Delete your Usage History Tracks in Windows

You don't necessarily want people poking around your Internet history. It's not only those who surf adult websites or chat rooms that might wish to hide their tracks from others: many people keep sensitive information on shared computers and have an interest in keeping data private, or their birthday or Christmas shopping, and don't want prying eyes making unwanted discoveries. If any of that applies to you, it is absolutely vital to make this your habit to avoid potential problems. While commercial software can erase history logs, this how-to will equip you to do it yourself—for free!

Steps

Deleting Usage History Using Internet Explorer

  1. Open Internet Explorer. Click on Internet Options in the Tools menu.
  2. Delete everything. Bring up Internet Options from the Tools menu, then select "Delete all." Alternatively, delete individual items using the History Pane accessible from the toolbar button.
    • Delete cookies: In the same Internet Options window, select Delete Cookies. Alternatively, delete individual items accessible using the View Files button.
    • Delete temp files: In the same Internet Options window, select "Delete Files." See Tips for how to manage temporary files.

Deleting Usage History Using Google Chrome

  1. Open a Chrome browser window. On the upper right of the toolbar, locate and click on the Chrome menu.
    • Select Tools → Clear Browsing Data...
  2. Check your options. In the resulting window, check off the options that you want to use. You can delete as little or as much of your usage history as you like.
    • To delete your entire usage history, obliterate the selected items "from the beginning of time."

Deleting Usage History Using Firefox

  1. Launch Firefox. Click on the Firefox menu, and select History → Clear Recent History.
  2. Select a time range. In the Clear Recent History window, select the appropriate time range. You can select anywhere from the last hour to everything.
    • To make a more specific selection for deletion, click on the Details menu in the Clear Recent History window, and choose exactly what it is you wish to delete.
  3. Click Clear Now.

Deleting Search History Using Registry Editor (Advanced Technique)

  1. Open up your Start menu and type in "regedit" into your search bar. Press "Enter" when finished.
  2. Double-click on the "regedit" icon. Wait until the program loads up. If prompted, press "continue."
  3. Press "Control" and "F" to bring up the Find box. This will allow you to begin searching for specific registry files.
  4. Type in "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft" into the Find box. Click the plus icon once the result lists in the Find box.
  5. Go to "Internet Explorer" → "Explorer Bars."
  6. Locate the Default registry entry. It will have the word "Default" in its file name.
  7. Right-click and delete all registry entries below the Default registry entry. Be sure not to delete the Default registry entry or any entries above the Default, as this may seriously compromise your system's ability to perform certain functions.

Deleting Index.Dat Files (Advanced Technique)

  1. Boot into Windows using Safe Mode. Normally, you can do this by hitting F8 immediately after turning on your computer.
  2. Log in as an administrator. Your index.dat files, which relay internet history information, are impossible to delete in Command Prompt when not logged in as Administrator.
  3. In Command Prompt, type in "del index.dat /s" and hit the Enter key. Your index.dat files, along with its subdirectories, should now be cleared.



Tips

  • After erasing your tracks, delete all System Restore points for good measure. The registry can be restored to a previous state using this tool.
  • To prevent forensic analysis of your hard drive, write over the empty space of your hard drive using a tool such as Eraser.
  • Windows maintains a DNS cache to help it find web pages. To see a list of recent web pages viewed, open a CMD window (click CMD in the 'run' box) and type ipconfig /displaydns. The cache can be emptied by typing ipconfig /flushdns.
  • If you don't want to complicate your life with manual tracks erasing, find a program to do it for you such as CCleaner (which is free!), OSPC Privacy Cleaner, East-Tec Eraser 2007, Evidence Eliminator, Tracks Eraser Pro, or Window Washer.
  • To disable the Recent Documents section on your start menu, right click on the Start button. Click on Properties. Go to the Start menu tab. Then Click the Customize button. Go to the Advanced tab. At the bottom, you'll see a recent documents section where you can uncheck "List my most recently opened documents." There is also a button that you can use to Clear the List and still keep that portion in the start menu.
  • Set IE to automatically delete temporary files when it closes. The option can be found in the Advanced tab under IE's Tools/Internet Options menu item. Alternatively, install IE replacement Firefox, which offers a "Clear Private Data" tool.
  • If you are using an antivirus, it should have a utility that can be used to delete usage history. The name of the utility varies. If you are using the latest Quick Heal, then it should have a software known as 'P.CTuner' which you can access using the virus database. You can run the Auto Tuneup or you can separately run the Traces Cleanup.

Warnings

  • In some limited circumstances, it may be possible for an expert to reverse these changes.
  • You are likely to draw suspicion if it was clear that you took steps to erase your tracks.
  • System file changes you undertake yourself are potentially dangerous and under your own risk.
  • Attempting to hide your computer usage at work is likely to bring you into conflict with management policy. Network administrators can access server logs that detail network and workstation activity, and firewalls can also keep logs. ISPs also keep their own logs.
  • Don't change computer settings for other users without asking. It would be a nuisance. Changing computer content without legal right is a crime in many countries.

Related Articles

  • Delete History from Google Toolbar
  • Clear Search History in Computer/File Explorer Search Box
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