Clear Your Online Activity

Every time you browse the internet your computer caches certain information within your hard drive. If you are thinking of selling your computer, hiding information from unwanted eyes, or even want to delete login information from important sites, you can easily delete your online activity in a few simple steps. While the process is relatively similar with all browsers, there are subtle differences between each one.

Steps

Chrome and Firefox

  1. Open the menu. After you open your browser, click on the menu in the upper right-hand corner. The menu's icon looks like three horizontal lines.
  2. Go to your history. You can do this by going to "History" and then "History" again in Chrome and simply "History" in Firefox.
  3. Select "Clear Browsing Data." In Firefox, this will be titled "Clear Browsing Data." This will prompt a window to appear from which you will select the online activity that you wish to clear.[1]
  4. Select what you wish to delete. From the dropdown menu, select how far back in time you would like to clear. If you wish to delete all of your internet history, select "The Beginning of Time" in Chrome or "Everything" in Firefox.[2]
  5. Check the box entitled "Browsing History." Other options you may check include "Form and Search History," "Cookies," "Active Logins," and "Cache." These options will delete things other than your browsing history, such as your saved passwords, recent searches, and personal information. To ensure complete erasure of your online activity, it is recommended that you select these boxes as well.
  6. Select "Clear Browsing Data." Once you have specified what you want deleted, click on the button at the bottom of the window titled "Clear Browsing Data." Your online activity should now be cleared.

Safari

  1. Choose "History." From your Safari window, select "History" from the top of the page.
  2. Select "Clear History." From the dropdown menu, select "Clear History" to delete all of your online activity.[3]
  3. Select "Show History." If you would like to delete specific items from your browser history, then you can select them individually from this window and then press delete.

Internet Explorer 7

  1. Open "Internet Options." You can do this by going to the Start menu, then selecting "Control Panel," clicking "Network and Internet," and then "Internet Options."
  2. Select the "General" tab. A drop down menu will appear where you may select "Browsing History."[4]
  3. Click on the "History" tab. From here choose "Delete History" and then "OK." [5]
  4. Close out of the window. You will then be shown a window. Click "OK."

Internet Explorer 8 and Above

  1. Open Internet Explorer. You can do this by going to the Start menu and then selecting "Internet Explorer."
  2. Select the "Safety" button. Once you have done so, select "Delete Browsing History."[4]
  3. Choose what kind of data you would like to delete. Some of the options will include "Browsing History," "Form and Search History," "Cookies," "Active Logins," and "Cache." These options will delete things other than your browsing history, such as your saved passwords, recent searches, and personal information. To ensure complete erasure of your online activity, it is recommended that you select these boxes as well.
  4. Select "Delete." This will clear the online activity that you specified.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/delete-browsing-search-download-history-firefox
  2. ↑ https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95589?hl=en
  3. ↑ https://support.apple.com/kb/PH17184?locale=en_US
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/clear-the-history-of-websites-youve-visited
  5. ↑ http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/manage-delete-browsing-history-internet-explorer#ie=ie-11
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