How do i clear my history in safari

Updated at: Feb 26, 2022

Here are instructions to help you clear your browsing history, cookies & cache in Safari on macOS.

There's a few guides here, what would you like to do:

  • Clear the entire Cache, Cookies, and History in Safari on macOS
  • Clear the Cache, Cookies, and Local Storage Data (but not the history) in Safari on macOS
  • Clear saved Form Data and Passwords

Clear the entire Cache, Cookies, and History in Safari

  1. Choose the time range to delete and then "Clear History"

    Safari now gives you a very simple interface for clearing your browsing cache, history, and cookies. When you click Clear History your cache, browser history, and cookies will be deleted for the specified time range.

    How do i clear my history in safari

    If you choose the default option of "all history" then the entire historical record of your browsing on this computer will be deleted. At the top of the prompt, you'll see "Clear: all history" - you can click on this Select field and choose a time range to clear instead.

    So instead of deleting all your history, you can choose to just delete Today's browsing history, or just the past hour's history.

    Once you have decided how much you want to delete, click the Clear History button.

    Congratulations, you have now cleared your selected browsing data from your computer. You can simply close this window and continue to use Safari.

Clear the Cache, Cookies, and Local Storage Data in Safari

These steps will remove Safari's automatic cache of temporary data it has stored while you browse the internet; these steps won't delete your browsing history.

  1. Click the "Privacy" tab

    The Safari Preferences screen has a number of sections, indicated by the various options along the top of the screen (General/Tabs/AutoFill etc). Click the Privacy item to see privacy related options.

    How do i clear my history in safari

  2. Click "Manage Website Data...

    On the privacy tab, click the Manage Website Data button to show a list of all the sites Safari has collected data for.

    How do i clear my history in safari

  3. Select the site/s you want to delete data from, and click "Remove"

    On this screen you will see a list of all the domains Safari has collected data for. Find the ones you want to remove (you can search for a domain in the Search field in the top right of the window.

    How do i clear my history in safari

    Delete one page from Safari's Cache

    If you just want to delete the cache and cookies from one website, you can select the domain name here and press the Remove button. This will keep all the other data intact and just remove the one site's cookies and cache.

    You can remove sites one at a time, you can hold down the Command button and keep clicking to select more than one domain at a time.

    When you have selected the domains you want to clear the data from, simply press the Remove button and Safari will clear the data for those sites.

If you remove data for any sites you are logged in to, you will probably have to re-log in to them again, but your browsing history will still be intact.

Clearing Form Data and Passwords in Safari

Follow these instructions to clear the form data and passwords that have been saved in Safari.

  1. Click the "AutoFill" tab

    The Safari Preferences screen has a number of sections, indicated by the various options along the top of the screen (General/Tabs/AutoFill etc). Click the AutoFill item to see AutoFill related options.

    How do i clear my history in safari

  2. Choose what to AutoFill, and edit/clear existing data

    On the AutoFill screen, you will see a listing of types of data Safari can be configured to "remember" for you - that way, when you need to fill out some forms online, Safari will try to automatically put the correct data in for you. You can turn this feature on or off for different types of data, including contact information, credit cards, usernames & passwords, and so on.

    How do i clear my history in safari

    To review, edit, and delete the items that Safari has saved, click the corresponding Edit... button. Some of these items require you to enter the password for your computer - that is, the user you are currently logged in as on your Mac.

    You can use these interfaces to review and optionally delete any information you've previously entered from your computer. Because some of it is sensitive (Passwords, Credit Card numbers etc) you will have to unlock various sections by entering your computer's password.

    When you are finished, simply close Safari's Preferences by clicking the Red "close" button.

Clearing your cache, cookies, and browsing history - Frequently asked questions

  • How to clear cache

    Clear instructions to clear your cache, cookies, and history. follow the guides.

    Learn how to clear your cache, cookies, and history

  • What is a cache?

    Before you consider clearing your browser cache, you should know what it is!

    Learn a little bit about browser caches

  • What does "Clear your Cache" mean?

    Have you heard the phrase "clear your cache" but aren't sure what it means?

    What "clear cache" means

  • Do I need to clear my cache?

    Not sure why you've been asked to clear your cache?

    Why you (might) need to clear your cache

  • Clear the cache for just one page

    Need to completely reload a page but don't want to clear your entire cache?

    How to clear the cache for just one page

  • Should I clear my cookies?

    Can clearing cookies help with problems or privacy? Here's some info.

    Why you (might) need to clear your cookies

  • Is it safe to clear my cache?

    Are there any risks to clearing your cache?

    Find out if it's ok to clear your cache

  • What happens when I clear my cache?

    When I decide to clear my cache or cookies, what actually happens?

    See what happens

  • Clear Cache in Chrome Shortcut

    Don't bother clicking the menus, use the handy keyboard shortcut!

    Keyboard shortcut to clear cache in Chrome

  • Clear Cache in Firefox Shortcut

    Don't bother clicking the menus, use the handy keyboard shortcut!

    Keyboard shortcut to clear cache in Firefox

  • Clear Cache in Edge Shortcut

    Don't bother clicking the menus, use the handy keyboard shortcut!

    Keyboard shortcut to clear cache in Edge

  • Clear Cache in Brave Shortcut

    Don't bother clicking the menus, use the handy keyboard shortcut!

    Keyboard shortcut to clear cache in Brave

  • Clear Cache in Safari Shortcut

    Don't bother clicking the menus, use the handy keyboard shortcut!

    Keyboard shortcut to clear cache in Safari

  • Does clearing cache in one browser affect the other browsers on my computer?

    Are the different caches on my computer related to each other?

    Does clearing cache in one browser affect the other browsers on my computer?

  • How big is Chrome's Cache?

    Find out how much temporary space Chrome is using for your Cache

    The size of Chrome's cache

Why can't I clear my Safari history?

Turn off Content & Privacy Restrictions Safari's Clear History and Website Data button is grayed out when restrictions are turned on. You can edit the Content & Privacy Restrictions from your Screen Time settings, you may need to use a Screen Time passcode to do this, if you have one.

Should I clear my history on Safari?

Clearing your browser history is important; not only does it improve the overall performance of the app, but it prevents you from filling out forms and using old information, making it a more secure way to browse the web.