safari clear history and website data close tabs

How to clear Safari browsing history on iPhone and iPad

Clear Safari browsing history on iPhone and iPad in a few simple steps

You'll definitely want to know how to clear Safari browsing history on iPhone and iPad . Know how to delete browsing history is part of basic user operation on all your devices, and is especially if you share devices with others. 

Luckily, deleting browsing history on Safari is easy and can be done in just a few taps, and is the same on iOS and iPadOS, so whether you're using an iPhone 15 Pro or an iPad Air , these steps will apply.

Remember, though, that deleting your browsing history only stops your activity being visible on that device. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will still be able to see the webpages you have visited. If you want to stop that, for ultimate privacy, you'll need to use one of the best VPN services .

The following screenshots were taken on an iPhone running iOS 17 . If you aren't running the latest version of your device's OS, we can show you how to update an iPhone or how to update an iPad .

• In Safari, tap the book icon
• Go to the history tab (clock)
• Select how far back to clear

Read on to see full illustrated instructions.

1. In Safari, tap the book icon

Firstly, open Safari and tap the book icon in the bottom bar.

2. Select the history tab (clock icon) and tap Clear

Now select the history tab (clock icon) and tap Clear at the bottom.

3. Select how far back to clear and tap Delete

Now choose how far back you'd like to delete : last hour, today, today and yesterday, or all time.

If you like, you can toggle on Close All Tabs , which will close every open tab that isn't in a tab group (we can show you how to use tab groups if you aren't sure).

Finally, when you're happy, hit Delete .

As you can see in the screenshot above, if you now go back to the history tab, your history will have been deleted.

For more iPhone tutorials, check out our guides on how to transfer data from iPhone to iPhone , how to clear RAM on iPhone , how to delete multiple contacts on iPhone and how to rearrange the iOS 17 Messages '+' menu .

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Peter is Reviews Editor at Tom's Guide. As a writer, he covers topics including tech, photography, gaming, hardware, motoring and food & drink. Outside of work, he's an avid photographer, specialising in architectural and portrait photography. When he's not snapping away on his beloved Fujifilm camera, he can usually be found telling everyone about his greyhounds, riding his motorcycle, squeezing as many FPS as possible out of PC games, and perfecting his espresso shots. 

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How to Clear Safari Profile Web History on iPhone

In iOS 17 , Apple has increased the options available for clearing Safari's web history and website data. You can even clear Safari's cache for a specific Safari profile. Keep reading to learn how it works.

If a site you regularly frequent has elements that have stopped working, or if a site has stopped loading completely, there may be a conflict between an older version of it that Safari has cached and a newer one. Or perhaps you simply want to protect your privacy by wiping the slate clean and removing all the data associated with websites you've visited.

With ‌iOS 17‌, Apple doesn't just let you clear Safari's history and website data for a specific timeframe. You can also clear the cache for a specific Safari Profile. (Profiles are is designed to help separate your browsing sessions into things like Work, School, or Personal: For more on how to use Profiles, click this link .)

How to Clear Safari Cache

Here's how to clear Safari history and website data on iPhones running ‌iOS 17‌, and iPads running iPadOS 17 .

• Open the Settings app.
• Scroll down and tap Safari .
• Tap Clear History and Website Data in blue.
• Choose a timeframe in which to clear your history: Last hour , Today , Today and yesterday , or All history .
• Choose a specific profile to clear from the list, or check All Profiles .
• To close all open tabs within your timeframe and profile(s), toggle on the switch next to Close All Tabs .
• Tap Clear History , then confirm when prompted.

That's all you need to do. The next time you open the associated profile(s), you should notice that all web history for the chosen timeframe will be gone.

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How to clear history in Safari (cookies, website data, etc.)?

How to clear history in Safari: visited sites, cookies, recent searches, website data, etc.?

2 Answers 2

In Safari 16 'Clear History' menu item was moved to 'Safari' menu tab:

In Safari 15 and earlier 'Clear History' menu item was in 'History' menu tab:

To clear history and cookies, go to Settings > Safari and click Clear history and site data. Clearing Safari's history, cookies, and browsing data will not change AutoFill data.

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Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged safari ..

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It’s easy to clear Safari cache, history and cookies on your iPhone and iPad. This comes in handy when you want to delete some sensitive browsing information, in case you did not use Private Mode. Moreover, it can also help free up some space to keep your browser running efficiently. If Safari is being slow or behaving erratically, you can get rid of data to clear out the load. So let’s see what’s involved.

Why should you clear Safari cache?

• Cookies can store a range of data, from your login details to your shopping preferences. If they become corrupted or get shared with perpetrators, they can put your information at risk.  
• Clearing the Safari cache will prevent anyone else from seeing the websites you’ve been visiting and the searches you’ve been performing. If you’re utilizing a shared device or a public Wi-Fi network, this is extremely crucial. 
• Overall, tips and tricks like this for Safari on your iPhone are simple but keep the data stored in your browser at a minimum and help free up space on your phone.

How to clear cache and history in Safari on iPhone or iPad

• Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
• Scroll down and select Safari . 

This procedure will remove all cookies, cache, and history from your iPhone completely. Furthermore, you can prevent the cache from piling up by surfing in the Private Browsing Mode .  

How to delete specific website data from Safari on iPhone or iPad

• Go to the Settings app → Safari .
• Scroll down to the bottom and tap Advanced . 

• Once finalized, tap Done .

Clearing data from a particular website ensures the removal of all cookies. If you want, you can even customize Safari to your preference in a few simple steps.  

How to block cookies in Safari on iPhone

• Under Privacy & Security, toggle on Block All Cookies .

Yes. Clearing Safari cache, history, and cookies will log you out of the websites you are currently logged into.

No. Clearing your Safari cache, history, and cookies will not delete your bookmarks.

Yes. Clearing your Safari cache, history, and cookies will delete any saved passwords you have for websites.

Now, you’re safe…  

Clearing Safari cache, history, and cookies on iPhone can help you to secure your privacy and improve the performance of your device. It is a simple and easy process that only takes a few moments to complete.

Do let me know if you’d want me to cover more such articles. Until next time!

Read more: 

• How to clear Chrome history, cache, and cookies on iPhone and iPad  
• How to Fix A Problem Occurred with this Webpage so it was Reloaded on iPhone
• How to disable Safari on iPhone? Easy ways to do it!
• How to flush your DNS cache on Mac  

Mehak has a master’s degree in communication and over ten years of writing experience. Her passion for technology and Apple products led her to iGeeksBlog, where she specializes in writing product roundups and app recommendations for fellow Apple users. When not typing away on her MacBook Pro, she loves being lost in a book or out exploring the world.

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Ios - safari clear history - close tabs question

There is a bug since a few releases. It just annoys me a lot. I have the habit of clearing cookies often using these steps.

iphone - ios: “settings - safari - clear history and browsing data”.

Even if you have closed all browser tabs, this task *always* prompts you to answer “do you also want to close tabs”. Can’t the browser detect if there are tabs open and if none simply don’t show this popup?

Posted on Dec 4, 2022 5:44 AM

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• All my open tabs close in safari on iPad 13.2 when I accidentally open an image I’m running into a problem I’ve never had before when I upgraded my iPad Pro to ios13. If I accidentally tap on an image while I’m reading an article, a box pops up & can easily open in a new tab. The problem is that it closes all my open tabs which are not easy to retrieve. They don’t open in the +/recently closed tabs pull down menu. I have to look for them by browsing my history which isn’t always successful if the tab was from awhile ago. How can I prevent all my open tabs closing? 482 2
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Dec 6, 2022 2:22 PM in response to AnilHS71

Hi AnilHS71,

Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities. If you would like to leave feedback for Apple on this, here is where you can do so: Product Feedback - Apple

Have a great day.

What is Website Data on iPhone, iPad & What Happens If you Clear It

If you go to Settings > General > iPhone (iPad) Storage > Safari, you will see an option called Website Data . If you open that option, you will see a red button saying “Remove All Website Data.” The same option is also available if you go to Settings > Safari. You will see a button saying “Clear History and Website Data.” You may want to delete Website Data to free up storage on your device. However, you may also wonder what will happen if you delete it. This article explains what Website Data is and if you should delete it.

What is Website Data

Website Data is comprised of cookies, site data and cache files created by the websites you visit. It contains information such as site preferences and login status. Website Data is supposed to enhance your online experience. For example, it helps websites to remember you so that you will not need to re-login to frequently used sites if you’re already logged in, like LinkedIn, Facebook, Amazon, Gmail, or Google Docs. It can be very difficult to know what this data may be because sites partially control what they store. Commonly, however, Website Data includes the following:

• Cookies : They are small text files. They usually contain authentication data.
• Cache : They are a sort of local copy of the websites you visit. It usually consists of images, files and scripts. Local copies are stored so that Safari won’t have to re-download everything again, and the site can be loaded faster. Cached data reduces load time.

This data can get big and take up significant space. This is why you may want to delete it if you are running out of available storage. However, the amount of data is not correlated to how often you use a site. There may be a site you use daily that stores zero data. And there may be a site you use rarely that stores megabytes of data.

What will happen if you delete Website Data

There are advantages and disadvantages to deleting Website Data. Deleting this may cause a few issues for you. They are:

• Your logged-in status will be deleted. You will need to re-login again.
• If you are about to purchase an item, your shopping cart will be emptied. For example, if there are items in an Amazon shopping cart, they will be deleted (unless you are signed in to your Amazon account).
• The first time you visit a page, it may take a little longer to load. Safari will re-download the cached data.

Deleting this may also offer some benefits:

• If you share your computer with others, clearing Website Data will improve your privacy.
• Deleting it will clear up some room on your device.
• This may possibly increase your device’s overall performance.
• If Safari is not working properly, this may fix it.

The following won’t be affected:

• If you have saved passwords on your iPhone or iPad, they won’t be deleted.
• If you have Safari bookmarks, they will stay. However, your browsing history will be gone.
• If you have data saved in your account for a particular website, this will not be deleted. For example, Google Docs or any other cloud based web app will keep your data on their cloud server.

Please note that you can delete all Website Data or if you prefer, you can delete an individual website’s Website Data by going to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data and swiping left on the domain name.

Related articles:

• How to Clear the Browser Cache in Safari on Mac
• How to enable Cookies on iPhone
• Mac: Your System Is Infected With (3) Viruses, Fix
• Safari kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork Error, Blank Page Fix

Dr. Serhat Kurt worked as a Senior Technology Director specializing in Apple solutions for small and medium-sized educational institutions. He holds a doctoral degree (or doctorate) from the University of Illinois at Urbana / Champaign and a master’s degree from Purdue University. He is a former faculty member. Here is his LinkedIn profile and Google Scholar profile . Email Serhat Kurt .

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How to Use Shortcut to Quickly Delete Safari Browsing History and Data

Here is how you can use Shortcuts app to quickly delete Safari Browsing History and Data on your iPhone and iPad.

Your iPhone does a great job of preventing online trackers from tracking you across websites and creating a digital profile. Still, websites save cache on your phone that can be used to track you online, and deleting Safari browsing history on iPhone and iPad takes several steps, which can be cumbersome. In this article, I will show you how you can create a shortcut that will let you delete Safari Browsing History and Data with just a tap.

How to delete Safari browsing history and data on iPhone and iPad

Before we begin creating our shortcut, let’s check out how you can manually delete Safari browsing history and data on your iPhone and iPad.

How to manually delete Safari browsing history and data on iPhone and iPad

Create siri shortcut to quickly delete safari browsing history and data.

• Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Scroll down to find Safari and tap on it.

3. Scroll down to find Clear History and Website Data settings, and tap on It.

4. On the splash screen, tap on the Clear History and Data option to confirm the action.

Now that you know how the manual steps work, let’s create a Siri shortcut that will help you delete Safari browsing history and data with just a tap.

In iOS and iPadOS, when a URL is run on Safari in a certain format, it executes the corresponding preference settings on the device. Thanks to OJISAN SEIUCHI , we know which URL to run to delete Safari browsing history and data. Here are the steps to create the shortcut.

• Launch the Shortcuts app on your iPhone and click on the + button at the top-right to start creating the shortcut.

2. Tap on the Add Action button and search for the URL action. Tap on the URL action to add to the shortcut.

3. In the URL section, copy and paste the below URL.

prefs:root=SAFARI&path=CLEAR_HISTORY_AND_DATA

4. If you see the Open URLs option in the Next Actions Suggestions tap on it. Otherwise, tap on the search bar at the bottom and search for the Open URLs action and tap to add it.

5. Tap on the top of the shortcut to give it a name. Let’s name it Clear Safari Data.

6. Your shortcut is now ready. If you want to add it to your Home Screen, tap on the settings menu at the top-right and then tap on Add to Home Screen. Tap on the App icon to set a custom icon if you want. Finally, tap on the Add button at the top.

7. To clear Safari history and data, either tap on the Home Screen icon for the shortcut or launch the app and tap on the shortcut. You can even ask Siri to Clear Safari Data (or whatever name you have given to your shortcut), and it will run the shortcut. Confirm to delete Safari History and Data.

Clear Safari history and data with Siri Shortcut

The easiest way to use this shortcut is to ask Siri to run the shortcut and then tap once to confirm the deletion of Safari browsing history and data. If you liked this shortcut, check out our list of best Siri Shortcuts , along with our shortcuts for announcing when the battery is fully charged , generating gradient wallpaper , combining images , and more. If you had issues following this tutorial or have any feedback for us, don’t forget to reach us on Twitter .

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How to Fix Safari’s Clear History, Website Data Grayed Out Issue

Dilum Senevirathne is a freelance tech writer specializing in topics related to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows, and Google web apps. Besides Guiding Tech, you can read his work at iPhone Hacks, Online Tech Tips, Help Desk Geek, MakeUseOf, and Switching to Mac.

If there’s one thing that I love about Safari, it’s the fact that I can clear up my browsing history and site cookies in record time. iOS has the functionality seamlessly integrated into the Settings app, which eliminates the need to wade through cumbersome menus and what not.

However … there’s a slight problem. Usually, you just tap the Clear History and Website Data option and be done with it. But what if the entire option is grayed out? Not ideal if you don’t want someone else to know what you’ve been up to, right?

To put any concerns to rest, there’s nothing wrong with your iPhone or iPad. It’s happens due to an iOS restriction imposed on Safari that blocks adult-related content and certain specific websites. Chances are that you set it up and forgot about the whole thing later on.

Regardless, you can re-enable the Clear History and Website Data option by lifting the said restriction, but that requires an input of your Restrictions passcode in the first place.

Lifting the Restriction

As the issue is related to an iOS site restriction, you need to temporarily lift it before you can begin using the Clear History and Website Data option. So, let’s see how you can do that.

Step 1: On the Settings screen, tap General, and then tap Restrictions.

Step 2: To proceed, you need to insert your Restrictions passcode, which is NOT the usual passcode that you use to unlock your device.

Step 3: Scroll down the Settings screen, and then tap Websites under the Allowed Content section.

Step 4: On the subsequent screen, you should find either the Limit Adult Content or Specific Websites Only options enabled.

To lift the restriction, you need to enable the All Websites option.

Step 5: Once you’re done, exit the Restrictions panel, and then tap Safari within Settings. You should now find the Clear History and Website Data option enabled.

After clearing your history and site data, simply go back to the Restrictions panel to re-impose the site restriction if you want to.

Only Deleting Website Data

If you only want to delete locally cached data and cookies to resolve site-related issues or free up storage space while keeping your browsing history intact, then you really don’t need to lift the site restriction to be able to do that.

Yes, the Clear History and Website Data option is grayed out, but notice that Advanced option just below it? Tap it, and on the subsequent screen, tap Website Data.

You should now find a list of sites that have certain amounts of data cached locally. Simply tap Remove All Website Data, and you should be good.

About Resetting the Restrictions Passcode

You aren’t really supposed to mess with the Restrictions passcode if you didn’t set it up in the first place. However, there might be instances where you just enabled the site restriction and forgot the Restrictions passcode altogether. If that’s the case, then resetting it’s going to be a major pain!

Getting rid of the Restrictions passcode requires a complete restoration of your iPhone or iPad via iTunes, and to make matters even worse, you lose all your data in the process since you can’t just restore to a previous backup either. This is due to the fact that the Restrictions passcode is also restored along with previous data, so you need to set it up as a new device when prompted during the restoration procedure.

Once again, you LOSE all your data, so make sure to fully sync your contacts, notes, photos, documents and other data to iCloud before you proceed. Also, consider creating a backup to your PC via iTunes as a safeguard just in case you run into any problems syncing stuff back from iCloud.

Even then, you still lose locally stored data . Hence, take appropriate action to back them up before proceeding.

If you have no prior experience performing complete iOS system restores, then I really don’t recommend that you do it yourself since the entire process is too risky. Instead, consider taking your iOS device to the local Genius bar or let an Apple Authorized Service Provider do the job for you instead.

Consider Using Another Browser

Hopefully, you remembered your restrictions passcode and got your browsing history cleared up easily.

If you share your device with your children or other people, then this issue should become a regular occurrence since Safari’s private tabs don’t work with the site restrictions in place either.

Hence, consider using a dedicated privacy-focused browser such as Firefox Focus for instances where you want some privacy. It’s insanely lightweight and removes your browsing data in a flash. And even better, you can uninstall the browser easily before handing over your device to someone who shouldn’t have unrestricted access to the Internet.

Was this helpful?

Last updated on 03 February, 2022

The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.

The article above may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. The content remains unbiased and authentic and will never affect our editorial integrity.

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Dilum Senevirathne

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Safari User Guide

• Change your home page
• Import bookmarks, history and passwords
• Make Safari your default web browser
• Go to websites
• Find what you’re looking for
• Bookmark web pages that you want to revisit
• See your favourite websites
• Use tabs for web pages
• Pin frequently visited websites
• Play web videos
• Mute audio in tabs
• Pay with Apple Pay
• Autofill credit card info
• Autofill contact info
• Keep a Reading List
• Hide ads when reading articles
• Translate a web page
• Download items from the web
• Share or post web pages
• Add passes to Wallet
• Save part or all of a web page
• Print or create a PDF of a web page
• Customise a start page
• Customise the Safari window
• Customise settings per website
• Zoom in on web pages
• Get extensions
• Manage cookies and website data
• Block pop-ups
• Clear your browsing history
• Browse privately
• Autofill username and password info
• Prevent cross-site tracking
• View a Privacy Report
• Change Safari preferences
• Keyboard and other shortcuts
• Troubleshooting

Clear your browsing history in Safari on Mac

You can remove all records that Safari keeps of where you’ve browsed during a period of time you choose. If your Mac and your other devices have Safari turned on in iCloud preferences , your browsing history is removed from all of them. Clearing your browsing history in Safari doesn’t clear any browsing histories kept independently by websites you visited.

Open Safari for me

Choose how far back you want your browsing history cleared.

When you clear your history, Safari removes data it saves as a result of your browsing, including:

History of web pages you visited

The back and forward list for open web pages

Frequently visited site list

Recent searches

Icons for web pages

Snapshots saved for open web pages

List of items you downloaded (downloaded files aren’t removed)

Websites added for Quick Website Search

Websites that asked to use your location

Websites that asked to send you notifications

How-To Geek

How to automatically close safari tabs on iphone and ipad.

Do you often find yourself with dozens of forgotten open Safari tabs on your iPhone or iPad? It's easy to configure Safari to close them automatically over time. Here's how.

If you frequently find yourself with dozens of forgotten open Safari tabs on your iPhone or iPad, then it can be annoying to sort through them or manually close them later . Luckily, Safari can automatically close tabs after a certain period of time. Here's how to set it up.

First, open Settings. Scroll down until you see "Safari" and tap it.

In Safari settings, swipe down until you see the "Tabs" section, then tap "Close Tabs."

One the "Close Tabs" screen, you have the option to set the lifespan of an open Safari browser tab. When set, Safari will close tabs that have not been viewed within the period of time you set, and the options are "Manually," "After One Day," "After One Week," or "After One Month." This setting applies to Private tabs as well.

Pick the option that suits you best and tap on it.

After that, leave Settings. It's handy to know that even after Safari automatically closes your older tabs, you can still find them in the hidden "Open Recently Closed Tabs" menu  in Safari for iPhone and iPad. You can access it by holding down the "+" (plus) button on the tab management screen in Safari.

As a potential downside, Safari (as of iOS and iPadOS 13) will also group recently closed Private Browsing tabs in the same "Recently Closed Tabs" area if they are closed automatically. If you want to fully conceal recent browsing activity, it may be best to manually close Private tabs yourself.

Related: How to Reopen Closed Tabs on an iPhone or iPad