How to Clear Grayed-Out Search History
Click on the address bar in your Internet Explorer, and before you've entered your first "W," every website you have ever visited will appear. If you would prefer this information wasn't reading material for every other user of your computer, you can normally clear this list using the "Delete Browsing History" tool. If this option is grayed out and unresponsive, however, there is either no search history to erase or the function is disabled. If the latter is the case, you must turn this on to ensure your privacy while using the Internet.
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Instructions
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Enabling "Delete Browsing History"
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Open the "Start" menu, and type "gpedit.msc" into the search box.
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Double-click "gpedit.msc" when it appears in the search results to open the Group Policy editor.
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Expand the "User Configuration" folder in the left side of the window. Then open the "Administrative Templates," "Windows Components," "Internet Explorer" and "Delete Browsing History" folders, in that order.
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Double-click "Turn off Delete Browsing Functionality."
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Click on "Disabled," select "OK," then exit all of the windows you have opened.
Deleting Search History
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Enter the "Start" menu, and select "Internet Explorer."
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Open "Tools," and select "Delete Browsing History," which will no longer be grayed out in the drop-down menu.
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Click on the "History" check box, then select "Delete" to wipe out your search history.
Erasing Specific Websites
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Open the "Start" menu, then "Internet Explorer"
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Hold "Ctrl" while pressing "H" on your keyboard to bring up your search history.
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Double-click on the week or day that you accessed the website you would like removed from your history. Find the website from the list, and select it.
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Press "Delete" on your keyboard to erase that specific item.
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References
- Photo Credit internet image by Travelfish from Fotolia.com
