As you browse the web, Firefox helpfully remembers lots of information for you – sites you've visited, files you've downloaded and more. All of this information is called your history. However, if you are using a public computer or share a computer with someone, you may not want others to see these kinds of things.

This article explains what information is stored in your Firefox history and gives you step-by-step ways to clear all or part of it.

To temporarily stop Firefox from storing history, see Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history.

What things are included in my history?

Browsing & Download History : Browsing history is the list of sites you've visited that are shown in the History menu, the Library window's History list and the address bar autocomplete list. Download history is the list of files you've downloaded that are shown in the Downloads window.

: Browsing history is the list of sites you've visited that are shown in the History menu, the Library window's History list and the address bar autocomplete list. Download history is the list of files you've downloaded that are shown in the Downloads window. Form & Search History : Form history includes the items you've entered into web page forms for Form autocomplete. Search history includes items you've entered into the search field on the New Tab page or into Firefox's Search bar.

: Form history includes the items you've entered into web page forms for Form autocomplete. Search history includes items you've entered into the search field on the New Tab page or into Firefox's Search bar. Cookies : Cookies store information about websites you visit, such as site preferences or login status. This includes information and site preferences stored by the Adobe Flash plugin. Cookies can also be used by third parties to track you across sites. For more info about tracking, see How do I turn on the Do Not Track feature?. Note: In order to clear cookies set by Flash you must be using the latest version. See In order to clear cookies set by Flash you must be using the latest version. See Updating Flash for instructions.

: Cookies store information about websites you visit, such as site preferences or login status. This includes information and site preferences stored by the Adobe Flash plugin. Cookies can also be used by third parties to track you across sites. For more info about tracking, see How do I turn on the Do Not Track feature?. Cache : The cache stores temporary files, such as web pages and other online media, that Firefox downloaded from the Internet to speed up loading of pages and sites you've already seen.

: The cache stores temporary files, such as web pages and other online media, that Firefox downloaded from the Internet to speed up loading of pages and sites you've already seen. Active Logins : If you have logged in to a website that uses HTTP authentication since you most recently opened Firefox, that site is considered "active". Clearing this logs you out of those sites.

: If you have logged in to a website that uses HTTP authentication since you most recently opened Firefox, that site is considered "active". Clearing this logs you out of those sites. Offline Website Data : If you've allowed it, a website can store files on your computer so that you can continue to use it when you are not connected to the Internet.

: If you've allowed it, a website can store files on your computer so that you can continue to use it when you are not connected to the Internet. Site Preferences: Site-specific preferences, including the saved zoom level for sites, character encoding, and the permissions for sites (like pop-up blocker exceptions) described in the Page Info window.

How do I clear my history?

Click the Library button , click History and then click Clear Recent History… . Select how much history you want to clear: Click the drop-down menu next to Time range to clear to choose how much of your history Firefox will clear (the last hour, the last two hours, the last four hours, the current day or everything). Use the check boxes to select what information you want to clear from your history. Your choices are described in the What things are included in my history? section above. Click the Clear Now OK button. The window will close and the items you've selected will be cleared from your history.

How do I make Firefox clear my history automatically?

If you need to clear your history every time you use Firefox, you can set it to happen automatically on exit so you don’t forget.

Click the menu button Options . Preferences . Select the Privacy & Security panel and go to the History section. In the drop-down menu next to Firefox will, choose Use custom settings for history .

Check the box for Clear history when Firefox closes. To specify what types of history should be cleared, click the Settings… button next to Clear history when Firefox closes. In the Settings for Clearing History window, check the items that you want to have cleared automatically each time you quit Firefox. After selecting the history to be cleared, click OK to close the Settings for Clearing History window. Close the about:preferences page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.

Note: Under certain circumstances, this function will not run:

Firefox did not shut down normally. If Firefox crashes, you will need to start Firefox and exit/quit normally to ensure that this function runs.

Firefox is set to use automatic private browsing. History retained from regular sessions can only be cleared from a regular window. To change between regular mode and automatic private browsing, see: Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history.

Clear cookies and data for a specific website

See Clear cookies and site data in Firefox.

Remove a single website from your history