Delete your browsing history in Firefox in three steps

Open Firefox and press Ctrl+H on Windows or Command+Y on Mac. This opens your History sidebar on the left. At the top of the sidebar, click the trash icon or right-click anywhere in the history list and select "Clear Recent History". A window will pop up — make sure "Browsing & Download History" is checked, set the time range to "Everything", and click "Clear Now".

That's the fastest way. If you want to delete only certain visits instead of everything, you can right-click individual entries in that same History sidebar and choose "Forget About This Site". Firefox will remove that site from your history and also clear any saved passwords, cookies, and cached data for that domain.

If you want Firefox to delete your history automatically every time you close the browser, you can set that up in Settings so you never have to think about it again.

Key Takeaways

  • Press Ctrl+H (Windows) or Command+Y (Mac) to open your History sidebar, then click the trash icon and select "Clear Recent History" to delete everything at once.
  • The Clear Recent History window lets you choose what to delete — browsing history, cookies, cached files, and downloads can be cleared separately or together.
  • You can delete individual sites by right-clicking them in the History sidebar and choosing "Forget About This Site", which also removes saved passwords and cookies for that domain.
  • Firefox can be set to clear your history automatically when you close the browser, which removes the need to do it manually.
  • Clearing history does not delete bookmarks or saved passwords unless you specifically check those boxes in the Clear Recent History window.

What gets deleted when you clear history

When you click "Clear Recent History" and leave the default settings checked, Firefox removes the list of websites you visited, the dates and times you visited them, and any search terms you entered into the address bar. It also clears your download list — the record of files you downloaded, not the files themselves on your computer.

By default, Firefox does not delete your bookmarks, saved passwords, or autofill information when you clear history. If you want those gone too, you have to check those boxes separately in the Clear Recent History window before clicking "Clear Now". Cookies and cached website data are usually cleared by default, but you can uncheck them if you want to stay logged into websites.

Choose what time period to delete

The Clear Recent History window has a dropdown menu that says "Time range to clear". You can pick "Last Hour", "Last Two Hours", "Last Four Hours", "Today", or "Everything". Choose based on how far back you want to go. If you only want to hide what you did in the last hour, pick that. If you want to wipe the slate completely, pick "Everything".

This matters because sometimes you want to keep older history but delete recent visits. For example, if you were shopping for a gift and don't want that showing up in your history, you can clear just today's history and leave everything else alone.

Delete history from individual websites

Open the History sidebar again with Ctrl+H or Command+Y. You'll see your history organized by date — "Today", "Yesterday", and so on. Find the website you want to remove, right-click it, and select "Forget About This Site".

This does more than just delete that one visit. Firefox removes all history for that entire domain, clears any cookies Firefox stored for it, removes saved passwords for that site, and empties the cache for it. So if you visited example.com five times over three months, all five visits disappear. Use this when you want to be thorough about one particular site but keep the rest of your history.

Set Firefox to clear history automatically when you close it

Click the menu button (three horizontal lines) in the top right corner of Firefox and select "Settings". On the left sidebar, click "Privacy & Security". Scroll down to the "History" section.

You'll see a dropdown that says "Firefox will". Change it to "Use custom settings for history". A new set of options appears. Check the box that says "Clear history when Firefox closes". Now Firefox will automatically delete your browsing history, downloads, cookies, and cache every time you shut down the browser.

If you check "Clear history when Firefox closes" but want to keep some things — like staying logged into certain sites — you can click "Settings" next to that checkbox and uncheck "Cookies" or "Cache". This way Firefox clears your browsing history but keeps you logged in.

Clearing history on mobile Firefox

On Firefox for Android or iOS, tap the menu button (three dots) at the bottom right of the screen. Scroll down and tap "Delete browsing data". A window appears with checkboxes for Browsing History, Cookies, Cached Images and Files, and other data. Check what you want to delete and tap "Delete".

Mobile Firefox does not have the same time-range options as desktop Firefox. When you delete browsing data on mobile, it clears everything, not just the last hour or today. There is no "Forget About This Site" option on mobile either — you have to clear all history or none.

What doesn't get deleted with your history

Clearing your browsing history does not delete the files you downloaded to your computer — only the record that you downloaded them. If you want to remove a file, you have to delete it from your Downloads folder or wherever you saved it.

Bookmarks stay in Firefox even after you clear history, unless you specifically check "Bookmarks" in the Clear Recent History window. Saved passwords and autofill information also remain unless you check those boxes. If you want to delete a single saved password instead of all of them, go to Settings, click "Privacy & Security", scroll to "Logins and Passwords", and click "Saved Logins" to remove individual entries.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does clearing history delete my passwords?

No, not by default. When you clear browsing history, Firefox keeps your saved passwords. If you want to delete passwords too, open the Clear Recent History window, check the "Logins and Passwords" box, and then click "Clear Now". To delete just one password without clearing history, go to Settings, click "Privacy & Security", find "Logins and Passwords", and click "Saved Logins".

Can I recover history after I delete it?

No. Once you clear your browsing history in Firefox, it is gone. Firefox does not have an undo button for history deletion. If you think you might need to remember a site you visited, write down the URL or bookmark it before you clear your history.

Will clearing history log me out of websites?

It depends on what you clear. If you uncheck "Cookies" in the Clear Recent History window, you stay logged in. If you leave "Cookies" checked, most websites will log you out because Firefox deletes the cookie that keeps you signed in. You can log back in immediately — the password is still saved unless you deleted it.

Does private browsing mode keep Firefox from saving history?

Yes. When you open a Private Window in Firefox (Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows or Command+Shift+P on Mac), Firefox does not save your browsing history, cookies, or search history for that window. When you close the private window, everything from it disappears automatically. Regular browsing windows still save history normally.

How do I clear history from a specific date?

Open your History sidebar with Ctrl+H or Command+Y and look for the date you want to clear. You can right-click individual sites under that date and choose "Forget About This Site" to remove them one at a time. To clear all history from a specific date at once, use the "Time range to clear" dropdown in the Clear Recent History window and pick the closest option — "Today", "Yesterday", or "Last Week".