The default setting in Google Chrome and most web browsers is to maintain history of websites and web pages that you visited on your computer. While this feature can help in revisiting previously browsed web pages, it can also allow anyone with access to your device to take a look at your browsing history.
Hence, most web browsers; including Google Chrome make it easy to access/view your entire browsing history and provide the option to clear all or selected portions of the browsing history from the browsing device.
Related: How to Automatically Clear History in Google Chrome.
Clear Browsing History in Google Chrome
All that is required to clear browsing history in Google Chrome browser is click on 3-dots menu; located at top-right corner of the screen and select “Delete browsing data” option.
On “Delete Browsing Data” screen, Google Chrome browser provides the option to clear browsing history from Last 15 minutes, Last Hour, Last 24 Hours and All Time. In addition to this, Google Chrome also provides the option to delete selected or specific portions of browsing history.
1. Delete All Browsing History in Google Chrome
The steps to clear all browsing history in Google Chrome are practically the same on both Windows computer and MacBook.
1. Open the Google Chrome browser on your computer.
2. Select 3-dots menu icon (top-right corner) and click on Delete Browsing Data option.
3. On the next screen, make sure Browsing History, Download History & other required options are selected > select your desired Time Range (Last hour, Last 24 hours or All Time) and click on Delete from this device button.
Note: You may need to click on the More button, to access the option to clear your All Time browsing history.
This will clear all your browsing history for the selected period from the computer.
2. Remove Selected Browsing History in Chrome
As mentioned above, Google Chrome also provides the option to delete selected or specific portions of browsing history.
1. Click on 3-dots icon > hoover mouse over History and click on Open history page option in the side-menu.
Note: You can press Ctrl + H keys to directly go to your browsing history page.
2. On the next screen, select the browsing history records that you want to remove from your device and click on the Delete button.
3. On the confirmation pop-up, tap on Remove to Confirm.
3. Clear Chrome Browsing History on iPhone
The steps to clear Chrome browsing history on iPhone, Android phone and tablets are practically the same as clearing Chrome browsing history on a Laptop or Desktop computer.
1. Open the Chrome App on your mobile device (iPhone in this case).
2. On the browser screen, tap on 3-dots icon (bottom-menu in case of iPhone) and select the History tab in the menu that appears.
3. On the next screen, tap on Delete Browsing Data… option.
4. On Delete Browsing Data screen, select All Time as the Time Range and tap on Delete Data.
This will clear all your Browsing History and other website data stored by Google Chrome browser on your iPhone.
4. Clear Selected Browsing History on iPhone
Similar to computer, you can clear specific or selected portions of your Chrome browsing history on iPhone & Android phone.
1. Open Chrome App > tap on 3-dots Icon and select the History Tab in the menu that appears.
2. On the History screen, tap on the Edit option.
3. On the next screen, select the parts of browsing history that you want to delete.
4. Once you are done with the selection, tap on the Delete button and tap on Done to close the screen.