How to Erase History Under the Search Bar

Web browsers--such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome--all save the history of your searches and display it under your search bar. The saved search history gives you easy access to previous searches with fewer key presses. However, this is detrimental to privacy, and many users may want to erase the search history. Erase the search history under the browser's search bar and search bars on Web pages using your Web browser's options.

Instructions

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Open Internet Explorer by clicking "Start," "All Programs," then "Internet Explorer."

2. Open the Delete Browsing History tool by clicking the "Safety" menu at the top right of the Internet Explorer window, then by clicking "Delete Browsing History."

3. Click the "History" and "Form Data" check boxes in the "Delete Browsing History" window.

4. Erase the history under the search bars by clicking "Delete" in the Delete Browsing History window.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open Mozilla Firefox by clicking "Start," "All Programs," "Mozilla Firefox," then "Mozilla Firefox."

2. Open the Clear Recent History tool by clicking "Tools," then "Clear Recent History."

3. Click the box next to "Time Range to Clear" in the Clear Recent History window, then click "Everything."

4. Click the arrow next to "Details" in the Clear Recent History window.

5. Click the "Browsing & Download History" and "Form & Search History" check boxes in the Clear Recent History list.

6. Erase the history under the search bars by clicking "Clear Now" in the Clear Recent History window.

Google Chrome

1. Open Google Chrome by clicking "Start," "All Programs," then "Google Chrome."

2. Open the Google Chrome Options window by clicking the wrench icon at the top right of the Google Chrome window, then by clicking "Options."

3. Click the "Under the Hood" tab in the Options window.

4. Click "Clear Browsing Data" under "Privacy Settings."

5. Click the "Clear Browsing History" and "Clear Saved Form Data" check boxes in the Clear Browsing Data window.

6. Click the box to the right of "Clear Data From this Period," then click "Everything."

7. Erase the history under the search bars by clicking "Clear Browsing Data" in the Clear Browsing Data window.

Tips & Warnings

• Delete other personal Web browsing data by using your browser's history erasing tool.

References

• Windows: Clear the history of websites you've visited
• Mozilla: Clear Recent History
• Google Chrome: Clear personal information: Clear browsing data