How-To

How to Clear Browser History the Easy Way

By Brian Burgess

Published June 15, 2023

Clearing browser data is important for privacy and browser maintenance. Learn how to clear browser history using keyboard shortcuts in this guide.

Clearing your browser’s cookies, cache, and other history can help to fix sites that don’t work and help maintain privacy on a shared computer. However, when you clear data via the settings menu in your browser, it takes several clicks through the menus.

For an easier way to clear the history, you can use a keyboard shortcut in your browser to wipe your browser history. You can use a shortcut in popular browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.

If you want an easier and faster way to access and clear your browser history, we’ll show you how.

Why Should You Clear Your Browser History?

Allowing your browser to keep track of visited sites and saving web data and cookies optimizes performance. It leads to a more responsive experience while you’re getting things done online. For example, cookies save site preferences and login status, providing the convenience of staying signed in.

However, clearing your browsing history is a good way to help protect your privacy on shared systems and keep cookies and tracking cookies at bay. For instance, if you’re on a shared computer, you might not want other users to know the sites you visit.

Also, if a site isn’t working as intended, clearing a large cache to remove corrupt data after refreshing the page often gets things working. Clearing browser history can be tedious, but using the following keyboard shortcuts makes the process easier.

How to Clear Browsing History Using a Keyboard Shortcut in Chrome

If you need to get rid of Google Chrome browsing history quickly, you can select the keyboard combination and choose the items you want to remove.

While in Google Chrome, press Ctrl + Shift + Delete on your keyboard to bring up the Clear browsing data option in a new tab. Select the items you want to remove, the time range, and select the Clear data button.

If you don’t want to use the mouse and have an all-keyboard experience, press Ctrl + Shift + Delete, press Tab once, and press Enter.

How to Clear Browsing History Using a Keyboard Shortcut in Firefox

The keyboard shortcuts to clear browsing history in Firefox are like Chrome, but the process does differ slightly.

While browsing with Firefox, press Ctrl + Shift + Delete to bring up the Clear Recent History dialog. Select the items you want to clear, the time range, and select the Clear Now button.

For an all-keyboard experience, press Ctrl + Shift + Delete and then Enter. Alternatively, you can press Tab through the menu’s history items and Enter when you highlight the Clear Now button.

How to Clear Browsing History Using a Keyboard Shortcut in Edge

If you are on Windows and a Microsoft Edge user, you can quickly clear the browser history with a keyboard shortcut.

While in Edge, press Ctrl + Shift + Delete to bring up the Clear browsing data menu in a new tab. Select the browsing data and time range you want to clear, and click the Clear now button.

If you want an all-keyboard solution in Edge, you need to press Tab several times (11 in our test) to move through the items in the menu. Alternatively, press Ctrl + Shift + Delete, Shift + Tab three times, and Enter.

Keeping Your Browser Data Secure

When a site isn’t working, or you want to remove browsing history for privacy’s sake, using a keyboard shortcut in your browser makes it easier than navigating through the menu system.

You can use Chrome in Incognito mode or Edge in InPrivate mode, and the browser history will be automatically deleted when you close it. Other browsers offer private browsing mode to clear history.

And if you don’t want to use InPrivate mode in Microsoft’s browser, you can make Edge clear browsing data on exit or check out how to make Chrome automatically delete cookies on exit. So no matter how you do it, clearing browsing history is integral to personal computing.