How to clear my online search history

Internet browsing is a great way to discover information on just about any topic of interest. However, your Google searches (or use of other search engines of choice) leave behind a history of what you have been looking for. If you aren’t the sole user of your computer, you might wish to erase your search history. Here is how to go about it:

Firefox

Firefox 4 Right-click in the search box. Scroll down to Clear Search History. Select this option. Alternatively – Go to Clear Recent History. Select Browsing & Download History and Form & Search History. Click Clear Now. Note – Whilst there, it’s always a good idea to clear all cookies and cache as well. Firefox 3.5.19 Click on the Tools menu. Select Clear Recent History. Select the appropriate time range. Click Clear Now.

Google Chrome

Go to the wrench icon on your browser toolbar. Select Tools. Click on Clear Browsing Data. Select what you would like to delete. The menu at the top allows you to choose how much of the data you would like to delete. Pick beginning of time to delete everything. Click Clear Browsing Data.

Internet Explorer 8

Go to the safety button and select Delete Browsing History. Check the box next to the categories of information you would like to delete. Click Delete.

Toolbars

Google Toolbar
If you use the Google Toolbar, you can delete your search history in the following manner: Click on the Google logo to get to the drop-down menu. Select Clear Search History. If you use Google Toolbar 4.0, you can type a word in the search bar and when the predicted search terms appear, the option to Clear History will show. This only clears the toolbar history, not the search history stored by your browser, which needs to be done separately. Yahoo Toolbar The Yahoo Toolbar offers several options to clear your search history. To remove your current search history, but allow the toolbar to store future searches: Go to the settings menu and select Toolbar Options. Click Clear Recent Searches. To save your recent searches whilst serving the web, but to clear them when you close your browser window: Go to the settings menu and select Toolbar Options. Select Auto-clear recent searches. Click OK. If you don’t want any of your searches saved and want to disable the feature entirely: Go to the settings menu and select Toolbar Options. Go to Include my recent searches with suggestions and uncheck this option. Click OK. Again, this only clears your toolbar history. You’ll still need to clear your search history on your browser!