Q&A for How to Delete History on Your Computer

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Do you have to delete your browser history?

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

Not at all—it's all personal preference. Deleting your browser history can be good when you're using a public computer (or a device that isn't yours, like a friend's computer) so no one knows what you were doing. Still, your browser history is no big deal on your personal computer since it doesn't take up a lot of space.

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Question

How can a user know what I watched?

Community Answer

They can't if you clear your history.

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Question

How do you clear just a single search term you have used in the past?

Community Answer

If you are using Google Chrome, press the three dots in the top left corner and open the history tab, then select the searches you want to be deleted and press delete.

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Question

How do I delete history from the laptop, not the browser?

Community Answer

You can download CCleaner and run it, it will clean a lot of things for you, including all of your browsers' histories.

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Question

What about Microsoft Edge?

Community Answer

Select Hub and then History. Then, select "Clear All History" from the options.

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Question

What if I have to do this on a tablet or phone?

Community Answer

Depending on your phone and browser, you can use in-private browsing (this means there is no visible trace), available from the browser's Settings.

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Question

How can I tell if someone has deleted part of the history recently on a laptop?

Denneisk

Top Answerer

There should be a hole where history hasn't been recorded, and check for context clues. Look in the downloads, cookies, and cache if you can. You can also use a file recovery program to see if you can recover the deleted information.

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How do I delete history on Dell or Chromebook?

Community Answer

Click the 3 dots on the top of the screen, and press history. Click history at the top, then click clear browsing data on the left, it should take you to settings and click clear data.

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