Clear your browser history in three steps

Open your browser, tap the menu icon (three vertical dots or horizontal lines), and select History or Clear browsing data. Choose what time period you want to clear — usually "All time" if you want everything gone — then tap Clear or Delete. The exact names and locations change slightly between Chrome, Firefox, Samsung Internet, and Edge, but the process is the same on all of them.

Your browser stores every page you visit, every search you make, and every form you fill out. Clearing this history removes that record from your device. It does not affect your bookmarks, saved passwords, or autofill information unless you specifically choose to delete those too.

Key Takeaways

  • Chrome, Firefox, Samsung Internet, and Edge all clear history through their menu — tap the three dots or lines, then look for History or Clear browsing data.
  • You can clear everything at once or pick a specific time period like the last hour, day, or week.
  • Clearing history removes visited pages and searches but leaves bookmarks and saved passwords untouched unless you check those boxes too.
  • Some browsers let you set automatic clearing when you close the app, so you do not have to do it manually each time.

How to clear history in Chrome

Open Chrome and tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner. Scroll down and tap History, then tap Clear browsing data at the top of the screen. A popup will appear with checkboxes for what to delete.

At the top of the popup, tap the dropdown that says Time range. Your options are Last hour, Last 24 hours, Last 7 days, Last 4 weeks, or All time. Select the range you want, then make sure the Cookies and site data and Cached images and files boxes are checked if you want a thorough clear. Tap Clear data at the bottom.

How to clear history in Firefox

Open Firefox and tap the three horizontal lines at the bottom right of the screen. Tap Settings, then scroll down and tap Delete browsing data. You will see checkboxes for browsing history, site data, and cached files.

By default, Firefox clears only your browsing history. If you want to remove cookies and cached data too, check those boxes before tapping Delete. Firefox does not give you a time range option here — it clears everything you have selected from your entire history. If you want to clear only recent history, go back to the three-line menu, tap History, then tap and hold the time period you want to delete.

How to clear history in Samsung Internet

Open Samsung Internet and tap the three vertical dots in the bottom right corner. Tap Settings, then tap Privacy. Tap Delete browsing data.

A popup will show checkboxes for browsing history, cookies, and cached data. At the top, you can choose your time range from Last hour through All time. Check the boxes for what you want to remove, then tap Delete. Samsung Internet also has an option to delete data automatically when you close the app — you can turn this on in the same Privacy settings menu.

How to clear history in Microsoft Edge

Open Edge and tap the three dots at the bottom right. Tap History, then tap Clear browsing data. A popup will appear with options for what to delete.

Use the Time range dropdown to pick your window — Last hour, Last 24 hours, Last 7 days, Last 4 weeks, or All time. Make sure Browsing history is checked, and check Cookies and saved website data and Cached images and files if you want those gone too. Tap Clear now.

Set your browser to clear history automatically

If you do not want to clear history manually every time, most Android browsers let you set it to clear automatically when you close the app. In Chrome, go to Settings, tap Privacy and security, then turn on Clear cookies and site data — this clears data when you close all Chrome tabs. In Firefox, go to Settings, tap Delete browsing data on quit, and toggle it on.

Samsung Internet has the most control: go to Settings, tap Privacy, then turn on Delete browsing data. You can then choose exactly what gets deleted each time you close the app. Edge has a similar option under Settings > Privacy — look for Clear browsing data and toggle Choose what to clear every time you close the browser.

What gets deleted and what stays

When you clear browsing history, you remove the list of pages you visited and the searches you performed. You also remove cookies (which track your activity across sites) and cached files (temporary copies of images and pages that speed up loading). What does not get deleted: your bookmarks, saved passwords, autofill information, or any files you downloaded — those stay on your device unless you delete them separately.

If you want to delete saved passwords or autofill data, you have to check those boxes in the clear data menu. In Chrome and Edge, these options appear under Passwords and Autofill form data. In Firefox, saved passwords are managed separately in Settings under Passwords. Clearing history does not touch them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does clearing history delete my saved passwords?

No. Clearing browsing history removes visited pages and searches, but leaves passwords, bookmarks, and autofill data alone. If you want to delete saved passwords, you have to go into your browser's password manager and remove them manually, or check the "Passwords" box when clearing data.

Can someone recover my history after I clear it?

Once you clear your browser history, it is gone from your device. A person with physical access to your phone cannot recover it through normal means. However, your internet service provider and the websites you visited still have records of your activity on their end.

What is the difference between clearing history and clearing cache?

History is the list of pages you visited. Cache is temporary files (images, scripts, pages) that your browser saved to load those pages faster next time. Clearing both removes your visit record and speeds up your phone slightly by freeing storage space. Most people should clear both.

Will clearing history sign me out of websites?

Clearing cookies will sign you out of most websites, because cookies store your login information. Clearing only history and cache will not. If you want to stay logged in, uncheck the "Cookies" or "Site data" box before clearing.

Can I clear history for just one website?

Most Android browsers do not let you delete history for a single site. You can only clear by time range — last hour, last day, all time. If you need to hide one visit, your best option is to use private or incognito mode for future browsing, which does not save history at all.