it away from the app switcher counts as closing it. If you just switch to another app and come back, history is not cleared. This is a good middle ground if you want privacy without having to remember to clear manually each time.
Clearing history for specific websites only
Safari does not have a built-in way to delete history for one website at a time. If you want to remove just one site from your history, you have to clear all history and start over, or use Private Browsing for that site going forward.
Some people work around this by clearing history, then when ready revisiting the sites they want to keep in their history — Safari will add them back. This is tedious and not practical for most situations, so the easiest approach is either to clear everything or to use Private Browsing for sites you do not want recorded.
Clearing history does not delete saved passwords
When you clear history, Safari keeps your saved passwords and usernames intact. This means you can clear your browsing history without losing the convenience of auto-fill for logins — Safari will still remember your passwords even after you clear everything else.
If you want to delete a saved password, you have to do that separately in Settings. Open Settings, tap Passwords, find the website, swipe left on it, and tap Delete. Clearing history will not touch this, so you have full control over what stays and what goes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will clearing history delete my saved passwords?
No. Clearing history removes only your browsing list, cookies, and cached data. Your saved passwords stay in Safari's password manager and remain available for auto-fill. If you want to delete a specific password, you must do that separately in Settings under Passwords.
Can I undo clearing history after I do it?
No, clearing history is permanent and cannot be undone. If you realize you needed a website you just cleared, you can try searching your email for confirmation messages from that site, or ask someone else if they remember the URL. This is why some people prefer to use Private Browsing for sensitive browsing instead of clearing afterward.
Does clearing Safari history also clear history in other apps?
No. Clearing Safari history only affects Safari. Other browsers like Chrome or Firefox have their own separate history that you must clear within those apps. If you use multiple browsers, you will need to clear history in each one individually.
What is the difference between clearing history and using Private Browsing?
Clearing history removes what Safari already recorded. Private Browsing prevents Safari from recording anything in the first place. Private Browsing is better if you know in advance you do not want something saved; clearing history is better if you want to erase something after the fact.
Does clearing history speed up my iPhone?
Slightly, but not noticeably for most people. Clearing cached data frees up a small amount of storage space, and Safari may run marginally faster without a large history file to search through. The effect is usually too small to feel, unless your iPhone is very low on storage space.