You are here

Home

Erase my tracks

Concerned about someone finding out where you’ve been on the internet?

Here’s how to reduce the chances that your net travels will be traced.

Browsers like Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox are designed to leave traces behind indicating where you’ve been and what you’ve been looking at on the Internet.

You cannot absolutely guarantee that your travels on the Internet can’t be traced at all, but here are some simple things you can do to reduce the chances that someone can look through your computer and find out what you’ve been reading.

Important: Clearing browsing history does not guarantee that your activity cannot be seen elsewhere. If you are signed in to a browser account or syncing data across devices, some activity may also be stored on or synchronized across other devices.

In general, you want to clear:

  1. Your browsing history (a record of websites and pages you’ve visited).
  2. Cached files and site data, such as cookies and other temporary website information stored by your browser.

Select the browser that you use to find out more information about browsing privately and deleting your history:

One additional but important tip

When you clear your browsing history, cached files, cookies, and other site data, you may erase not only information about where you've been, but also other information that had previously been stored by your browser.

So, if your partner checks and sees that your browsing history and other browser data have been cleared, they may notice that information is missing and guess that you're trying to hide something.

Clearing browsing data may itself be noticeable to someone who regularly checks the device. Consider your personal safety before making changes. If possible, using a device or account that the other person cannot access may be safer.

If you use Chrome…

On a computer

  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, select More, then Delete browsing data.
  3. Select how much history you want to delete. To delete everything, select All time.
  4. Check the boxes for the information you want Chrome to delete, including Browsing history. You can also select cookies and cached images and files.
  5. Select Delete data.

On an Android device

  1. On your Android device, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, tap More, then Delete browsing data.
  3. Choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time.
  4. Select Browsing history and any other data you want to delete.
  5. Tap Delete data.

On an iPhone/iPad

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open Chrome.
  2. Tap More, then Delete browsing data.
  3. Choose a Time range.
  4. Tap Browsing data and select the types of information you want to delete, including Browsing history.
  5. Tap Confirm.
  6. Tap Delete browsing data.

If you use Safari…

On a computer

  1. In the Safari app on your Mac, choose History, then Clear History…, and select the time range you want to clear.

On an iPhone/iPad

  1. Go to Settings, tap Apps, then select Safari.
  2. Tap Clear History and Website Data.
  3. Choose the timeframe you want to clear, then tap Clear History.

If you use Edge…

  1. Select Settings and more…  > Settings  > Privacy, search, and services.
  2. Under Delete browsing data > Clear browsing data now, select Choose what to clear.
  3. Under Time range, choose a time range from the drop-down menu.
  4. Choose the types of browsing data you want to clear.
  5. Select Clear now.

If you use Firefox…

  1. Click the menu button (the three horizontal lines) to open the menu panel.
  2. Click History and select Clear Recent History…
  3. Use Time range to clear to choose how much of your history Firefox will remove. To delete everything, select Everything.
  4. Select the types of information you want to clear, such as Browsing & Download History, cookies, or form and search history.
  5. Click Clear.

If you use Samsung Internet…

  1. Navigate to and open the Samsung Internet app, tap Menu (the three horizontal lines), and then tap Settings.
  2. Tap Personal browsing data.
  3. Tap Delete browsing data, and then choose your desired options.
  4. Tap Delete data and then Delete to remove your browsing data. If you have a lot of data on your phone, it may take a minute or two for it to completely clear.

Other browsers

Other browsers may use slightly different names and menu options. Look in the browser’s privacy or history settings for an option such as Clear browsing data or Clear history. Where available, you can choose to remove your browsing history, cached files, cookies, and other site data. Clearing this information does not guarantee that your browsing activity cannot be traced, but it can reduce the information stored on the device.

Cover your email tracks

  1. If it is safe to do so, delete sensitive incoming and outgoing emails. Remember to check folders such as Sent, Trash, Spam, and Archive.
  2. Use a strong, unique password for your email account and turn on two-step verification or multi-factor authentication if it is safe to do so.
  3. If you receive threatening or harassing emails, preserve the evidence in a safe place. You may want to print them, take screenshots, or save copies somewhere the other person cannot access.

Page last updated: September 14, 2026
Source: AWHL