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It's Easy to Clear Your Internet Explorer History With 6 Easy Steps
Delete your web browsing data to keep your web habits private
By Heinz Tschabitscher Heinz Tschabitscher Writer University of Vienna A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on June 16, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Browsers Microsoft Chrome Safari Firefox What to Know
Select the gear icon in IE to open a menu. Choose Safety > Delete browsing history.Confirm History is selected in the Delete Browsing History window.Choose Delete. This article explains how to clear your Internet Explorer history. Microsoft no longer supports Internet Explorer and recommends that you update to the newer Edge browser. Head to their site to download the newest version. How to Clear Your History in Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer, like most browsers, keeps track of the websites you've visited so that you can easily find them again or so that it can auto-suggest websites for you when you start typing them in the navigation bar. Fortunately, it's easy to clear out your history in Internet Explorer: Open Internet Explorer. In the upper-right corner of the program, select the gear icon to open a menu. The Alt+X hotkey works too. Choose Safety and then Delete browsing history. You can also get to the next step with the Ctrl+Shift+Del keyboard shortcut. If you have the menu visible in Internet Explorer, Tools > Delete browsing history takes you there too. In the Delete Browsing History window that appears, make sure History is selected. Select Delete. When the Delete Browsing History window closes, you can continue using Internet Explorer, close it out, etc. - all the history has been deleted. The Delete Browsing History window is also where you can clear the Internet Explorer cache to get rid of other temporary files stored by IE, as well as remove saved passwords, form data, etc. You can select any other item from this list if you want, but History is the only option needed to remove your history. More Information on Clearing History in IE
If you're using an older version of Internet Explorer, these steps won't be exactly the same for you but they will be similar. Consider updating Internet Explorer to the latest version. CCleaner is a system cleaner that can delete the history in Internet Explorer too, as well as the history stored in other web browsers you might use. You can avoid having to clear your history by browsing the internet privately through Internet Explorer. You can do this by using InPrivate Browsing: Open IE, go to the menu button, and navigate to Safety > InPrivate Browsing, or press the Ctrl+Shift+P keyboard shortcut. Everything you do within that browser window is kept secret in regards to your history, which means that nobody can go through your visited websites and there's no need to clear the history when you're done; just exit the window when you're finished. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire Manage Browsing History and Other Private Data in IE11 How to Clear Internet Cache in Every Major Browser How to Clear the Cache in IE11 How to Delete Cookies in Every Major Browser Search History: How to View or Delete It How to Clear Your Search Bar History How to Activate InPrivate Browsing Mode in IE How to Activate InPrivate Browsing Mode in IE 10 How to Delete Temporary Internet Files in Internet Explorer How to Clear Your Instagram Search History How to Manage AutoComplete in Internet Explorer 11 Delete Temporary Internet Files and Cookies How to Clear Cookies for a Specific Site How to Clear Reddit Search History How to Turn on Incognito Mode in Your Browser How to Clear Cache on an iPad Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies