Clearing Internet Browser History

As you browse the Internet, most web page data is cached locally on your computer to help pages load faster and reduces the amount of data you need to transfer over your Internet connection.

To help keep your browsing history private, you can clear your local browsing history. Select your Internet browser from the following list to get started.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows 10, replacing Internet Explorer on new computers.

To view your Edge browsing history:

In a Microsoft Edge browser window, open the history menu using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+H. You can also access this menu with the following steps:

1. Click the Hub button in the upper right-hand corner of the window.
2. Click the History icon to open the history menu.

This menu allows you to view the pages you've visited in chronological order.

To clear your Edge browsing history:

1. Open the history menu as described above.
2. Click Clear all history.
3. Check the box next to each type of data you'd like to clear. Browsing history is the first item listed, so make sure this is checked. We recommend checking all the boxes.
4. Click Show more for additional options. Select any that you would like to clear.
5. Click Clear to erase the selected data.
6. If you want the selected items to be cleared automatically when you close your browser, set Always clear this when I close the browser to On.
7. When you're done, click the Hub button.

Mozilla Firefox

There are several ways to view and edit your history in Firefox.

To view your browsing history in Firefox:

1. If you do not have a custom homepage set, you can click the History button in any new browsing window.

2. Or you can always view your browsing history in the History sidebar. Open it by pressing Alt to show the menu bar, then choosing View → Sidebar → History. Or, you can use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+H.

3. You can also view your history if you click the hamburger menu button in the top right-hand corner of your window, then click History. This gives you a quick look at your history. From this menu you can also View History Sidebar.

4. Lastly, you can open your browsing history in the Firefox Library. To open this view, press Alt to show the menu bar, then choose History → Show All History. The keyboard shortcut for this view is Ctrl+Shift+H. When viewing your history here, you can highlight individual pages in your history and press Del to delete them. Right-click any item for more options.

To clear your browsing history in Firefox:

1. Click the hamburger menu button and select History.
2. Choose Clear Recent History...
3. The Clear Recent History window will open. In the drop-down menu, choose how far back you want to clear the history (we recommend choosing "Everything"), then click Clear Now.

You can also access this menu using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Del.

Google Chrome

To view your browsing history in Chrome:

1. In any Chrome window, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+H, or navigate to the URL chrome://history .

2. Or, click the Menu button, which is located near the top-right side of the browser window, and choose History, then History again.

To clear your browsing history in Chrome:

1. Click the Menu button , choose More tools and then Clear browsing data... Or, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Del.

2. Select what data you'd like to clear from your history using the drop-down menu and check the appropriate boxes. We recommend selecting all the options.

When you're ready to clear your history, click Clear browsing data.

Safari

Safari is the default web browser on Apple operating systems. Although it was previously available for Microsoft Windows, as of 2012 Apple no longer supports Safari on Windows.

To view your browsing history in Safari:

1. Open the Safari browser.
2. Click the History menu at the top of the screen. The menu lists recent pages from your browsing history, which you can navigate to by clicking on them. To edit your history or view it in detail, click Show All History...

To clear your browsing history in Safari:

1. Open the Show All History view. To delete individual history items, right-click them and choose Delete, or press the Delete key to clear selected history items.
2. To clear everything, click Clear History.

3. Use the drop-down menu to choose how far back to delete your history.
4. Click Clear History.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer was Microsoft's Internet browser until 2015, when it was replaced by Microsoft Edge. If you are still using Internet Explorer on your computer, you can use the following steps to view or clear your browsing history.

WARNING: Security updates are no longer regularly provided for Internet Explorer and are not guaranteed to continue. To ensure that your browser is secure when browsing the Internet, you should use a different browser. If you are going to continue using Internet Explorer, check for any security updates that are still available and install them on your computer. 

To view your browsing history (Internet Explorer 7 and above):

1. In a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser window, click Tools in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Select Internet Options from the drop-down menu.
3. In the General tab, under Browsing history, click the Settings button.
4. In the Temporary Internet Files tab, click the View Files button.

To clear your browsing history (Internet Explorer 7 and above):

1. Open a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser window.
2. Click Tools in the upper right-hand corner.
3. Select Internet Options from the drop-down menu.
4. On the General tab, in the Browsing history section, click the Delete button.
5. Check all the boxes except "Preserve Favorites website data".
6. Click Delete.