Delete your Chrome history in three steps
Open 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 appear asking what time range you want to delete — choose All time if you want everything gone, or pick a specific range like Last hour or Last 7 days. Make sure the checkbox next to Cookies and other site data is checked if you want to clear saved passwords and login information too. Then click Clear data.
That single action removes your browsing history, search history, cached images and files, and cookies — depending on what boxes you checked. Chrome will not ask you to confirm; the data disappears immediately. If you close Chrome and reopen it, your history will be blank for the time period you selected.
Key Takeaways
- Press Ctrl+H (Windows) or Command+Y (Mac), then click Clear browsing data to delete your history in one step.
- You can delete everything at once by selecting All time, or just the last hour, day, week, or month.
- Clearing browsing data also removes cookies, cached files, and saved passwords unless you uncheck those boxes.
- Chrome can delete your history automatically every time you close the browser if you turn on Delete cookies and site data when you quit Chrome in Settings.
- Deleting your history in Chrome does not affect your Google account history or your activity on Google.com — those are stored separately.
What gets deleted when you clear browsing data
The Clear browsing data window shows several checkboxes. By default, Chrome checks Cookies and other site data, Cached images and files, and Browsing history. Unchecking any of these means Chrome will leave that data behind.
Browsing history is the list of websites you visited — the pages that appear when you type in the address bar or click History. Cookies and other site data includes login information, preferences you saved on websites, and tracking data from ads. Cached images and files are copies of web pages Chrome stored on your computer to load them faster next time. If you want to keep your passwords saved but delete everything else, uncheck Cookies and other site data before you click Clear data.
Chrome also offers Download history as a separate checkbox. Clearing this removes the list of files you downloaded, but not the files themselves — they stay in your Downloads folder.
Delete history automatically 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-line menu in the top right corner, then go to Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data. Toggle on Delete cookies and site data when you quit Chrome.
Once this is on, Chrome will automatically clear your browsing history, cookies, cached files, and download history the moment you close the last Chrome window. You will not see a confirmation — it just happens. This is useful if you share a computer or use Chrome on a public device and do not want anyone to see where you have been.
You can still manually clear your history at any time using Ctrl+H or Command+Y, even if you have this setting turned on. The automatic clearing only happens when you fully close Chrome, not when you close individual tabs or windows.
Delete history from a specific website
You do not have to delete all your history at once. Open Chrome and press Ctrl+H or Command+Y to go to your History page. Find the website you want to remove — you can search for it using the search box at the top. Hover over the entry and a checkbox will appear on the left. Check the box next to any pages you want to delete, then click Delete at the top.
This method works one website at a time, so if you want to remove history from multiple sites, you will need to check each one individually. If you want to delete a large block of history from many sites at once, using the Clear browsing data window with a specific time range is faster.
Difference between Chrome history and Google account history
Deleting your history in Chrome only removes it from that browser on that computer. If you are signed into a Google account in Chrome, Google may also be storing a copy of your activity in your Google account — this is separate from your Chrome history.
To see and delete your Google account history, go to myactivity.google.com in any browser. This page shows everything you have searched for on Google.com, videos you watched on YouTube, and other activity tied to your Google account. Deleting your Chrome history does not touch this account history, and deleting your account history does not touch your Chrome history. You have to manage them separately.
If you want Chrome to stop sending activity to your Google account, sign out of your Google account in Chrome. Go to Settings > You and Google and click Sign out. After you sign out, Chrome will no longer sync your history to your account, but it will still keep a local copy on your computer until you manually delete it.
Delete history on other devices where you use Chrome
If you are signed into the same Google account on multiple devices — a laptop, phone, and tablet — and you have sync turned on, deleting your history on one device can delete it on the others too. When you clear your browsing data on your laptop, Chrome will sync that deletion to your phone and tablet within a few minutes.
You can control this in Settings > You and Google > Sync and Google services. If Sync is on, then clearing history on one device affects all devices. If you turn off sync, each device keeps its own separate history and clearing one does not affect the others.
If you want to delete history from a device you no longer use, sign into your Google account on that device, open Chrome, and clear the browsing data. Or go to myaccount.google.com, click Security on the left, scroll down to Your devices, and click on the device you want to remove. You can sign out of Chrome on that device remotely, which will also clear its synced data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does clearing my Chrome history delete my Google search history?
No. Clearing your Chrome history only removes the list of websites you visited in Chrome. Your Google search history — the searches you typed into Google.com — is stored in your Google account separately. You can delete your Google search history at myactivity.google.com, but clearing Chrome history will not touch it.
Can someone recover my history after I delete it?
Once you clear your browsing data in Chrome, it is gone from your browser and your Google account (if sync was on). However, your internet service provider and the websites you visited may still have records of your activity. Deleting Chrome history does not erase your activity from their servers.
Will deleting my history log me out of websites?
If you check the box for Cookies and other site data when you clear your history, Chrome will delete the cookies that keep you logged in, so you will be logged out of most websites. If you uncheck that box and only delete browsing history, you will stay logged in.
What is the keyboard shortcut to open my Chrome history?
Press Ctrl+H on Windows or Command+Y on Mac. This opens your full history page where you can search, browse by date, or click Clear browsing data to delete everything at once.
Can I undo deleting my history?
No. Once you click Clear data, Chrome permanently removes your history. There is no undo button. If you accidentally delete history you wanted to keep, you cannot get it back from Chrome itself.