Navigation

The Ultimate Guidance Clear All History on Windows PCs, Mac, Android and iPhone

There are many reasons that we should clear all history for our web browsers regularly. First of all, cache data, including search history, could slow down the performance of your browser. When you click a link and the new page spends over 5 seconds to open, maybe there are too many search history items in your browser. Plus as you browse a web site, most page data is cached on your hard drive. The next time when you re-access the web site, the pages will load faster and use less internet traffic. That is convenient for the websites visited frequently; however, you cannot prevent other websites from caching locally. In result, it eats up your local storage as time goes by. Besides, most websites track your online activities through search history and cookies.

Clear All History

Therefore, many experts suggest internet users to clear all history on PC/Mac, Android and iPhone regularly. Fortunately, web browser developers have integrated such features into their products, aiming to establish a healthy internet environment. But the procedures to complete this task on Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Firefox and other web browsers are a bit various. In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to clear internet cache on these popular web browsers.

Part 1: How to clear all Google history

According to the new data from Statcounter, Google Chrome is the most popular web browser, account for 50% of global browser market, partly because the smooth experiences. So, a lot of people ask how to erase history on Chrome.

How to access Google history

Step 1. In order to access Google history, click the menu button at upper right side of your Chrome with three-dot icon. On old versions, the menu button is marked with a three–line icon.

Step 2. Select the "History" option on the floating menu bar and click "History" submenu, then all search history items will show up. Click the website that you want to re-access to open it in a new tab.

Step 3. On the history page, click the three-dot icon next to an unwanted item and choose "Remove" to erase a history item.

Google History

How to clear all history on Google Chrome on PC/Mac

Step 1. Open your Chrome browser, input chrome://settings/clearBrowserData into the address bar and press "Enter" key to open the clear browsing data dialog.

Tip: Click the three-dot icon at top right side and go to "More tools" > "Clear browsing data".

Step 2. Tick the checkboxes next to history data, like Browsing history, Download history, Cookies, Cached images and files, and then click the "Clear browsing data" button to erase history on Chrome.

Clear Google History

How to clear all history on Google Chrome on Android

Step 1. If you prefer to use Chrome on Android smartphone, open it from your app tray, tap on the "Menu" button with three-dot icon next to the search bar.

Step 2. Pick History and then tap on "Clear Browsing Data" on bottom of the screen. When the popup dialog shows up, tick the checkboxes next to Clear browsing history, Clear the cache and "Clear cookies".

Step 3. Finally, tap on the "Clear" button to clear all history from your Chrome app.

Clear History on Android

How to clear all history on Google Chrome on iPhone

Step 1. To solve the problem how to erase history on iPhone, open the Chrome app from your home screen, and also unfold the three-dot icon at upper right corner.

Step 2. Head to "Settings" > "Privacy" > "Clear Browsing Data", then select Browsing History, Cookies, Site Data and Cached Images and Files and hit "Clear Browsing Data" button to get rid of them.

accidentally deleted histoty from your iPhone browser? Just recover and view the deleted history from iPhone right now.

Clear History on Android

Recommend: iPhone Eraser

If you cannot find the Clear Browsing Data option in your Chrome, Apeaksoft iPhone Eraser is another option to erase history on iPhone. Its key features include:

iPhone Eraser

  • It has the capacity to permanently clear all history, cookies and cache data on iPhone in one click.
  • Besides, you can erase voicemail, SMS, custom settings, photos, music, videos, app data and other files from iPhone.
  • It use advanced technology to erase history on iPhone, so anyone cannot recover it.
  • The iPhone erasing tool allows you to decide the level to clear data on iPhone.
  • iPhone Eraser supports all iOS models, like iPhone X/8/7/6/6s/5/5s/5c/4, and iPad Pro/Air/Min and earlier generations.
  • It is available to Windows 10/8/8.1/7/XP and Mac OS.
Download for WinDownload for Mac

In short, it is the best option to erase all history on iPhone at one time.

How to erase all history from iPhone in one click

Step 1. Install iPhone Eraser on your PC, and hook up your iPhone to your computer via a Lightning cable. Launch the iPhone Eraser, it will discover your device automatically.

iPhone Eraser

Step 2. iPhone Eraser offers three options related to erasing level, Low, Medium and High. The first one erases all history on your iPhone one time; the second one does it twice and latter one repeats it for three times. To change the erasing level, click the link under Erasing Level and pick up a proper option.

Erasing Level

Step 3. Finally, click the "Start" button on the window to initiate clearing internet cache from iPhone. It takes a few minutes to erase all the settings and history for your iPhone.

Clear

Part 2: How to clear autofill on iPhone

Safari is Apple's web browser product, and majority of people who own iPhone, iPad or Mac surf internet in Safari. That makes Safari becoming the second most commonly used browser. In this part, you can learn how to clear history on Safari Mac and iOS

How to clear history on Safari Mac

Step 1. Open your Safari browser on Mac, unfold the "History" menu on top ribbon and select the "Clear History" option to open floating dialog.

Step 2. Choose all history from the dropdown menu next to Clear, and then hit the "Clear History" button to complete clearing history on Safari.

Safari

How to clear history on Safari iPhone

Step 1. Unlock your iPhone and open the Settings app. Scroll down and find the "Safari" option, which is located on the Mail section. Tap on it to open the Safari settings screen.

Step 2. If there are history and Internet cache, the "Clear History and Website Data" option will be available. Tap on it and then hit "Clear" on the warning box to confirm it. This will clear history on Safari, including browsing data, cookies and search history.

Step 3. To keep search history and only clear browser cookies, go to "Advanced" > "Website Data" and tap on "Remove all Website Data".

Note: This is the easiest way to erase history on iPad and iPhone. If it is not valid, you have to try third party tools, such as Apeaksoft iPhone Eraser.

Clear History on Safari iPhone

Part 3: How to clear internet cache (IE)

Internet Explorer is the basic web browser on Windows PCs. Though some people prefer to third party web browsers, they cannot work on PCs without IE. In this part, we will tell you how to clear cache in IE 11/10/9/8/7/6/4/3 and earlier.

How to clear Internet cache in IE 11

Step 1. Unfold the "Tools" menu at top of the IE window, and choose "Delete Browsing History" on the list.

Tip: If you cannot find Tools menu on top ribbon, hit the "Gear" icon at upper right corner, select "Internet Options", then locate to the "Browsing history" section on the "General" tab and click the "Delete" button to open the Delete Browsing History dialog.

Step 2. On the pop-up dialog, check the boxes next to the options related to cookies, history and temporary files. Then click the "Delete" button to start clearing cache in IE.

Note: The methods to erase history in earlier versions of IE are a bit different. For example, in IE 8/7/6, select "Internet Options" in "Tools" menu, click "Delete" in the "Browsing history" section on "General" tab, click "Delete Files" in the "Temporary Internet Files" section and hit "Yes".

Part 4: How to delete browser cookies on Firefox

Firefox is an open source web browser project. It attracts millions of users, not only because free to charge, but also due to the excellent experiences and user-friendly interface. The steps below could help you to clear browser cookies and other cache on Firefox.

How to delete browser cookies on Firefox PC/Mac

Step 1. Right-click on the top of the Firefox browser and check "Toolbars" to display the top menu bar in Firefox. Then open the "History' menu and select "Clear Recent History".

Tip: The keyboard shortcut to activate the Clear Recent History dialog is Ctrl+Shift+Del.

Step 2. Unfold the drop-down menu and choose "Everything". Then click the downward icon in front of "Details" to display all custom options.

Step 3. TMake sure to select Browsing history, Download history, Cookies and other site and plugins, Cached images and files, and other data you want to clear in your Firefox.

Step 4. Finally, click the "Clear Now" button to finish clearing browser cookies in Firefox.

Clear Cookies on Firefox

How to delete browser cookies on Firefox Android/iOS

Step 1. Run Firefox app on your smartphone, tap on the "Menu" button at bottom with a three-line icon, swipe left on the floating toolbox and tap on "Settings".

Step 2. Select the "Clear Private Data" option under the "Privacy" section, make sure to turn on the options titled Browsing History, Cache, Cookies, and "Offline Website Data", hit the "Clear Private Data" button again and tap "OK" to confirm it.

Note: Now, if you check the size of your Firefox app in the Settings app, you will discover that it is much smaller.

Clear Cookies on Firefox Android/iOS

Part 5: what is browser history?

Now, you might understand how to clear all history on Google Chrome, Safari, IE and Firefox. But what is browser history? It is the list of web pages that you has visited recently and associated data, such as the page title and visit time. A web browser records the information in order to provide a shortcut to re-access the web site quickly. And most web browsers allow people to decide the period to save the browser history.

For example, on Firefox preferences page, go to the "Privacy" tab from left hand column, check the "Clear history when Firefox closes". Then when you quit the Firefox browser, it will clear all history automatically.

Google Chrome has similar setting: input chrome://settings into the address bar of your Chrome and press "Enter" key, scroll down to the bottom, click "Show advanced settings", locate to "Privacy" > "Content settings" > "Cookies", select "Keep local data only until you quit your browser".

Unfortunately, Safari does not have a clear history on exit setting.

By default, web browsing history is not published anywhere publicly. But the real problem is that some web sites and brands rely on cookies to track what pages you are visiting, as well as what content you are searching for online. Most brands announced that they just use your browser history to provide relevant promotions and personalized experiences, but we do not know how they really use our personal data. So, users hope to clear browsing history data and stop it being collected.

Browser History

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have talked about how to clear all history on Windows PCs/Mac/iPhone/Android. Considering search history, browsing data, web cache data and cookies related to our privacy and online activities, we should prevent others from peeking on them. Moreover, they take up a lot of space on our smartphones and slow down the internet experiences. The best solution is to erase history for your web browser regularly. Based on the new data about global browser market, we identified the most popular web browsers, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer. They are not only popular on PC/Mac, but also prevalent on iPhone and Android devices. So, we shared the step-by-step guides on how to clear history on Safari, Chrome, Firefox, IE on PC/Mac, iPhone and Android. If you have an iPhone, you are lucky since Apeaksoft iPhone Eraser is able to clear cookies, internet cache, and browser history with a single click. Now, you should grasp the guides and proper approach to protect your privacy. We wish that our guides and suggestions are helpful to you.

More Reading