Clear your entire browsing history at once

Open Firefox and press Ctrl+H on Windows or Linux, or Command+Y on Mac. This opens the History sidebar on the left. At the top, click Clear Recent History. A window will appear asking what time range you want to clear — select Everything to remove all history. By default, Firefox will clear your browsing history, read history, cookies, and cached files. Click Clear Now and it is done.

If you prefer using the menu instead, click the three horizontal lines in the top right corner, then select Settings. Go to the Privacy & Security tab on the left. Under History, click Clear Your Recent History. The same window opens, and you follow the same steps.

Key Takeaways

  • Press Ctrl+H (Windows/Linux) or Command+Y (Mac) to open History, then click Clear Recent History to remove everything at once.
  • You can choose to clear only a specific time range — the last hour, day, week, or month — instead of everything.
  • Firefox clears browsing history, downloads, cookies, and cache by default, but you can uncheck any of these before clearing.
  • Turn on Always use private browsing mode in Settings to prevent Firefox from saving history automatically going forward.

Clear history for a specific time period

You do not have to clear everything. Open the History sidebar with Ctrl+H or Command+Y, then click Clear Recent History. In the window that opens, click the dropdown next to Time range to clear. Your options are Last Hour, Last 2 Hours, Last 4 Hours, Today, Last 7 Days, Last 30 Days, or Everything. Choose the range you want and click Clear Now.

This is useful if you only want to remove recent browsing but keep older history. For example, if you want to clear what you looked up today but keep last week's searches, select Today.

Choose what types of data to clear

When you open the Clear Recent History window, you will see checkboxes for different types of data. By default, Browsing & read History, Cookies, and Cached Web Content are all checked. You can uncheck any of these before clicking Clear Now.

Browsing & read History removes the list of websites you visited and files you downloaded. Cookies removes stored login information and site preferences — unchecking this means you will stay logged into some websites. Cached Web Content removes temporary files Firefox saved to load pages faster — clearing this frees up disk space but may slow down page loading slightly until the cache rebuilds.

If you want to clear history but keep cookies so you stay logged in, uncheck Cookies and leave the other boxes checked. If you only want to remove downloads from the list, uncheck Browsing & read History and Cached Web Content, leaving only Cookies checked — though this will also clear cookies, so you may want to uncheck that too.

Prevent Firefox from saving history automatically

If you do not want Firefox to save your browsing history in the first place, turn on private browsing mode. Click the three horizontal lines in the top right, then select Settings. Go to Privacy & Security on the left. Under History, you will see a dropdown that says Firefox will followed by options. Click it and select Use custom settings for history. Then check the box next to Always use private browsing mode.

When private browsing is on, Firefox will not save any browsing history, cookies, or search history. Each time you close Firefox, everything from that session is forgotten. You can still bookmark pages and read files — those are saved — but the sites you visit will not appear in your history.

Clear history from individual websites

If you only want to remove history from one or two specific sites, open the History sidebar with Ctrl+H or Command+Y. You will see your history organized by date. Find the website you want to remove, right-click on it, and select Forget About This Site. Firefox will remove all history, cookies, and cached data for that domain.

This is useful if you visited a sensitive site and want to remove it from your history without clearing everything else. Be aware that forgetting a site will also log you out of it, so you will need to log back in the next time you visit.

Clear downloads from your list

Your read history is separate from your browsing history, though clearing one usually clears the other. To remove only downloads, open the History sidebar with Ctrl+H or Command+Y, then click Downloads at the top. You will see a list of files you downloaded. Right-click any file and select Remove From History to remove just that one, or click Clear All to remove the entire list.

Removing a read from the list does not delete the file itself from your computer — it only removes the record that you downloaded it. The file stays in your Downloads folder or wherever you saved it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does clearing history delete my saved passwords?

No. Clearing history does not touch your saved passwords. If you want to remove a saved password, go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, scroll to Logins and Passwords, and click Saved Logins. Find the password you want to remove and click the trash icon next to it.

Will clearing history log me out of websites?

It depends on what you clear. If you clear cookies, you will be logged out of most sites. If you clear only browsing history and cache, you will stay logged in. When you open the Clear Recent History window, uncheck Cookies if you want to stay logged in.

Can I undo clearing my history?

No. Once you click Clear Now, the history is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. If you are unsure, select a smaller time range like Last Hour instead of Everything.

What is the difference between history and cache?

History is the list of websites you visited. Cache is temporary files Firefox saved from those sites to make them load faster next time. Clearing cache frees up disk space but may slow down page loading until Firefox rebuilds it.