How do I clear my Internet browser history?

Internet browsers


As you browse the Internet, everything viewed is saved to the cache on the hard drive. Loading from the cache helps everything load faster since it is loaded from the hard drive instead of from a server in a different part of the world. To conserve hard drive space or keep your browsing private you can clear or delete the history (cache).
Tip: If you clear your Internet browser history often you may also want to consider browsing in incognito mode.
Tip: In the Address bar press the shortcut key Shift + Del to individually delete items from your address bar.
Microsoft Internet Explorer users
Mozilla Firefox users
Google Chrome users
Google Chrome on Android phone or tablet
Opera users
Safari users
Safari on iPhone and iPad
Netscape Navigator users

Internet ExplorerMicrosoft Internet Explorer

Tip: Internet Explorer 7.0 and above requires the Alt key to be pressed in order to access the file menu.
Viewing History
Press Ctrl + H to open the history bar.
or
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and above users can view their history files by clicking the "Tools" menu, "Internet Options," clicking the "Settings" button under the Browsing history, and then clicking the "View Files" button.
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x users can view their history files by clicking the "Tools" menu, "Internet Options," clicking the "Settings" button, and then clicking the "View Files" button.
Deleting History
Press CTRL + Shift + DEL to open the Clear Browsing History window.
or
  • Microsoft Windows users running Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and above can delete their history files by clicking the "Tools" menu, "Internet Options," and clicking the "Delete Files" or "Delete" button. Users also have the option of automatically deleting files each time the close the browser window by clicking the "Advanced" tab and checking "Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed" under the "Security" section.
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x users on an Apple Macintosh can delete the history by clicking the "Hard Drive" icon, "System,"  "Preferences," "Explorer," and moving the history file into the trash.
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.02 and lower users can delete their history by clicking the "View" menu, "Options," open the tab "Advanced," click the "Settings" tab, and click the "Empty Folder" button.

FirefoxMozilla Firefox

Viewing History
Press Ctrl + H to open the left-side history bar.
or
Click History at the top of the window.
or
Users using earlier versions of Mozilla Firefox can also view their history by clicking "Go" and clicking "History."
Deleting History
Press CTRL + Shift + DEL to open the Clear All History window.
or
Mozilla Firefox users can remove their history by clicking the "Tools" menu, "Options," clicking the "Privacy" button, and under "History" click the "Clear" or "Clear Now" button.
Tip: If you do not see the File, Edit, View menu press the Alt key.

ChromeGoogle Chrome

Viewing History
Press Ctrl + H to open the left-side history bar.
or
Click on the "wrench"  Chrome wrench icon or "Menu" Chrome Menu button icon, which is located near the top-right side of the browser window and then click History.
Deleting History
Press CTRL + Shift + DEL to open the Clear Browsing Data Window.
or
  1. Click on the "wrench" Chrome wrench icon or "Menu" Chrome Menu button icon, which is located near the top-right side of the browser window.
  2. Move your mouse over Tools, then select Clear browsing data...

    Chrome file menu
  3. Select the amount of time you want to go back to delete in your history. You can choose from the past hour, the past day, the past week, the last four weeks, and the beginning of time.
  4. Select the types of history you would like to delete. You can choose as many as you like from this list: Clear browsing history, Clear download history, Empty the cache, Delete cookies and other site and plug-in data, Clear saved passwords, and Clear saved Autofill form data.

    Chrome clear browsing data window
  5. Click the Clear browsing data button to clear the selected types of Internet history for the chosen period.

ChromeGoogle Chrome on Android phone or tablet

Viewing History
Click the Menu icon in the top right corner of the screen next to the address bar. This icon looks like three dots. In the Menu click History.
Deleting History
Follow the above steps to view the history and then at the bottom of the History window click "Clear Browsing Data" to clear all history.

OperaOpera

Viewing History
Click Help and then About. Within the About Opera window, you'll see the full path to where the cached files are stored. Browse to that file path to view cached files.
Deleting History
Opera users can delete their history by clicking the "File" menu, "Preferences," "History," and click "Empty now" button. In addition, users can check "Empty on exit" if they want for this task to occur each time they exit the browser.

SafariSafari

Viewing History
Press Ctrl + H to open the left-side history bar.
or
Click on the "gear" icon Safari gear icon, which is located near the top-right side of the browser window and then click History.
Deleting History
  1. Click on the "gear" icon Safari gear icon, which is located near the top-right side of the browser window.
  2. Click the Reset Safari... link to get the below window. Leave everything checked if you want to clear everything out or just keep Clear history checked to clear the history. Once your options have been selected click the Reset button.
Clearing Safari history

SafariSafari on iPhone and iPad

Viewing History
Use your finger scroll up until you see the address bar and bar on the bottom of the screen. Once you see the bottom bar click the fourth icon that looks like a book and then click History.
Deleting History
Follow the above steps to view the history and in the history window in the bottom right corner of the screen click the Clear button.

NetscapeNetscape

Viewing History
Microsoft Windows users can view the history by first opening Netscape and click the "Edit" menu, "Preferences," "History," and view the location where Netscape is storing your files. Next, open this folder within Explorer.
Deleting History
Netscape users can delete their history files by clicking the "Edit" menu, "Preferences," "History," and click the "Clear History" button.