Safari stores your browsing history by default, and you can delete it in seconds
Open Safari and press Command + Y (on Mac) or tap the clock icon (on iPhone or iPad). This opens your history panel. At the top, click or tap Clear History, choose how far back you want to erase — the last hour, today, today and yesterday, or all time — and confirm. Your history is gone when ready.
If you want Safari to stop storing history altogether, you can turn on Private Browsing before you open a new tab. Safari will not save sites you visit, searches you make, or passwords you enter while in Private Browsing mode. When you close the window or tab, nothing remains.
Deleting history does not erase cookies, cached files, or saved passwords unless you specifically choose to remove those too. If you want a complete wipe, you have separate options for each type of data.
Key Takeaways
- Press Command + Y on Mac or tap the clock icon on iPhone and iPad to open your history, then tap Clear History and choose your time range.
- Private Browsing mode prevents Safari from saving any history, searches, or passwords while you use it, and leaves no trace when you close the window.
- Clearing history does not automatically delete cookies, cached website files, or saved passwords — you must remove those separately if you want them gone.
- You can delete history from a single website by right-clicking it in the history panel and selecting Remove, without erasing your entire history.
The difference between clearing history and turning on Private Browsing
Clearing history is a one-time action that removes the record of sites you have already visited. It happens after the fact. Private Browsing is a mode you turn on before you browse, and it stops Safari from recording anything while you use it.
Private Browsing is useful when you are using someone else's device, shopping for a gift on a shared computer, or browsing something you do not want saved. When you close a Private Browsing window, Safari discards the entire session. On the other hand, if you forget to turn on Private Browsing and realize later that you want to erase what you did, clearing history is your fix.
Both methods are fast, but they serve different moments: Private Browsing prevents the problem before it starts, while clearing history solves it after.
How to delete history from a single website
You do not have to erase your entire history if you only want to remove one or two sites. Open your history panel (Command + Y on Mac, or the clock icon on iPhone and iPad), find the website you want to remove, right-click it (or long-press on iPhone and iPad), and select Remove.
This is useful if you visited a site by accident, searched for something you want to keep private, or want to clean up your history without losing everything else. The site disappears from your history when ready, but the action does not affect your cookies or cached files from that site.
Clearing cookies and cached files separately from history
Safari stores three different types of data: history (the list of sites you visited), cookies (small files that remember your login and preferences), and cached files (copies of images and pages stored on your device to load faster next time).
When you clear history, Safari only removes the list of sites. To also remove cookies and cached files, go to Safari > Settings (on Mac) or Settings > Safari (on iPhone and iPad). Scroll down to Clear History and Website Data, choose your time range, and tap Clear History. This removes all three at once.
If you want to delete data from only one website, go to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data (on iPhone and iPad) or Safari > Settings > Privacy > Manage Website Data (on Mac), find the site, and tap or click Remove. This erases that site's cookies and cached files without touching your history or data from other sites.
What happens when you delete history on a shared device
Clearing your Safari history only removes it from your own user account on a Mac, or from your own iCloud account if you use iCloud sync. If you share a device with someone else who has their own user account, clearing your history does not affect theirs.
However, if you and another person share the same iCloud account, clearing history on one device may sync that deletion to other devices signed into that account. Check your iCloud settings under Safari to see whether history sync is turned on. If you want to keep your history private from someone else using the same iCloud account, turn off Sync History in iCloud settings, or use Private Browsing mode instead.
Turning off history saving entirely
If you never want Safari to store your browsing history, you can disable it. On Mac, go to Safari > Settings > General and uncheck Show history. On iPhone and iPad, go to Settings > Safari and toggle off Show History.
This prevents Safari from recording sites you visit, but it does not turn on Private Browsing mode — cookies and cached files are still saved. If you want no record of anything, use Private Browsing instead. Turning off history saving is useful if you browse the same sites repeatedly and do not want them cluttering your history panel, but you still want cookies to remember your logins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does clearing Safari history delete my passwords?
No. Clearing history, cookies, and cached files does not remove saved passwords. To delete a saved password, go to Safari > Settings > Passwords (Mac) or Settings > Passwords (iPhone and iPad), find the site, and tap Delete. Passwords are stored separately from browsing data.
Can someone recover my Safari history after I delete it?
Once you clear Safari history, it is removed from the app. However, your internet service provider and the websites you visited still have records of your activity. Clearing Safari history only removes the local record on your device, not the broader internet trail.
If I turn on Private Browsing, will websites know I am using it?
No. Websites cannot tell whether you are in Private Browsing mode. However, your internet service provider and network administrator can still see that you visited a site — they just cannot see what you did there. Private Browsing only hides your activity from Safari and your device.
Does clearing history on my Mac also clear it on my iPhone?
Only if you have iCloud sync turned on for Safari. If you do, clearing history on one device syncs that deletion to all devices signed into the same iCloud account. You can turn off Safari sync in iCloud settings if you want to manage history separately on each device.