Guide to hide and delete your internet browser history
How to Enable Private Browsing
One of the best ways to cover your tracks is to enable the private browsing mode for your preferred browser. This will ensure that your browsing history is hidden from any other person who uses your computer.
Safari:
Click on the Safari menu and select the Private Browsing option.
Chrome:
To enable an incognito session on Chrome, press the Ctrl+Shift+N (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+N (Mac) key combination whenever you’re using Chrome and the browser will open a new window for you to surf privately. You can also open an incognito window from the File menu.
Firefox:
Click on the Tools menu and select the Start Private Browsing option.
Internet Explorer:
Internet Explorer has been quite late in catching up with the other browsers but if you’re using version 8 you can activate a private browsing mode called the InPrivate mode. Simply use the Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+P (Mac) key combination to turn this feature on.
Apple iPhone:
Tap on the show pages icon in the lower right hand navigation. Now tap on Private in the lower left hand corner.
Erase Your Browser History
Following these steps should clear your browser’s history and cache/temporary files. This does not guarantee that information will not be left on your browser.
Safari
From the Safari menu, click Empty Cache. When asked “Are you sure you want to empty the cache?” click Empty.
From the Safari menu, click Preferences. From the Security dialog box, click Bookmarks. Click Show Cookies. From the Cookie dialog box, click to choose a cookie, and click Remove. Alternatively, if you want to delete all cookies, click Remove All. Click Done.
Google Chrome
In the top-right corner of the browser window, click the Chrome menu Chrome menu. Select History. Click the button Clear browsing data. A dialog will appear. From the drop-down menu, select how much history you want to delete. To clear your entire browsing history, select the beginning of time. Check the boxes for the data you want Chrome to clear, including “browsing history.” Click the button Clear browsing data.
Firefox
Open the Firefox browser and navigate to the Tools menu (Windows) or the Firefox menu (Mac). Click the Tools drop down menu and then click Clear Private Data.
If you are using a newer version of Firefox, you can click Tools drop down menu and then click Clear Recent History. Press the “OK” or “Clear Now” button (Windows) or simply close the preferences box (Mac).
Internet Explorer
If you are using Internet Explorer 7, click on Tools. In the General tab under Internet Options, click Delete under Browsing History and that will delete everything from the new dialogue window that appears.
If you are using Internet Explorer 8+, click the Tools button Tools button, point to Safety, and then click Delete browsing history. If you don’t want to delete the cookies and files associated with websites in your favourites list, select the Preserve Favourites website data check box. Select the check box next to each category of information you want to delete. Click Delete.
Apple iPhone
Launch the Settings app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad. Scroll down and tap on Safari. Scroll down and tap on Clear Cookies and Data.