Clear Your Browser History in Three Steps

On a Samsung tablet, clearing your browsing history takes less than a minute and works the same way in most browsers. Open the browser you use — Samsung Internet, Chrome, or Firefox — then tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines or dots, depending on your browser), find "History" or "Settings," and select the option to clear browsing data. You'll see checkboxes for what to delete: history, cookies, cached images, and passwords. Choose what you want removed, pick the time range (last hour, last day, all time), and tap "Clear."

The exact steps and menu names shift slightly between browsers, but the principle is identical across all of them. This guide covers the three most common browsers on Samsung tablets so you can find the right buttons in yours.

Key Takeaways

  • Samsung Internet, Chrome, and Firefox all let you clear history from a menu inside the browser itself — you do not need to dig into tablet settings.
  • You can choose to delete only history, or also remove cookies, cached data, and saved passwords at the same time.
  • Most browsers let you pick a time range: clear just today's history, or everything from the past month or all time.
  • Clearing history does not sign you out of websites or remove saved passwords unless you specifically check that box.

Clear History in Samsung Internet

Samsung Internet is the default browser on most Samsung tablets. Open the app and tap the three-line menu icon in the bottom right corner of the screen. Scroll down and tap "Settings," then select "Privacy."

You'll see an option called "Delete browsing data." Tap it. A window will appear with checkboxes next to "Browsing history," "Cookies and site data," "Cached images and files," and "Passwords." Check the boxes for what you want to remove. At the top of the window, tap the dropdown that says "All time" (or "Last hour," "Last day," etc.) and choose your time range. Then tap "Delete" at the bottom right.

Clear History in Chrome

Open Chrome and tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner. Tap "History," then "Clear browsing data" at the top of the list.

A popup will show checkboxes for "Cookies and site data," "Cached images and files," and "Browsing history." Make sure "Browsing history" is checked. At the top, use the dropdown to select your time range — "All time" clears everything, or pick "Last hour," "Last 24 hours," or "Last 4 weeks." Tap "Clear data" to finish.

Clear History in Firefox

Open Firefox and tap the three-line menu icon in the bottom right corner. Tap "Settings," then scroll down and tap "Delete browsing data."

You'll see options for "Browsing history," "Cookies," "Cache," and "Passwords." Check the boxes next to what you want to remove. Firefox does not offer a time-range picker in this menu — it clears all data from the selected categories. Tap "Delete browsing data" to confirm.

What Gets Deleted and What Stays

When you clear browsing history, you remove the list of websites you've visited. This is what most people mean by "history." But the menu usually offers other options at the same time.

Cookies and site data are small files websites store on your tablet to remember you. Clearing them can log you out of websites, but it also removes tracking data. Cached images and files are copies of web pages and images stored on your tablet to load websites faster next time. Clearing cache frees up storage space but makes websites load slightly slower for a few visits. Passwords are login credentials you've saved. Clearing them means you'll have to type your password next time you visit those sites — do not check this box unless you want that to happen.

You do not have to clear everything at once. Most people clear history and cache together but leave passwords and cookies alone, so they stay logged into their accounts.

Clear History Automatically

If you want your tablet to clear history without you having to do it manually, both Chrome and Samsung Internet offer an automatic option. In Chrome, go to Settings > Privacy > Clear browsing data, then toggle on "Clear browsing data" at the very top. Choose whether you want it to clear when you close the app or on a schedule. In Samsung Internet, go to Settings > Privacy > Delete browsing data, then toggle on "Delete browsing data on exit."

Firefox does not have a built-in automatic clear option, but you can clear history manually each time you close the browser by going to Settings and toggling on "Delete browsing data on exit."

Frequently Asked Questions

Will clearing history delete my saved passwords?

No, unless you check the "Passwords" box when you clear data. History and passwords are separate. You can clear one without touching the other. If you want to remove a single saved password instead of all of them, go to Settings > Passwords in your browser and delete it from there.

Does clearing history log me out of websites?

Clearing history alone does not log you out. You stay logged in because your login session is stored in a cookie. If you also clear cookies, you will be logged out of most websites. To stay logged in, uncheck "Cookies and site data" when you clear history.

Can I recover history after I delete it?

No. Once you clear browsing history, it is gone. Your tablet does not keep a backup. If you need to find a website you visited, try searching your email for messages from that site, or check your Google account's activity log if you use Chrome and are signed in.

What is the difference between clearing history and clearing cache?

History is the list of websites you visited. Cache is the copies of images and files from those websites stored on your tablet. Clearing history removes the list; clearing cache frees up storage space. You can do both at once or separately.

Why would I clear history but keep cookies?

Cookies let websites remember you, so you stay logged in and do not have to re-enter preferences. Clearing history removes the list of sites you visited, but keeping cookies means you stay logged into your accounts and websites remember your settings. This is useful if you want privacy from someone looking at your tablet's history, but you do not want to log out of everything.