Are you worried about people accessing your computer without your consent? Do you have some very sensitive data stored in your browser history? Or maybe you just like being anonymous, having a fresh start each time you are browsing on your computer. Whatever your reasons are in today’s blog post, I’ll be teaching you how to view and delete browser history in Microsoft Edge.
Microsoft Edge is a browser application developed and created by Microsoft. This browser is the successor of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. It was released for Xbox One and Windows 10 in 2015. Two years later (2017) the application was made available to Andriod and iOS users before spreading to Linux and Mac OS users. The Microsoft browser can be seen as a competition to other Web browsers like Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.
Not everything is meant for the public eyes, there is always something that people consider private and is meant for their eyes and eyes alone. For some, it could be a special room in their house, their phones, their chats on various social media platforms, etc., and browsing history makes the cut for some of the things people consider private.
If you own a PC that’s frequently accessed by other people asides from yourself then it becomes necessary for you to learn how to view and delete browser history in Microsoft Edge. If you want to learn how to do that, continue reading because, by the end of this blog post, you’d have learnt how to view and delete browser history in Microsoft Edge.
Browsing data you can delete on Microsoft Edge
Browsing data: This includes all the URLs of sites you have visited and the number of times you have visited them. Your browsing data information is usually stored in your device or across other devices if you turned on sync.
Download history: This includes all the files you have downloaded from the web using your Microsoft Edge browser. All downloaded files are stored on your device. When you delete your download history, the list will be deleted from the browser but the actual files on your device won’t be affected. If you want to delete them as well, you’d have to manually do that.
Cookies and other site data: This includes all the information sites store on your device to help them remember your preferences which could be your sign-in information, location as well as media and licenses. Your cookie data are stored on your device.
Cached images and files: This includes the copies of images, pages, and other media content that are stored on your device. These copies help the browser to load content faster the next time you visit those sites.
Passwords: This includes all the passwords you have saved from various sites and accounts. Your password information is stored on your device as well as other synced devices.
Autofill form data (includes forms and cards): This stores information you have entered into forms like your email, shipping address, and credit card. This data is stored on your device as well as other synced devices.
Site permissions: These are the permissions you allow for each site. It includes information like your location, media, cookies, and pop-ups. Site permission data is stored on your device.
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Hosted app data: This is the information web apps store on your device. Data from your Microsoft Store is also stored in the section.
How to View and Delete Browser History in Microsoft Edge
To learn how to view and delete browser history in Microsoft Edge, follow the set of instructions outlined below: The process is much similar to clearing browsing data in Chrome for Android and Firefox for Android.
- Open your Microsoft Edge browser on your Windows or Mac computer.
- You’ll see a search bar on your screen. On that search bar, type in “edge://settings/privacy” (remove the quotes when typing) and press Enter.
- Under the Clear browsing data section, you’ll see a button labeled Choose what to clear. Click on that button.
- You’ll now have to select or choose the data you want to use cleared from your browser. Edge allows you to clear it from a specific time range.
- Click on the Browsing history check box and any other box you’d love to clear and click on the Clear now button. If you don’t want to select and just want to wipe your entire browsing history, set your time range as Forever before clicking on the Clear now button.
When you do that, the browser will clear the selected browsing data or all your browsing data depending on your selection or choice.