What you can delete from Safari and where to find it
Safari stores three main categories of data: your browsing history (the list of sites you've visited), cookies and website data (login information and preferences), and cached files (images and code downloaded to speed up loading). You can delete all of it at once, or pick and choose what goes. The fastest route is the Clear History and Website Data menu, which takes about 10 seconds and removes everything from a time period you select.
On Mac, this menu lives under Safari > Clear History. On iPhone and iPad, it's in Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data. The button appears the same on both, but the steps to get there differ slightly — that's why this guide covers each device separately.
Key Takeaways
- On Mac, open Safari, click Safari in the menu bar, then select Clear History and choose your time range.
- On iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data, then pick how far back to delete.
- You can delete history without touching cookies, or cookies without touching history, by using the Advanced settings on Mac.
- Clearing your cache does not sign you out of most websites, but it may slow down page loading temporarily as Safari rebuilds it.
- Private browsing mode prevents Safari from storing history and cookies in the first place, so nothing accumulates to delete later.
Deleting history on Mac
Open Safari and click Safari in the menu bar at the top of your screen. A dropdown menu appears. Click Clear History near the bottom. A window pops up with a single dropdown that says "Clear history from" — click it to choose your time range. Your options are the last hour, today, today and yesterday, or all history. Pick one and click Clear History.
This action deletes your browsing history and cookies at the same time. If you want to delete only history and leave cookies alone (or vice versa), use Safari > Preferences > Privacy instead. In the Privacy tab, click Manage Website Data to see a list of every site that has stored data on your Mac. You can remove individual sites or click Remove All to clear everything.
Deleting history on iPhone and iPad
Open the Settings app and scroll down to find Safari in the list. Tap it. Near the bottom of the Safari settings, you'll see Clear History and Website Data. Tap that button. A confirmation message appears asking which time period to clear — the last hour, today, today and yesterday, or all time. Choose one and tap Clear.
Like the Mac version, this removes both history and cookies together. If you need finer control, go back to the Safari settings and tap Advanced at the very bottom. Tap Website Data to see which sites have stored information. You can swipe left on any site to delete just that one, or tap Edit and then Remove All to clear everything while leaving your history intact.
What happens when you clear your cache
Clearing your cache removes temporary files that Safari downloaded to make websites load faster. After you clear it, the next time you visit those sites, Safari has to download images and code again, so pages may load slightly slower for a few visits. After that, the cache rebuilds and speeds return to normal.
Clearing your cache does not sign you out of most websites. You'll stay logged into Gmail, Facebook, your bank, and other services because login information is stored in cookies, which are separate from cached files. However, some sites may ask you to log in again if they store session data in the cache rather than cookies — this is rare but does happen.
Deleting individual sites from your history
On Mac, open Safari and press Command + Y to open the History sidebar on the left. Find the site you want to remove, right-click it, and select Delete. You can also click the clock icon at the top of the sidebar to filter by time period, which makes finding older entries faster.
On iPhone and iPad, there is no way to delete individual sites from history through the main interface. Your only option is to clear everything using the method described above, or to use Private Browsing mode going forward so Safari doesn't store history at all. If you want to hide a single site from your history on iPhone, the workaround is to clear all history and website data, then manually revisit the sites you want to keep.
Using Private Browsing to avoid storing history
Private Browsing mode tells Safari not to store your browsing history, cookies, or cached files while you're using it. On Mac, click File > New Private Window, or press Command + Shift + N. The address bar turns dark to show you're in private mode. Close the window when you're done, and nothing from that session is saved.
On iPhone and iPad, open Safari and tap the Tabs button (two overlapping squares) at the bottom right. Tap Private in the bottom left corner. The interface turns dark. Tap the plus sign to open a new private tab. When you close all private tabs, Safari forgets everything from that session. You can mix private and regular tabs in the same window — private tabs stay private while regular tabs continue storing history normally.
Clearing autofill data and saved passwords
Safari also stores passwords, credit card numbers, and autofill information (names, addresses, phone numbers). These are separate from history and cookies. On Mac, go to Safari > Preferences > Passwords to see and delete saved passwords. Click any password in the list and click the minus button to remove it, or select multiple passwords and delete them together.
To clear autofill data on Mac, go to Safari > Preferences > Autofill. You can uncheck the boxes next to "Using saved contacts", "Credit cards", or "Other forms" to stop Safari from autofilling those categories. To delete existing autofill entries, there is no built-in menu — you have to delete them one at a time by typing in a form field, seeing the suggestion appear, and pressing Delete when it's highlighted.
On iPhone and iPad, go to Settings > Safari > Autofill to toggle autofill on or off. To delete individual passwords, go to Settings > Passwords, find the password you want to remove, swipe left, and tap Delete. There is no way to bulk-delete passwords on iOS.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does clearing history sign me out of websites?
Clearing history alone does not sign you out. Signing out requires deleting cookies, which is a separate action. If you use the "Clear History and Website Data" button, you delete both at once and will be signed out of most sites. If you delete only history through the Advanced menu, you stay logged in.
Can I recover history after I delete it?
No. Once you clear history from Safari, it is gone permanently. Safari does not keep a backup of deleted history. If you need to remember a site you visited, you can check your internet service provider's records (they log all traffic) or search your email for receipts or confirmations from that site.
What's the difference between clearing history and using Private Browsing?
Clearing history removes data Safari already stored. Private Browsing prevents Safari from storing data in the first place. Private Browsing is useful if you want to browse without leaving a record; clearing history is useful if you've already browsed normally and want to erase the record afterward.
Will clearing my cache make Safari slower?
Temporarily, yes. For the first few visits to sites you regularly use, pages may load slightly slower because Safari has to download images and code again. After a few visits, the cache rebuilds and speed returns to normal. The slowdown is usually not noticeable on modern internet connections.
How do I stop Safari from storing history altogether?
Use Private Browsing mode for every session, or change your Safari settings to never store history. On Mac, go to Safari > Preferences > General and change "Remove history items" to "after one day" or another short interval. On iPhone, go to Settings > Safari and toggle off "Show Frequently Visited Sites" and "Show Suggestions" — this doesn't stop storage but reduces what's saved.