How to Delete Details of All Websites Visited

Clearing your browser history frees space and keeps personal information safe.

The Internet offers anonymous access to all kinds of information, as well as a means of banking, communication and online shopping. After the browser is closed, however, sensitive information about you, your past searches, and your browsing history can remain on your computer. Clearing website information from your computer is a simple process that can help keep your personal information safe.

Instructions

1. Open the browser for which you wish to clear information. Common browsers include Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera.

2. Find the option to clear browser history. It appears under one of the program menus in the title bar of your screen. The location of the option varies depending on your browser.

   In Internet Explorer 8, the option will appear under Tools/Delete Browsing History.
   In Firefox, the option will appear under Tools/Clear Recent History.
   In Google Chrome, the option will appear under Tools/Options/Under the Hood/Clear browsing data (Windows/Linux) or Chrome/Clear Browsing Data (Mac).
   In Safari, the option will appear under Safari/Reset Safari.
   In Opera, the option will appear under tools/delete private data.

   Select the appropriate option from the menu.

3. Decide which types of information you would like to delete by checking or unchecking boxes in the list that appears. For details on each type of information, see the Tips section.

4. Click the "Clear History" button and wait for the process to finish. Depending on how much information is being cleared, this can take a few seconds to several minutes.

Tips & Warnings

• Browsing history contains information about the websites you have visited, including each page you have visited as well as the date and time of the visit. For search engines, browsing history includes searched terms in the title of page that appears in the history.

• Download history contains information about files you have downloaded through your browser, such as PDFs, MP3s, and Word documents. Download history usually contains the file name, type, and size, as well as an option to find the file on your computer. Note: Deleting the download history does not delete the corresponding downloaded files.

• Temporary Internet files, or cached files, are stored by the browser on your computer to make websites load faster.

• Cookies store bits of information about your browsing so that it will be available when you return to a site in the future. For example, when you place things in the your shopping cart, close the window, and return to a site at a later time, the items you selected are still there because cookies have stored the information.

• Several browsers, including Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer, offer special windows that allow you to browse without storing most of the above information. In Chrome, you can find the option under File/New Incognito Window. In IE, the option is under Safety/InPrivate Browsing. In Firefox, the option is under Tools/Start Private Browsing.

References

• Internet History
• Browser Privacy Features