Deleting or Managing Your Search History

We all leave a lot of traces when we surf the web. While it is seemingly impossible to fully protect yourself from all the dangers the internet has, you can always remove some of problems caused by your browser’s habit to track your browsing preferences. In order to do it, you will need to learn how you can manage or remove the search history.

Knowing how to access the search history is a useful skill. You can not only get rid of the search history but also find a website that you accidentally closed.

First, let’s learn how to access the search history in most popular browsers. Many of them will bring you to this section if you press CTRL+H. However, there are other ways to do it:

·   In Chrome, go to menu in the top right corner and choose “History”. Mobile users should do the same on their mobile devices.

·   In Safari, find the option “History” and tap “Show All History” in the string of menu items in the top part of the browser.

·   In Firefox, go to the menu on the left side of the browser. In the mobile app, choose “History” in the menu.

·   In Internet Explorer (IE), press CTRL+H or go to the “History” section of the menu.

·   In Opera, go to menu and find “History” to call for the separate tab in which your browsing history will be listed in an organized manner.

Searching for specific items in the search history

If you need to find a website that you accidentally closed, you will need to open the browsing history.

·   In Chrome, use the text box in the top part of the tab and enter the key words.

·   In Firefox, use the text box in the left part of the screen above the search history.

·   In Safari, the search box is situated in the top right corner of the screen.

·   In Opera, the box is situated in the upper-right part of the tab next to the “Clear Browsing Data” button.

Deleting the history

In many cases, removing the traces of your browsing history can be beneficial. If you need to delete the browsing history, you will need to open the search history tab in the browser.

·   In Chrome, you can remove separate entries in the search history list as well as the whole mass of data by checking or unchecking necessary items and clicking the “Remove from history” button. Mobile users can do the same, but they will be presented with a small “X” icon next to each of selected item. You can also remove all entries from a specific time range by going to “Settings” and finding the section “Clear Browsing Data”.

·   In IE, right-clicking an item from the list will call a pop-up menu in which you can use “Delete” to remove it from the list. You can also remove the whole history by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+DEL and checking the box next to “History” before clicking the Delete button.

·   In Firefox, right-click an item from the list in the left part of the screen and choose “Delete Page” or press “D”. If you need to get rid of the whole history, go to “Browsing & Download History” in the menu, find the item “Form & Search History”, and press the button called “Clear Now”. You can also choose a preferred time range.

·   In Safari, right-clicking any item in the list will open a small pop-up menu in which you can find the button “Delete”. In the upper part of the tab, you will see a “Clear History” button that will call a small pop-up window in which you can choose the time range and press the “Clear History” button underneath it.

·   In Opera, hovering over an item in the list will show a small “X” icon that you can press in order to remove the item from the list. Removing all entries in the list is also quite simple. You will need to press the “Clear Browsing Data” in the upper right corner of the tab.