2 Simple Ways to Clear History in Safari

Quickly clear your browsing history in Mac Safari or Safari on iPhone

You can delete all of your web browsing history or specific entries on both the OS X and the iOS versions of Safari. This can come in handy if you're on a public computer, or need to remove a certain website from your browsing history. No matter what system you're using, it will only take a few moments.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

OS X (All History)

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You can quickly delete all of your browsing history using this method. If you want to delete a single entry, click here.
2
Select "Clear History".
- If you're using an older version of Safari, click the "History" menu instead and select "Clear History".
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You can choose to delete all of your history, history from the last hour, from today, or from today and yesterday.^{[1]XResearch source}
4
Click .Clear History to confirm. All of the history, cookies, searches, and other data from the range you selected will be deleted.
- Note that this will delete history across all devices connected to your iCloud account.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

OS X (Single Entries)

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You can also press ⌘ Command+⌥ Option+2 to open the Show History window.
You can use the search bar in the upper-right corner, or expand the dates to browse through all your entries.
If you have a single-button mouse or trackpad, hold Control and click to open the menu. Repeat for any additional entries you want to remove.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

iOS (All History)

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1
Open the Settings app. If you want to delete all of your browsing history, you'll need to do it from the Settings app instead of Safari.
- If you want to delete a single entry, click here.
Tap "Clear History and Data" to confirm. All of your history, cookies, and other browsing information will be deleted.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

iOS (Single Entries)

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If you just want to get rid of a couple of entries, you can delete individual history entries from within the Safari app.
It looks like an open book.
This will reveal the "Delete" button.
Repeat for any other history entries you want to delete. Tap "Done" when you are finished deleting history entries.^{[2]XResearch source}

Expert Q&A

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Question
Does clearing Safari history free up storage?
Luigi Oppido
Computer & Tech Specialist
Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.
Luigi Oppido
Computer & Tech Specialist
Expert Answer
Sure it does, but less than people think. Browsing history does not take up a lot of space. This was important back in the day, where hard drive storage was scarce, but not anymore. Cleaning the history is only a matter of personal preference or security, when you're using a shared or public computer.
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Question
Why is my clear button gray?
Community Answer
You may have Parental Controls on a setting where you are unable to do that. Your parents will have to unlock that feature in System Preferences.
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