Removing Browser History
Your browser history helps Safari auto-complete URLs and other items, but you can easily clear it if you are concerned about privacy.
When you clear your Safari browsing history, you delete:
- All web page history
- Top sites that you haven't marked as "permanent"
- All cookies and website data (so you'll need to reenter login information)
- The list of downloads (but not the downloaded files themselves)
- Recent searches
- Sites that were added to Quick Website Search
Here's how:
Select
Clear History and Website Data... from the
History menu. This provides an option to then clear all history (by selecting the
Clear History button in the popup), or to clear the history for a particular time period by selecting a value from the
Cleardropdown box.
To clear a particular website instead, navigate to
History | Show History, then select the website you want to clear, and press
Delete.
Tip: If you want to retain your website data (such as saved passwords and other entries), you can just delete the websites themselves from your history. Navigate to
History | Show History, press
Cmd-A to select everything, and then press
Deleteon your keyboard.
This deletes all website history while saving your website data.
Clearing Your Browser Cache
When you clear the browser cache, Safari forgets any websites it has stored and reloads each page you browse to.
With Safari 8 and subsequent versions, Apple moved the Empty Cache option to the Advanced preferences.
To access it, choose
Safari | Preferences, and then
Advanced. At the bottom of the Advanced dialog, check the option
Show Develop menu in menu bar. Return to your browser window, select the
Develop menu, and choose
Empty Caches.
Disabling or Deleting Extensions
You can either completely delete or just disable Safari extensions.
- Choose Safari | Preferences, and then click Extensions.
- Select all extensions.
- Click the Uninstall button.
Disallowing and Deleting Plugins
The easiest way to remove plugins is to just disable them.
Choose
Safari | Preferences, then click
Security. Deselect the option
Allow Plug-ins.
Note that this will interfere with the functionality of websites that require a particular plugin. In this case, Safari will show a placeholder or ask you if you wish to install the plugin.
If you do wish to completely remove your plugins from your Mac, quit Safari and then navigate to the location where the plugin is installed. This is usually /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ or ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/. Press
Cmd-A to select all plugins, and press
Delete.
Restoring Default Settings on Mobile Browsers
To restore Safari's settings on an iPhone or iPad, use the general Settings button:
- Choose Settings (the gear icon)
- Scroll down and select Safari.
- Under the Privacy & Security section, choose Clear History and Website Data, then confirm your choice by tapping Clear History and Data when prompted.
