Mozilla Firefox is the third most popular desktop browser after Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge and is used by almost 250 million people. If you share your computer, use Firefox to shop for gifts, or you are selling your device, you may wish to delete history in Mozilla Firefox Permanently. While erasing your internet history won’t necessarily remove your data from the sites you have visited, it will save your private information from people who may use your device in the future.
Deleting Your Firefox Browser History
Firefox’s history includes much more than just a list of websites you have visited. As well as this list, your history also includes:
- Download history
- Cookies & site preferences
- Active logins
- Search history & filled form fields
- Cached content & offline site data
Sometimes, you may have to clear this data to help solve problems you have with a website or browser. Fortunately, Firefox provides an easy method to delete all of these things plus your browsing history at the same time. To do this, you should:
- Click the Library button (stacked books icon) next to the address bar (sometimes located inside the Menu on mobile devices).
- Select History and then Clear Recent History.
- Decide on a time range. You can choose to clear history from the last hour, last two hours, last four hours, today, or everything.
- Choose which of the above types of history or data you wish to erase.
- Press OK.
You can check whether this process has worked in two ways:
- Open the Firefox Menu (≡), go to Options > Privacy & Security > Cookies & Site Data, and select Manage Data to view all of your currently stored cookies and site data.
- Press CTRL + H to view your site and search history.
If the data or history you intended to delete is still present, repeat the process and choose a different time range.
How to Automatically Delete Your Browser History in Firefox
If you delete your Firefox history often, it may be easier to automate the process. This way, you will never forget, and you can continue browsing the internet without worrying about your privacy.
- Open the Firefox Menu (≡) and navigate to Options > Privacy & Security > Cookies & Site Data.
- Check the box next to Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed if you wish to delete your cookies and site data whenever you close your browser.
- Scroll down to the History section.
- Click the drop-down list to select between Remember history, Never remember history, or Use custom settings for history.
- To clear your history when Firefox closes, choose the Use custom settings for history option and check the box. If you click the Settings button to the right of this checkbox, you can also select which data to delete when the browser is closed.
Final Thoughts
Learning how to navigate Firefox’s settings is essential if you want to have a stress-free browsing experience. Now that you are familiar with these settings, you will hopefully know how to delete your browsing history and maintain your privacy with ease. However, erasing your history doesn’t just protect your privacy. Clearing your cached content, cookies, and site preferences can also help you troubleshoot issues with websites not functioning correctly, as can learning how to enable JavaScript in your browser.
As JavaScript is the programming language behind many of the dynamic and enjoyable elements of modern websites, any issues with content not loading or interactive features not working are usually due to JavaScript being disabled. Most browsers, including Firefox, support JavaScript for this reason, so learning how to enable it is another valuable skill.
