Q: Clear Your Browsers’ Internet History, Cookies and Cache

Clearing your browser’s history, cookies, and cache can help fix a odd problem with a website or web application. Also, clearing your browser’s caches, you can free space on your computer and limit some of the tracking websites and advertising networks perform. Below are some basic steps to clear some of your Internet History, Cookies and other cached data.

Please note these steps will be deleting data from your computer, any data lost from these steps are preformed at your own accord. You agree to disclaim all liability with any data lost caused by the below steps

Windows Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer 6

  • Open Internet Explorer
  • Click “Tools” from the Menu-bar and the “Internet Options”
  • In the “Temporary Internet File” Section
  • Click “Delete Cookies…”
  • Click “Yes” on the Dialog that appears to confirm you want to Delete All Cookies
  • Deleting the cookies may take a few second or minutes depending upon the number of cookies
  • Click “Delete Files…”
  • In the dialog that appears, place a check-mark next to “Delete all offline content”
  • Then click “OK” to remove Temporary Internet Files.
  • In the “History” section
  • Click “Clear History” to remove all previously visited sites that appear in the address bar
  • Click “Yes” to confirm the removal.
  • Click “OK” on the Internet Option dialog to close it.

Windows Internet Explorer 7/8

  • Open Windows Internet Explorer
  • Click “Tools” from the the toolbar, on the far right side of the screen
  • Click “Internet Options” from the bottom of the “Tools” list
  • In the “Browsing History” Section click “Delete…”
  • Click “Delete Files…” in the “Temporary Internet Files” section to remove cached version of webpages and there associated media. Click “Yes” to confirm deletion.
  • Click “Delete Cookies…” in the “Cookies” Sections to remove cookies that websites placed on your computer. Click “Yes” to confirm deletion.
  • Click “Delete History…” in the “History” Section to remove all the websites you have visited and the addresses in your address bar. Click “Yes” to confirm deletion.

Optional

  • Click “Delete forms…” in the “Form data” Section to remove auto-suggestion for web forms. Click “Yes” to confirm deletion.
  • Click “Delete passwords…” in the “Passwords” Section to remove all previously saved passwords. Click “Yes” to confirm deletion.

If you want to remove everything, just click “Delete all…” at the bottom of the dialog window.

When you have deleted the browsing history you wanted, click “Close” on the “Delete Browsing History” and then Click “OK” on the Internet Options” dialog to close it.

Mozilla Firefox

  • Open Firefox
  • Either Click the “Firefox” button in the top left corner or the “Tools” menu from the menu bar
  • Click “Options” under the “Firefox” button or “Tool” menu
  • Click “Privacy” in the Options dialog window
  • Click “Clear your recent history” in the “History” section
  • Select the desired time period to remove browsing history from the drop-down menu next to “Time range to clear”
  • Optional: Click Details to select the items you wish to remove from your browsing history. Suggested items: Browsing & Download History, Cookies, and Cache.
  • Click “OK” on the Options Dialog window to close the dialog.

Google Chrome

  • Open Google Chrome
  • Copy and Paste the following address into the address bar of Chrome: chrome://chrome/history/
  • Click “Clear all browsing history…”
  • On the dialog that appears change “Obliterate the following items from:” to the desired time period to remove.
  • The default items to remove are usually good but you should make sure the following items are checked:
    • Clear browsing history
    • Clear download history
    • Empty the cache
    • Delete cookies and other site and plug-in data
  • Click “Clear browsing data”.
  • Then you may navigate away from the settings page by entering a new web address in the omni-bar

Apple Safari

Safari on Windows

  • Open Safari
  • Click on the “Gear” menu and select “Preferences…”
  • In the window that appears, click “Privacy” from the top toolbar
  • Under the Privacy section, click the button “Remove All Website Data…”
  • A warning dialog will appear to confirm the deletion. Click “Remove Now” to remove website data and associated cookies.
  • You click the “X” to close the “Preferences” dialog

Opera

  • Open Opera
  • Click on the “Opera Menu” from the top left corner or select “Tools” from the menu bar.
  • Go down to “Settings” and select “Delete Private Data…”
  • Click the “Detailed Options” in the “Delete Private Data” window
  • Select the items to be removed, the following items are a good choice to remove:
    • Delete Session Cookies
    • Delete All Cookies
    • Delete Entire Cache
    • Delete Geo-location Data
    • Clear History of Visited Pages
    • Clear History of Downloads

These steps were current as of May 2012, with the most recent stable version of each of the above web browsers. Want to know more about web browsers? Check out our article, Real Browsers for the Web

Last updated on

Comments

Be the first to comment on this Article

Leave a Comment

Support Options

On Premise Support

Need help in your home or office? No problem, we can come to you!

Learn More

Remote Support

Do you need assistants, but your too busy? Then Remote Support is the Best Option!

Learn More

Get Help Online

Need help right now? Then the forums are the best place for immediate help.

Forums

Polls

How often do you replace your primary computer?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...