Clear the Search Box of Sites You Have Viewed Online

You can clear the previous entries that appear in search fields and other forms on websites by using your browser's Settings menu. The process is very similar for most major browsers. If you use Safari for iOS or macOS, the browser does not save entries for search fields on websites, so there's nothing to delete. If you need to delete your browsing history so that websites don't appear in your address bar, see Delete Browsing History.

Steps

Chrome (Desktop)

  1. Click the Chrome Menu button (⋮) and select "Settings." This will open the settings menu in a new tab.
  2. Click the "Show advanced settings" link at the bottom. This will display additional settings for Chrome.
  3. Click the "Clear Browsing Data" button. You'll find this in the "Privacy" section right below where the "Show advanced settings" link was. A new window will appear with several options.
  4. Uncheck everything except "Autofill form data." This option will delete everything that you've entered into forms on websites.
    • If you want to prevent websites you've visited from appearing in the address bar, check "Browsing history" as well.
  5. Click the "Obliterate..." menu and select "the beginning of time." This will ensure that all entries you've ever saved will be deleted.
  6. Click "Clear browsing data." This will delete the selected items from Chrome.
  7. Delete a single search entry. If you just need to get rid of one or two entries, you can do manually:[1]
    • Click the field that contains the entries you want to delete. A list of saved entries will appear.
    • Highlight the entry you want to delete with your mouse.
    • Press ⇧ Shift+Del while it is highlighted. This will delete the entry.

Firefox (Desktop)

  1. Click the Firefox Menu button (☰) and select "History." The menu will switch to your recent browsing history.
  2. Click the "Clear Recent History" option. A new window will appear.
  3. Expand the "Details" section. This will display additional options
  4. Uncheck everything except "Form & Search History." The Form & Search History option will delete all of the queries and form entries you've filled out while browsing.
    • If you don't want your previously-visited sites appearing in the address bar, check the "Browsing & Download History" box as well.
  5. Select "Everything" from the "Time range to clear" menu. This will ensure that your entire search field and form history is deleted.
  6. Click "Clear Now" to delete the selected items. Your search field history will be deleted.
  7. Delete a single search entry. If you only need to delete a couple entries, you can do so manually without getting rid of everything:
    • Click the field that contains the entry you want to delete. A list of previous entries will appear.
    • Highlight the entry you want to delete. You may have to type a couple letters from it to make it appear.
    • Press ⇧ Shift+Del while the entry is highlighted. This will delete the search entry.

Chrome (Android)

  1. Tap the Chrome Menu button (⋮) and select "Settings." You may have to scroll down to find it.
  2. Tap "Privacy." The Chrome Privacy menu will open.
  3. Scroll down and tap "Clear browsing data." You'll see a list of the types of items that can be deleted.
  4. Check the "Autofill form data" box. This will ensure that any entries you've typed into search fields are deleted.
    • You can uncheck other items that you may want to keep, such as browsing history and cached images and files.
  5. Select "beginning of time" from the menu at the top of the screen. This will tell Chrome to delete every stored entry it has saved.
  6. Tap "Clear Data" to delete the checked items. Your search box entries will be completely deleted.
  7. Delete a single search entry. If you want to get rid of a single entry without deleting your entire history, you can do it manually:
    • Tap the field that contains the search you want to get rid of. You may need to type a few letters from the search to make it appear.
    • Press and hold on the search in the suggestions list that you want to delete.
    • Confirm that you want to remove the entry.

Internet Explorer

  1. Click the Gear button in the upper-right corner. If you don't see a Gear button, press Alt and then click the Tools menu.
  2. Select "Internet options." This will open a new window with the Internet Explorer options.
  3. Click the "Delete" button in the "Browsing history" section. The "Delete Browsing History" window will appear.
  4. Uncheck every box except "Form data." This option will delete the entries you have typed into forms and search fields on websites.
    • If you don't want websites that you've visited to appear in the address bar, check the "History" option as well.
  5. Click the "Delete" button. This will delete your selected items.
  6. Delete a single search or form entry. When you just need to delete a single entry, you can do it manually without clearing your entire history:
    • Click the field that contains the entry you want to delete. If there are lots of entries, you may need to type the first few letters to make it appear.
    • Highlight the entry will your mouse or keyboard keys.
    • Press ⇧ Shift+Del to delete the highlighted entry.

Microsoft Edge (Windows 10)

  1. Click or tap the "..." button in the upper-right corner of the Edge window. This will open the Settings sidebar.
  2. Select the "Choose what to clear" button. The sidebar will change to show what will be deleted.
  3. Check the "Form data" box. This will set Edge to delete entries you've typed into fields on websites.
    • If you don't want previously-visited websites appearing in the address bar, check the "Browsing history" option as well.
  4. Click or tap the "Clear" button to delete the selected items. Anything you've typed into search fields or forms on websites will be deleted.

Google Searches

  1. Tap or click the Google Search bar. This will display your recent searches. You may have to type a few letters to find the search you want to delete.
  2. Delete the search you want to get rid of. Click the "Remove" button or tap the "X" button to the right of the search you want to remove. This will delete it from your Google search history.
  3. Delete your entire search history. You can delete all of your previous Google searches using the My Activity page:[2]
    • Visit myactivity.google.com and log in with your Google account.
    • Select "Delete activity by" in the left menu.
    • Select "All time" from the "Delete by date menu."
    • Select "Search" from the "All products" menu.
    • Click or tap "Delete" to delete your entire Google Search history.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://lifehacker.com/5893908/how-to-banish-embarrassing-or-annoying-autocomplete-suggestions-from-your-browser
  2. ↑ https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/465?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en
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