Where to find and clear your browsing history

The steps to clear your browsing history on Android depend on which browser you use. Chrome, Firefox, Samsung Internet, and other browsers all store history in different places and offer slightly different options for what you can delete. The most common route is to open your browser's settings menu, find the privacy or history section, and select what time period you want to clear.

Before you start, know that clearing history is permanent — once you delete it, you cannot get it back. Some browsers let you delete only the last hour, last day, or last week instead of everything, which is useful if you only want to remove recent activity.

Key Takeaways

  • Chrome, Firefox, and Samsung Internet all have a "Clear browsing data" option in settings that you access through a menu icon or the Settings app.
  • You can choose to delete only recent history (last hour, last day, last week) or all history, and you can select whether to delete cookies, cached images, and passwords alongside your browsing history.
  • Clearing history from your browser does not delete your Google account history if you are signed into a Google account — you may need to clear that separately in your Google account settings.
  • Private browsing or incognito mode prevents history from being saved in the first place, so no clearing is needed afterward.

Clearing history in Chrome on Android

Open Chrome and tap the three vertical dots (menu icon) in the top right corner. Scroll down and tap "Settings," then tap "Privacy and security," then tap "Clear browsing data." A popup will appear with options for what to delete.

At the top of the popup, you will see a dropdown menu that says "All time" or shows a time range. Tap this to choose whether you want to clear everything or only history from the last hour, day, week, or month. Below that, checkboxes let you choose what to delete — "Cookies and site data" and "Cached images and files" are checked by default alongside browsing history. Uncheck any boxes if you want to keep that data. Tap "Clear data" at the bottom to finish.

If you are signed into a Google account in Chrome, your browsing history may also be saved to your Google account across all your devices. Clearing it from Chrome on your phone does not automatically clear your account history. To clear that, you need to visit myactivity.google.com on a computer or phone browser, sign in, and delete your activity there separately.

Clearing history in Firefox on Android

Open Firefox and tap the three horizontal lines (menu icon) at the bottom right of the screen. Tap "Settings," then tap "Privacy," then scroll down and tap "Delete browsing data." You will see checkboxes for "Browsing history," "Cookies," "Cached images and files," and other data types.

Check the boxes next to the data you want to delete, then tap "Delete browsing data" at the bottom. Unlike Chrome, Firefox does not offer a time-range option on Android — it deletes all of the selected data types. If you want to delete only recent history, you will need to use Firefox's private browsing mode going forward instead.

Clearing history in Samsung Internet

Open Samsung Internet and tap the three horizontal lines (menu icon) at the bottom right. Tap "Settings," then tap "Privacy," then tap "Delete browsing data." A popup will show checkboxes for "Browsing history," "Cookies and site data," "Cached images and files," and "Passwords."

Select the boxes for the data you want to remove, then tap "Delete" at the bottom. Samsung Internet, like Firefox, does not offer a time-range option on Android — it clears all selected data at once. If you want more control over what gets deleted, Chrome's time-range feature is more flexible.

Using private browsing to avoid saving history

If you want to prevent history from being saved in the first place, use your browser's private or incognito mode. In Chrome, tap the three dots, then tap "New incognito tab." In Firefox, tap the menu icon, then tap "New private tab." In Samsung Internet, tap the menu icon, then tap "Secret mode."

When you use private browsing, your browser does not save your browsing history, cookies, or search history for that session. Once you close the private tab or window, nothing from that browsing session is stored. This is faster than clearing history later and is useful when you do not want any record of what you looked at.

What gets deleted and what does not

When you clear browsing history, you remove the list of websites you visited and the dates you visited them. You can usually also delete cookies (small files that websites use to remember you), cached images and files (copies of web pages stored on your phone to load them faster), and saved passwords.

Clearing history does not delete your Google account activity if you are signed into Google, your search history on Google Search itself, or any bookmarks you have saved. It also does not remove data from individual apps — only from your browser. If you want to clear your Google Search history, you need to go to myactivity.google.com. If you want to clear history from a social media app or other application, you need to clear it within that app's settings.

Clearing history automatically on exit

Some browsers let you set them to clear history automatically every time you close the app. In Chrome, go to Settings, tap "Privacy and security," then toggle on "Clear cookies and site data" under the "Clear browsing data" section. In Firefox, go to Settings, tap "Privacy," scroll down to "Delete browsing data on quit," and toggle it on.

Once you turn this on, your browser will delete the selected data types (usually history, cookies, and cached files) every time you fully close the app. This is useful if you want privacy without having to manually clear history each time, though it means you will lose your browsing history regularly and may need to log back into websites more often.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I recover browsing history after I delete it?

No, once you clear browsing history from your browser, it is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. If you think you might need it later, consider using private browsing mode instead, or be selective about what time period you delete.

Does clearing history delete my saved passwords?

Only if you check the "Passwords" or "Saved passwords" box when clearing data. By default, most browsers do not delete passwords when you clear history. If you want to keep your passwords but remove everything else, uncheck that box before you tap delete.

Will clearing my phone's history clear it from my computer too?

Only if you are signed into the same Google account in Chrome on both devices and you clear your Google account activity at myactivity.google.com. Clearing history from Chrome on your phone alone does not affect Chrome on your computer. Each device's browser history is separate unless you sync them through your account.

What is the difference between clearing history and private browsing?

Clearing history removes past browsing records after the fact. Private browsing prevents history from being saved in the first place. Private browsing is faster if you want privacy going forward, but clearing history is necessary if you want to remove something you already looked at.