Where to find and clear your browsing history

On a Samsung tablet, your web history lives in whichever browser you use — most commonly Samsung Internet, Chrome, or Firefox. Each one stores history in a different place, so you need to open the browser itself and look for a menu option to clear it. You cannot delete history from the tablet's main settings; you have to go into the app.

The steps differ slightly depending on which browser you use, but the principle is the same: open the browser, find the menu (usually three dots or lines in the corner), and look for "Clear browsing data" or "History". From there you choose what time period to clear — last hour, last day, all time — and what types of data to remove.

If you use multiple browsers on your tablet, you will need to repeat this process in each one. A page you visited in Chrome will not appear in Samsung Internet's history, so clearing one does not clear the other.

Key Takeaways

  • Open the browser app itself (Samsung Internet, Chrome, or Firefox) and tap the menu button — usually three vertical dots in the top right corner.
  • Select "Clear browsing data" or "History" and choose the time range you want to delete, from the last hour to all time.
  • You can select which types of data to remove: history, cookies, cached images, and passwords are usually separate checkboxes.
  • Clearing history in one browser does not clear it in another, so repeat the process for each browser you use on your tablet.

Clearing history in Samsung Internet

Samsung Internet is the default browser on most Samsung tablets. To clear your history, tap the three-line menu button in the bottom right corner of the screen. Scroll down and tap "Settings".

In Settings, tap "Privacy". You will see an option called "Delete browsing data". Tap it. A popup will appear with checkboxes for Browsing history, Cookies and site data, Cached images and files, and Passwords. Check the boxes for what you want to remove. At the top, choose your time range — Last hour, Last 24 hours, Last 7 days, Last 4 weeks, or All time. Then tap "Delete".

The data will be removed when ready. You can verify this by tapping the menu button again and selecting "History" — the list should be empty or show only the sites you visited after the deletion.

Clearing history in Google Chrome

If you use Chrome on your Samsung tablet, tap the three-dot menu in the top right corner. Tap "History", then tap "Clear browsing data" at the top of the screen.

A popup will show options for time range (Last hour, Last 24 hours, Last 7 days, Last 4 weeks, All time) and data types (Cookies and site data, Cached images and files, Browsing history, and others). Select what you want to delete and tap "Clear data". Chrome will remove it right away.

If you want to see your history before deleting it, tap the three-dot menu and select "History" without tapping "Clear browsing data". You can browse through what you have visited and delete individual entries by long-pressing them, or clear everything at once.

Clearing history in Firefox

Firefox stores history in its own location. Tap the three-line menu button in the bottom right corner. Scroll down and tap "Settings".

Tap "Privacy", then scroll to "Clear private data". You will see checkboxes for Browsing and read history, Cookies, Cache, and other data types. Check the boxes for what you want to remove and tap "Clear private data". Firefox will delete it when ready.

Firefox also lets you set it to clear history automatically every time you close the app. In the same Privacy settings, look for "Delete private data on quit" and toggle it on if you want that behavior.

What gets deleted and what stays

When you clear browsing history, you remove the list of websites you visited and the dates you visited them. This is separate from cookies and cached data, which are files that websites store on your tablet to remember your login information and make pages load faster.

If you check only "Browsing history" and leave "Cookies" unchecked, websites will still remember you are logged in — they just will not show up in your history list. If you want to log out of websites completely, check both boxes. Clearing cached images and files frees up storage space but makes websites load slightly slower the next time you visit them.

Passwords are usually a separate checkbox. If you clear passwords, you will have to type them in again the next time you log into a website. Most people leave this unchecked unless they are concerned about someone else using their tablet.

Clearing history on a schedule

If you want your tablet to clear history automatically without you having to do it manually, both Chrome and Firefox offer this option. In Chrome, go to Settings > Privacy > Clear browsing data, then toggle on "Clear browsing data" at the bottom. Choose how often you want it to happen — some versions let you set it to daily or weekly.

In Firefox, go to Settings > Privacy and toggle on "Delete private data on quit". This clears your history every time you close the Firefox app completely. Samsung Internet does not have a built-in automatic clearing option, so you have to do it manually each time.

If you share your tablet with other people, automatic clearing is a good way to keep your browsing private without having to remember to delete it yourself. Just keep in mind that this also clears cookies, so you may find yourself logged out of websites more often.

Clearing individual sites from history

You do not have to clear all your history at once. In most browsers, you can delete individual sites. In Chrome, tap the three-dot menu, go to "History", and long-press the site you want to remove. A checkbox will appear; check it and tap "Delete" at the top. You can select multiple sites this way before deleting them all at once.

In Samsung Internet, tap the menu button, select "History", and long-press the site you want to remove. Tap "Delete" when it appears. In Firefox, tap the menu, go to "History", long-press the site, and tap "Delete".

This method is slower than clearing everything at once, but it is useful if you want to keep most of your history and remove only a few sites — for example, if you visited something you do not want showing up in your history but do not want to clear everything else.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does clearing history delete my saved passwords?

Not unless you check the "Passwords" box when you clear data. Most browsers keep passwords separate from history, so you can clear your browsing history and keep your passwords. If you want to remove both, make sure the passwords checkbox is selected before you tap delete.

Will clearing history log me out of websites?

Clearing history alone will not log you out. Logging out happens when you clear cookies, which is a separate checkbox. If you clear only history and leave cookies checked, you will stay logged in to most sites. If you want to log out everywhere, check both history and cookies.

Can I recover history after I delete it?

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

What is the difference between clearing history and clearing cache?

History is the list of websites you visited. Cache is the temporary files (images, scripts, data) that websites store on your tablet to load faster next time. Clearing history removes the list; clearing cache frees up storage space but does not hide where you have been. You can clear one without the other.

Do I need to clear history on each browser separately?

Yes. Each browser — Samsung Internet, Chrome, Firefox — keeps its own separate history. Clearing history in Chrome does not affect what is stored in Samsung Internet. If you use multiple browsers, you need to repeat the clearing process in each one.