Essential Skills

Beginner

3 min read 5 stepsApril 16, 2026Verified April 2026

How to Clear Your Browser History and Cache

Clear your browsing history and cached files to protect your privacy, fix website loading problems, and free up space on your device.

At a Glance

Open the Clear Browsing Data menu in Chrome

~15s

In Google Chrome on a computer, click the three vertical dots in the upper right corner. Click "History," then click "History" again in the submenu. On the left side, click "Clear browsing data."

In Chrome: select what to clear

~17s

A window will appear with checkboxes for Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, and Cached images and files. Check the boxes for what you want to remove. Use the "Time range" dropdown to choose "All time" to clear everything, or a shorter period like "Last 7 days."

Clear history on Safari (iPhone/iPad)

~15s

Open the Settings app (gray gear icon) on your iPhone or iPad. Scroll down and tap "Safari." Scroll down and tap "Clear History and Website Data." Tap "Clear" to confirm. This removes history from all your Apple devices signed into the same Apple ID.

Clear history on Safari (Mac)

~15s

Open Safari and click "History" in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click "Clear History" at the bottom of the dropdown menu. Choose a time range and click "Clear History."

Clear history in Firefox or Edge

~15s

In Firefox, press Ctrl+Shift+Del (Windows) to open the clear history window. In Microsoft Edge, click the three horizontal dots in the top right, then "History," then "Clear browsing data." Both follow the same pattern as Chrome: choose what to delete and confirm.

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Your browser keeps a record of every website you have visited. This is called your browsing history. Your browser also stores temporary copies of website images and files on your device, so those pages load faster when you revisit them. These temporary files are called the cache, pronounced "cash." Clearing your history removes the list of sites you have visited, and clearing the cache removes the stored copies of web pages.

There are a few good reasons to clear these. One is privacy, so others using your computer cannot see where you have been. Another is fixing website problems, since a stale cache can cause pages to display incorrectly. A third is simply freeing up storage space. On a shared computer, clearing history is especially important if you have been logged into banking or personal accounts.

The steps are slightly different in each browser, but the basic process is the same. Open the browser's settings or menu, find the option to clear browsing data, choose what to delete, and confirm.

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Official Resources

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