Statistics of web page visits are saved in your browser and are often a useful tool. Using this function you can restore accidentally closed tab or return to the resource found several days ago but not saved in bookmarks. Sometimes circumstances arise that records relating to your Google Chrome surfing history need to be deleted. Our experts tell us about the ways to do this.
Google Chrome browser settings
Browser history is an editable setting and can be managed from settings.
Click the dotted three-dot symbol to the right of the combined address and search box. Call the control menu and select the “History” item. In the drop-down list we see another line with the same name. Click on it to open the tab storing records of visited pages.
Each line ends with a colon on the right-hand side to open the context menu. By choosing the item marked with a frame, you can delete an entry from the list of hits.
The second menu item is designed to display all the data related to a particular page. Selection from the general list is done with the help of the filter by URL. Both separate lines and the whole data collection can be deleted afterwards. There is no special option in Google Chrome for complete deletion of entries. You can bypass this developer’s miscalculation by using system-wide hotkeys. In the active Chrome window, press Ctrl+A. This will cause all of the filtered rows of entries to be checked. Press the button, shown in the screenshot as number “4”, to remove them from the browser history.
You can edit the records by sequentially going through the list and ticking the ones you don’t need. The total number of marked items is counted and displayed in the area shown by the number “2”. After you finish the selection, click “Delete” to erase unwanted parts of the Google Chrome history.
Google Chrome cleanup by time
If you get into the settings of the browser a bit deeper you can find the options of deleting the entries according to a time period.
After opening the history of Chrome from the control menu, click on the area marked with an arrow in the following screenshot.
In the sidebar that appears, select the item highlighted in the frame.
The browser will open the settings page and a popup menu with cleaning options. Check the “History” line on the main page to make sure it is “History”. The dropdown list shown in the area marked with “2” on the screenshot shows temporary parameters. Select the appropriate segment and click the “Delete” button.
If you switch to the “Advanced” tab, you can clear the archive records of the downloads that have been performed. The desired time interval, the values of which are similar to those discussed above, is set using the drop-down menu. When the suitable parameters are determined, click “Delete” at the bottom of the window.
History in your Google Chrome account
Users who use Chrome in conjunction with your Google Account should know that the history of the browser is automatically copied and stored in the cloud. This data and geolocation data will be used to adjust search results and display targeted ads in the future.
Click on the user icon to the right of the address bar. It appears instead of the typical avatar when you sign in to Google services. In the menu that opens, click “Go to settings,” which is indicated in the screenshot by a double.
After you have logged in to your account, look for the “Privacy and personalization” block of options. Click on the “Manage” link, opening its contents.
Move to “Tracking Actions”. Open the item shown in the screenshot.
Here we use the “Manage history” link. To avoid having to go through the same operation every time, you can turn off the cloud recording features right away. Remove the check mark marked with an arrow and a number “2” and set the switch marked with a three to the “Disabled” position. After this Google will stop tracking and recording the surfing history and search queries.
You manage your records in the same way as in the settings of the browser. Click on the triple dot at the end of the line with the address of the page you visited. In the drop-down menu select “Delete”. Use the trash can icon if you have a big amount of data to delete. The records in the “cloud” are grouped by day, and it is located next to each date.
In the window that pops up, confirm the desire to clear the history for the selected date by clicking on the link indicated in the box.
Configure how long your history is stored in Google Chrome
Google stores your data indefinitely by default. If you want to delete the history for more than the last one or two days, use the advanced settings of the web service.
Return to the beginning of the page to manage the history of the search field. Click on the three dots in it, shown by the arrow. Choose the “Delete for a certain period” option.
In the field marked “1”, select a preset value: today, 7 days, 30 days. If you are not satisfied with these settings, set the time frame using the drop-down calendar line. Separately set the start and end date of the period to be erased. In the next field, select Google Chrome from the list of available services. Complete the action by clicking on the “Delete” link.
Return to the beginning of the settings page. In the same list that opens from the search field, select the “Data storage period” item.
Set the minimum available retention period of three months. Click “Next” to go to the next step.
The service will ask for confirmation of the deletion of entries previously saved in the archive. Use the button indicated in the box for this.
Google will report that the old record archive has been wiped and that your custom settings have been saved. All activity history and web search records will then be automatically destroyed after the three months allocated for their cloud storage.
Chrome extensions
Google has not implemented in browser settings automatic history cleanup feature, which has been available in many competitors for a long time. You can connect it using extensions.
Use a direct link to go to the Chrome Web Store. Install “Chrome Cleaner” plugin.
It works simply and does not contain any settings. Press the add-on button on the browser panel and bring up the control menu. Hover your cursor over the History section. It is highlighted in blue, as shown in the screenshot. Clicking on the left side, with the logo of the eye you can go directly to the browser history page. All further actions in it are performed manually and were discussed at the very beginning of this material. The second icon, with the trash can icon, instantly deletes all the records in the history without asking for confirmation.
The next extension in question is “CloseClean”. The developers have provided it with flexible settings designed to automate the cleaning process. Download it from the online store via a direct link.
By default, CloseClean is set up so that clicking on its icon in the browser bar will close Chrome. Call the extension’s control menu with the right mouse button. Select the “Options” item. First, change settings related to the behavior of the plugin’s icon by checking the number “3” in the area shown. The first one prevents the user from closing the browser, and the second one asks the user to confirm the action. Once you have understood the general settings, move on to automation. In the “On Close” block we define the actions to be performed by “CloseClean” when the browser window is closed and the browser is shut down. Tick the items indicated by the arrows and marked with the number “4. The extension will automatically delete your browsing and downloading history when you quit your Chrome session.
According to the previously set options, when closing the browser, “CloseClean” will ask for confirmation each time before deleting records.
Surfing without recording history
Users who don’t want to bother with the scrubbing process or install add-ons may be recommended to use the incognito mode.
Launch browser control menu. Select the item marked with a frame.
On top of the current window, another one will open, with a black background, accompanying the incognito mode. As you can read in the highlighted area on the screenshot, it does not save your browsing history. The relative disadvantage of this method is the need to enter passwords manually to access resources requiring authorization. If desired, this limitation can be bypassed by add-ons that will need to allow incognito mode.
In conclusion
The recommendations given by our experts allow you to clear the history on your computer and in the Google Cloud, as well as set up the order of further data storage. Using extensions allows you to simplify or even automate the process of wiping.
