The fastest way to clear your history
Open Google Chrome and press Ctrl + H on Windows or Command + Y on Mac. This opens your History page. On the left side, click Clear browsing data. A box will pop up asking what time range you want to clear — choose All time if you want everything gone, or pick a specific range like Last hour or Last 7 days. Make sure the box next to Cookies and other site data is checked, then click Clear data.
That's the whole process. Your history, cookies, and cached images are now deleted. Chrome will stop remembering the websites you visited, the passwords it stored for those sites, and the files it saved to load pages faster next time.
Key Takeaways
- Use Ctrl + H (Windows) or Command + Y (Mac) to open your history, then click Clear browsing data to delete everything at once.
- You can clear all history or just the last hour, day, week, or month — choose the time range that fits what you want removed.
- Clearing history removes your visited websites, cookies, and cached files, but does not delete files you downloaded to your computer.
- Turn on Delete cookies and site data when you close Chrome in Settings to automatically clear history every time you close the browser.
- Clearing your history on one device does not remove it from other devices where you are signed into the same Google account.
What gets deleted when you clear history
When you click Clear data, Chrome removes several things at once. Your browsing history — the list of websites you visited — disappears from the History page. Cookies, which are small files websites use to remember you, get deleted. Cached images and files, which Chrome saved to load pages faster, are erased.
What does not get deleted: files you downloaded to your Downloads folder stay there. Passwords you saved in Chrome remain unless you specifically check the Passwords and other sign-in data box before clearing. Bookmarks and saved payment methods stay in Chrome unless you check those boxes too.
The default settings clear history, cookies, and cached files. If you want to keep passwords but delete everything else, uncheck the password box before you click Clear data.
Clearing history for a specific time period
The pop-up box that appears after you click Clear browsing data has a dropdown menu at the top labeled Time range. Your options are All time, Last hour, Last 24 hours, Last 7 days, Last 4 weeks, and Last 3 months.
Choose Last hour if you only want to delete the websites you visited in the past 60 minutes. Choose All time if you want Chrome to forget every website you have ever visited in that browser. The time range only affects your browsing history and cookies — it does not matter which range you pick if you are clearing everything anyway, but it matters if you want to keep some older history and only remove recent activity.
Automatically clearing history when you close Chrome
If you want Chrome to delete your history every single time you close the browser, you can set this up in Settings. Click the three vertical dots in the top right corner of Chrome, then select Settings. On the left, click Privacy and security, then Clear browsing data.
Toggle on the switch next to Delete cookies and other site data when you close Chrome. Now every time you close all Chrome windows, the browser will automatically clear your history, cookies, and cached files. You can still choose which types of data to clear by clicking Always clear these cookies and selecting what you want removed.
This setting is useful if you share a computer with other people or if you do not want Chrome to remember where you have been. It does not affect your bookmarks or saved passwords unless you specifically add those to the list of things to clear.
Clearing history on devices where you are signed in
If you are signed into your Google account on multiple devices — a laptop, a phone, and a tablet, for example — clearing history on one device does not clear it on the others. Each device keeps its own separate history.
To clear history across all your devices at once, you need to clear it from your Google account settings, not from Chrome itself. Go to myactivity.google.com in any browser. On the left, click Delete activity by. Choose the time range and what types of activity you want to remove, then click Delete. This removes your activity from Google's servers, which affects what Google remembers about you across all devices.
Clearing history from myactivity.google.com is different from clearing it in Chrome. One removes what Google knows about you; the other removes what your browser knows. If privacy is your concern, you may want to do both.
Why you might want to clear your history
People clear their history for different reasons. If you share a computer, clearing history keeps other users from seeing which websites you visited. If you are concerned about what websites know about you, clearing cookies stops many sites from tracking your activity across the web. If you are troubleshooting a website that is not working properly, clearing cached files sometimes fixes the problem because Chrome will download fresh copies instead of using old stored versions.
Clearing your history does not make you anonymous online. Your internet service provider, your employer if you are on a work network, and the websites you visit can still see your activity. Clearing history only removes the record from your own browser and from Google's servers if you clear it there too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does clearing my history delete my passwords?
No, not by default. When you clear browsing data, Chrome deletes your history and cookies but leaves passwords alone. If you want to delete passwords too, check the box next to Passwords and other sign-in data before you click Clear data.
Can I undo clearing my history?
No. Once you click Clear data, Chrome permanently removes your history. There is no undo button. If you are not sure what you want to delete, write down any important website addresses before you clear.
Will clearing my history speed up Chrome?
Clearing cached files may make Chrome slightly faster if your cache has grown very large, but the difference is usually small. Clearing history and cookies does not noticeably change Chrome's speed.
Does clearing history in Chrome remove it from Google's records?
No. Clearing history in Chrome only removes it from your browser. Google still has a record of your activity. To remove it from Google's servers, go to myactivity.google.com and delete your activity there.
If I clear my history, will websites still know who I am?
Websites may still recognize you if you are signed into an account with them. Clearing cookies removes some tracking, but signing out of your accounts before clearing history provides more privacy. Websites can also recognize you by your IP address or other methods that clearing history does not affect.