How to View and Delete Browser History in Microsoft Edge

What Do You Want to Clear?

Microsoft Edge lets you choose exactly what browsing history and other data you want to delete, giving you control over your privacy.

Clearing Data on Just One Device

You can delete your Microsoft Edge browsing history and other data from just the one computer you’re using by turning off Edge’s sync feature first.

Here is how to turn off sync:

1. Open Microsoft Edge.
2. Click the three dots ... in the top-right corner. This opens the “Settings and more” menu.
3. In the menu, choose “Settings.”
4. In ⚙️ the Settings menu, click on “Profiles” on the left side.
5. Under your profile info, find the “Sync” section. Click “Turn off sync.”

Turning off Microsoft Edge sync prevents the browser from sharing your browsing data between your devices. This action does not delete any stored history. Users can reactivate sync at any future point.

Clearing Data Across All Synced Devices

To delete your Microsoft Edge browsing history from all your synced devices at the same time, ensure that Edge sync is turned on and you’re logged into your Microsoft account.

How to Clear Your Browsing Data

Microsoft Edge offers a process to clear browser data. This process begins after users decide whether to clear data locally or on all synced devices. Users can access the clearing process by knowing the correct location within the browser settings.

Step 1Go to the Clearing Tools

To start the process of deleting your Microsoft Edge history, open the browser, go to its Settings, and then select ‘Privacy, search, and services’ from the left-hand menu.

1. Start Microsoft Edge.
2. Click the “Settings and more” button (the three dots ...) in the top-right corner.
3. Go to “Settings.”
4. In ⚙️ the Settings menu, click on “Privacy, search, and services” in the left sidebar.

Step 2Start Clearing Data

Within the ‘Privacy, search, and services’ area, locate and click the ‘Clear browsing data’ button, and then choose ‘Choose what to clear’ to see all your options for deleting history.

Step 3Choose Your Time Range

You can select a specific time range for deleting your Microsoft Edge browsing history, choosing options like the last hour, 24 hours, 7 days, or 4 weeks.

• Last hour: Good for a quick cleanup if you were just browsing something you don’t want saved.
• Last 24 hours: A good option for general tidying up from the day before.
• Last 7 days: Useful for a weekly reset.
• Last 4 weeks: For a bigger cleanup over the past month.
• All time: This is the big one. If you want to delete all your browsing history and related data since you started using Edge, choose this option.

Practical Tip: If you are not sure, start with a shorter time range like “Last 24 hours” or “Last 7 days.” You can always come back later and clear “All time” if you need to.

Step 4Select What Data to Delete

Next, you’ll need to check the boxes next to the specific types of data you wish to delete, such as ‘Browsing history’ or ‘Download history’.

• Browsing history: This is the list of all the websites you have visited, with the dates and times. Most people want to clear this.
• Download history: This only removes the *list* of files you have downloaded from the internet in Edge. It does NOT delete the actual files from your computer.
• Cookies and other site data: Cookies are small files that websites save on your computer. They remember things about you, like your login details or items in a shopping cart. Clearing these will sign you out of most websites.
• Cached images and files: When you visit a website, Edge saves copies of images and other parts of the page on your computer. This makes the site load faster the next time you visit. Clearing the cache means Edge will have to download these elements again. This can sometimes fix problems with how a website looks.
• Passwords: If you saved your website passwords in Edge, checking this box will remove them.
• Autofill form data (includes forms and cards): This includes information you typed into web forms, like your name, address, or credit card details that Edge offered to save.
• Site permissions: These are permissions you gave to websites, like letting them use your camera or send you notifications. You can manage these one by one in another settings area, but clearing them here resets those permissions.
• All data from the previous version of Microsoft Edge: If you recently updated Edge or switched from an older version, this option helps clear out old data from that previous version.
• Media Foundation data: This is more technical. It relates to licenses and keys used for playing media content in Edge. Clearing this usually requires restarting the browser.

Clearing browser history in Microsoft Edge offers several options. Users can select "Browsing history," "Cookies and other site data," and "Cached images and files" for removal. To retain saved passwords or auto-filled form data, users must ensure these specific categories are not selected before initiating the clear process.

Step 5The Final Click – “Clear now”

After selecting your desired time range and the types of data to delete, click the ‘Clear now’ button to permanently remove your chosen Microsoft Edge browsing history.

Clearing browser history in Microsoft Edge permanently removes the data. There is no undo option for this action. If you accidentally delete important history, you may need to re-enter websites or rely on a previous backup.

Reference:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/view-and-delete-browser-history-in-microsoft-edge

Summary

Managing your Microsoft Edge browsing data is simple; you can clear history on one or all devices by adjusting sync settings and using the ‘Clear browsing data’ tool.