Worried what someone might see if they’re using your computer? Is your browsing history filling up and slowing down your device? We’ll show you how to clear your search and browsing history on your computer and phone, as well as on Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers. Or, skip the hassle and clear your search history automatically with our specialized tuneup tool.
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You can clear your search history across all your devices in the settings of your Google, Bing, or Yahoo accounts. But this method won’t cover searches you made while logged out.
While deleting your browser history will clear some searches, it will clear only the searches you made in that one browser on that particular computer. And it doesn’t prevent advertisers from following your search history and using it for ad tracking.
Here’s how to delete your search history in Google, Bing, and Yahoo:
Sign in.
Log in to your Google account.
Open your account settings.
Click the App menu in the right corner and choose Account.
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Open your data settings.
Find Privacy & personalization and click Manage your data & personalization.
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View your account activity.
Scroll down until you see a box labeled Activity and timeline. Click My Activity.
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Delete unwanted searches.
You’ll see a list of many links and websites. From here, you can remove any site by clicking the three dots next to each item and selecting delete. Or you can delete all the history from a particular day by clicking the little trash can icon.
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Delete your entire history.
Delete your entire history by clicking Delete activity by on the menu to the left. In the pop-up that appears, choose All time or select a Custom range.
Confirm the deletion.
Click Delete to confirm you want to erase your history. The next screen will confirm that you’ve deleted your search history, while offering additional options for managing your activity and history.
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Adjust your search history settings.
Go back to Data & personalization, find the Activity controls box, and select Manage your activity controls.
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Turn off search history collection.
Inside Activity controls, find the toggle switch for Web & App Activity. Toggle the switch off (so it turns gray) to prevent Google from saving your search history.
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And that’s how to clear your Google search history! Google knows a lot about you beyond just your search history, and you can download your Google data if you’re curious.
Sign in to your Microsoft account.
Click the three bars next to your login and click Search history.
Click View and delete search history and go to a new site.
Log in again.
After logging in, you’ll be taken to a new page. Click View and Clear Search History.
Click Search on the left menu.
You can delete each item individually, or you can click the Clear activity button in the upper-right.
Click Clear on the pop-up alert.
That’s how you delete all searches in Bing. But you’ll have to use InPrivate windows in Edge to prevent Microsoft from saving your searches going forward. Private browsing modes are just one way you can stay safer while browsing.
Clearing all your searches in Yahoo is easy and straightforward. Just log in, open your settings, and delete your searches.
Log in to Yahoo.
From the Yahoo search page, click the box in the upper-right corner, and click Settings.
On the far left, click Search History.
Click the garbage bin next to each item you want to delete.
To clear your entire search history, click Clear History, then click Delete in the following pop-up.
Click Turn History Off to prevent Yahoo from saving your search history in the future.
Deleting your browser history from one major browser to the next is largely the same. While you can choose how much of your history to delete, pick the all time/everything option if you want to completely refresh your browser.
Here’s how to delete your history in several of the most popular browsers.
Open Chrome.
Click the three dots in the upper-right corner.
Click History. Then on the side menu, hit History again.
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A new tab should open. Find Clear browsing data on the left.
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Another new tab will open with a pop-up. Keep the box next to Browsing history checked and select how much of your history to delete.
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Click Clear data.
Get more control over your browsing experience by blocking pop-ups in Chrome and removing Chrome extensions if they’re no longer helpful.
Open Firefox.
In the menu bar, click History.
Click Clear Recent History.
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Check both Browsing & Download history and Form & Search History. Then use the drop-down menu at the top to decide the length of time.
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Click OK.
If you’re still using Internet Explorer, consider switching to a new browser. Microsoft no longer supports IE with security updates, which leaves it vulnerable to security holes that can be exploited by hackers.
Here’s how to delete your browsing history on Microsoft Edge:
Open Microsoft Edge.
Click the three dots on the right side of the web address field.
Click History (next to the clock-arrow icon).
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Select Clear browsing data at the top.
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Keep the box for Browsing history checked, then click Clear now.
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Open up Opera.
Click the clock on the far-left toolbar.
For individual pages, just hover over the link and click the X button on the right.
To clear everything at once, click Clear browsing data.
A new window should pop up. Make sure the box next to Browsing history is ticked, and set the time range.
Click Clear data and you're done!
AVG Secure Browser was designed with privacy at the forefront. With robust security and privacy features, you can bank, shop, and surf safely. Use its private mode — which automatically blocks ads, trackers, and phishing attacks — and you won’t have to worry about clearing your browser history at all.
If you aren’t using private mode, you can still clear your AVG Secure Browser history in a few easy steps:
Open AVG Secure Browser.
Click the three dots in the right corner, then navigate to History > History.
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Click Privacy Cleaner.
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Select everything you want to delete (browsing history, cookies, cache) and choose your timeframe from the drop-down menu — we recommend All time. Then click Clear data.
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While you’re in Settings, click Privacy & Security Center to see all the safety-enhancing features AVG Secure Browser has to offer.
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AVG Secure Browser blocks ads, trackers, malicious extensions, and more.
Clearing your search history on your Google, Bing, or Yahoo! accounts deletes it on your mobile devices, too. But you may need to clear your browsing history on mobile separately.
Here’s how to clear your history on mobile devices:
If you’re using Safari, you’ll clear your iPhone or iPad’s browsing and search history at the same time. Clearing them separately is only possible with other browsers.
Here’s how to delete both your browsing and search history on iOS:
Launch the Safari app.
Tap the open book icon on the bottom toolbar.
Then tap the clock in the upper right.
Delete individual items by clicking X to the right of each link.
Clear everything, including cookies, by tapping the Clear button at the bottom of the list.
Select how far back you want to delete and you’re good to go.
While you’re in your settings, you can further trim your Safari experience by blocking Safari pop-ups.
Deleting your browsing history on Android devices is a lot like the process on PCs, meaning it changes depending on the browser you’re using. If you’ve already cleared your search history on your desktop browser, you don’t need to do it again on your phone.
Here’s how to clear your search history on mobile in various browsers:
Open the Google Chrome app on your Android.
Tap the three dots in the right corner and select History.
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You can delete individual items from this list with the X buttons next to each link.
To do everything at once, click Clear browsing data at the top.
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Make sure Browsing history has a checkmark next to it. Choose how much history you want to delete with the drop-down menu to the right.
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Click Clear data and you’re done!
Of course, your search and browsing history will start to build up again quickly. Consider automating the process to easily delete your browsing history, cookies, cache, and more regularly with an automated browser cleaner tool.
Open the Firefox mobile app.
Tap the three dots in the right corner.
Select History.
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You’ll see a list of recently viewed websites. Tap Delete history at the top of the screen.
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A warning pop-up will appear. Tap Delete.
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You’re all set.
Launch Opera.
Find the O-menu button on the bottom right and tap it.
Tap History, then tap the trash icon on the upper right.
Confirm you want to clear your browsing history.
Open up Google Play.
To the right of the search bar, tap the blue circle with your initial or profile picture. Tap Settings.
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Click the arrow to the right of General to expand the menu. Then tap Account and device preferences.
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Scroll down and tap Clear device search history.
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Confirm by tapping Clear history.
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To block Google’s ability to track your Youtube history, log in to your Google account and go to Privacy & personalization, Activity controls, and turn YouTube Search History and YouTube Watch History off.
YouTube uses your search and watch history to determine what kind of videos you might be interested in. Delete your YouTube history if you want to stop Google from collecting and storing this information.
If you’ve watched any videos in your browser's incognito/private mode, they won’t be saved. And if you deleted your Google search history as described above, then you may have also seen an option to delete your YouTube watch and search history there.
To get rid of your YouTube search and watch history, follow any one of the following three processes. They’ll each clear your YouTube search and watch history on every device you use.
Log into your YouTube account.
Click the three bars in the corner and go to History.
Delete individual videos by hovering over the title with your mouse and clicking the X button on the right.
To delete everything, click Clear All Watch History on the left, then confirm a second time on the following pop-up.
Pause your watch history in the same menu.
Click Search history on the left.
Delete individual search items or everything at once.
Open the YouTube website on your phone and log in.
In the upper menu, tap the person icon to access your account.
Tap History.
To delete individual videos in your history, tap the three dots next to each one, then tap Remove from Watch history.
To delete everything or pause your watch history, tap the buttons on the top: Clear All Watch History or Pause Watch History, respectively.
Confirm your choice in the pop-up that appears.
Tap the Search History tab to delete individual items or your entire search history.
Open the YouTube app and make sure you’re logged in.
Tap Library at the bottom of the screen.
Tap History.
Tap the three dots next to an item and click Remove from Watch history to delete individual videos.
To delete everything, tap the three dots in the upper-right corner of the screen, then tap History controls.
Tap Pause watch history and Pause search history and confirm.
Tap Clear watch history and Clear search history as well and confirm.
Storing your browsing history can take up memory on your device and even slow it down. And if you ever intend on sharing your device, clearing your web history is a good first step in keeping your activity private.
Clearing your browser makes it safer as it protects against history sniffing, which can put your personal info at risk. Plus, cleaning up other temporary files can propel your PC to much faster speeds. Several of the most secure and private browsers will automatically clean your history at the end of each browsing session.
Why bother clearing your search history? All the big search providers track your searches, which they then use to help advertisers reach you more effectively. Other sites may sell your data directly to advertisers or data brokers. Given how often data breaches happen, you’re one leak away from potential trouble.
Deleting your browser history prevents your browser from auto-filling the URLs of your favorite sites, but you can easily make up for that by using bookmarks. If you’re worried about your stored passwords disappearing if you delete your history, they’ll be preserved — but a password manager is a much more secure way to store your passwords.
If you’re not sure exactly what to keep or delete, and if you want to give your PC a general cleaning, try AVG TuneUp. Our specialized cleaner will streamline your browser and remove redundant files and other junk to boost your computer’s performance and speed.
There are differences between a browser’s history, cache, and cookies — though they’re certainly linked and will often show up in the process of cleaning out your history.
The cache saves elements that certain websites need to run. When you visit those websites again, the cached data helps your browser load faster.
Cookies are used by websites to track data about you: what you do, what you’re authorized to see, and where you go next.
Not all cookies are bad, but you should regularly delete browser cookies and clear the cache too. It’ll keep your browser running its best, and keep your data that much more private.
Your browser's private/incognito mode prevents your browsing and search history from being saved locally on your device. It doesn’t make you invisible online — and doesn’t stop advertisers from tracking you — but it keeps any browsing activity out of your device’s browsing history.
For greater protection and anonymity online, switch to a dedicated private browser like AVG Secure Browser, which includes anti-tracking, automatic ad blocking, malware protection, and much more.
To skip all the trouble of manually deleting your search and browsing history, try an automated browser maintenance tool. AVG TuneUp is a powerful performance optimizer that will automatically clear out junk — including your browsing and search history — to protect your privacy and keep your PC in tip-top shape, 24/7.
To clear cookies on your iPhone, open Settings, tap Safari, then scroll down and tap Advanced followed by Website Data. Finally, tap Remove All Website Data. This will help improve your iPhone’s performance and prevent Safari pop-ups and other targeted ads from bothering you. You can strengthen your privacy further by following iPhone security best practices and using a top-rated iOS security app.
To clear your browsing history on Chrome, click or tap the three dots in the top-right corner of the browser window, navigate to History via the drop-down menu, and select Clear Browsing History followed by Clear Data to confirm. You can also use a browser cleaner tool such as AVG TuneUp to manage your history and other data used by Google to track you online. Chrome security extensions that block pop-ups are another way to protect your privacy.
Deleting browser cookies permanently wipes all cookie data. That means that you’ll lose data in your shopping carts and any login information you’ve entered into websites you visit frequently. But it also means that you won’t be served such targeted ads. Cookies improve your browsing experience by saving data so you don’t need to constantly re-enter it. But cookies also let websites and advertisers track your online activity, so deleting them will enhance your online privacy.
Deleting browsing history clears the list of previously visited websites from your browser, and it prevents the browser from auto-filling the URLs of your favorite sites. Deleting history does not affect cookies, saved login credentials and passwords, or other private information stored as cached data. That’s why performing a full browser cleanup improves your security and data privacy.
Even after you delete your browsing history, your search history can still be viewed if you were signed into your Google account and had search history collection enabled. Other fragments of your browsing history can also be found in your downloads history, browser cache, and other locations. That’s why you should use a specialized cleaner tool to wipe away all your digital footprints, including clearing your cache on Android and deleting cached data on Mac.
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