How to permanently delete browsing history from my computer

All web browsers remember a list of the web pages you’ve visited. You can delete this list at any time, clearing your browsing history and erasing the tracks stored on your computer, smartphone, or tablet. Each browser has its own separate history, so you’ll need to clear the history in multiple places if you’ve used more than one browser.

RELATED: How to Enable Private Browsing on Any Web Browser

In the future, you can use private browsing mode to browse sensitive websites without your browser saving any history. You won’t have to clear your history afterward.

Google Chrome for Desktop

To clear your browsing history in Chrome, on Windows, Mac, or Linux, click the three-dot menu icon found in the top-right corner of the browser, hover your mouse cursor over “More Tools,” and choose “Clear Browsing Data.” You can also press Ctrl+Shift+Delete to open this screen on Windows, or press Command+Shift+Delete on a Mac.

Note: On a Mac, the backspace key is labeled “Delete.” Pressing the Delete key beside the Home and Edit keys doesn’t work.

To delete your entire browsing history, select from “the beginning of time” in the drop-down box at the top of the screen and check the “Browsing history” option. You can also choose to clear other private data from here, including your download history, cookies, and browser cache.

RELATED: How to Clear Your Browsing History in Google Chrome

Google Chrome on Android, iPhone, or iPad

To clear your browsing history in Google Chrome on Android, iPhone, or iPad, tap the three-dot menu icon > Settings > Privacy > Clear Browsing Data.

You’ll need to choose a time range that you want to delete from the drop-down list at the top of the screen. Select from the “beginning of time” to clear everything.

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Ensure the “Browsing history” option is checked here and tap the “Clear Data” or “Clear Browsing Data” button. You can also choose to clear other types of personal data from here, including cookies and cached files.

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Safari on iPhone and iPad

To clear your browsing history on Safari on an iPhone or iPad, you’ll need to visit the Settings app. Open the Settings app and then nagivate to Safari > Clear History and Website Data. Tap the “Clear History and Data” option to confirm your choice.

This button will clear all sensitive browsing data, including your cookies and cache.

RELATED: How to Clear Your Browsing History in Safari for iOS

Mozilla Firefox

To clear your browsing history in Firefox on the desktop, click the three-line menu icon in the top-right corner of the browser and then navigate to Library > History > Clear Recent History. You can also press Ctrl+Shift+Delete to open this tool on Windows or press Command+Shift+Delete on a Mac.

To delete your entire browsing history, select “Everything” at the top of the window and check “Browsing & Download History” in the detailed list of items to clear. You can also choose to clear other types of private data from here, including your cookies, browser cache, offline website data, and website-specific preferences.

RELATED: How to Clear Your Browsing History in Firefox

Microsoft Edge

To clear your browsing history in Microsoft Edge, click the three-dot menu icon > History > three-dot menu button > Clear Browsing Data. You can also press Ctrl+Shift+Delete to open these options on Windows or Command+Shift+Delete on Mac.

Ensure the “Browsing History” box is checked and click “Clear.” You can also choose to clear other types of private data from here, including your download history, cached data, cookies, and tabs you’ve set aside. Just check the type of data you want to delete and click the “Clear” button.

RELATED: How to Clear Your Browsing History in Microsoft Edge

Safari on a Mac

To clear your browsing history in Safari on a Mac, click History > Clear History from the menu bar at the top of your screen. Select the time period you want to clear history from and click “Clear History.” To clear everything, select “all history”.

Safari will delete your browsing history as well as your cookies, cached files, and other browsing-related data.

RELATED: How to Clear Safari's Browsing History and Cookies on OS X

Internet Explorer

Update: Microsoft has depreciated Internet Explorer and urges everyone to switch to Edge. With an uptick of hackers using vulnerabilities to attack Windows users, we recommend you immediatly stop using Internet Explorer.

RELATED: Hackers Are Using Internet Explorer to Attack Windows 10

To clear your browsing history in Internet Explorer, click menu > Safety > Delete Browsing History or press Ctrl+Shift+Delete.

Ensure the “History” option is checked here and click “Delete”. You can also choose to delete other types of private data from here, including your temporary Internet files, download history, and cookies.

By default, Internet Explorer will keep cookies and temporary Internet files for websites you’ve saved as favorites. Uncheck “Preserve Favorites website data” here to ensure Internet Explorer deletes everything.

If you’re using another browser, you should be able to easily find a “clear browsing history” option somewhere in its menus or on its settings screen. For example, in Opera, this option is at menu > More tools > Clear browsing data.

RELATED: How to Clear Your Internet Explorer Browsing History

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