Cover Your Tracks

It’s important to know how to clear your browser history.

If you do not know what browser you are using, click on 'Help' on the toolbar at the top of the browser screen.

A drop down menu will appear, the last entry will say 'About Internet Explorer', 'About Mozilla Firefox', or something similar. You can now skip to the relevant advice section below.

Internet Explorer 7

• Click on the Tools menu and select Internet Options. 
   
• In the General page under Browser History, select the Delete button.
   
• Now either select and delete each section listed, choosing from : Temporary internet files; Cookies, History; Forms data and Passwords; or select the Delete all button at the bottom to clear everything.

Internet Explorer 8

For users of Internet Explorer 8 or Windows 7, details can be found on the Microsoft website. 

Firefox 1 

• Click on Tools and then Options, then click on Privacy.
   
• Click on the Clear button next to History; Saved Form Information; Cookies and Cache.

Firefox 2

•    Click on Tools and then Options, then click on Privacy. 

•    At private data select settings, ensure that all boxes have been selected and then click on Clear Now

Firefox 3

• Click on Tools and then Options, then click on Privacy.
   
• Now select from the option to clear your recent history or remove individual cookies.

Netscape 7

• Click on the Edit menu and select Preferences.
   
• In the left pane, expand History then in the right area click Clear History.
   
• Next, expand Privacy and Security and select Cookies then on the button Manage Stored Cookies and in the new dialog box click Remove All Cookies.
   
• Then repeat similar for Forms and the Manage Stored Form Data button and the same for Passwords and the Manage Stored Passwords button.
   
• Additionally, you may Manage Forms, Cookies and Passwords individually from the Tools menu - but not the temporary page Cache files.

Google Chrome

• Click the tool wrench icon in the upper-right corner of the toolbar and from the dropdown menu select “Clear Browsing Data”.
   
• Use the checkboxes to select the data you wish to clear. By using the “Clear data from this period” option you can specify the period for which you want the data cleared.
   
• Finally click the “Clear Browsing Data” button.

Safari 

Resetting Safari clears the history, empties the cache, clears the Downloads window, and removes all cookies. It also removes any saved user names and passwords or other AutoFill data and clears Google/Yahoo search entries.
To do this go to the Safari menu at top left hand screen. Choose Reset Safari, and click Reset.

Mozilla Firefox 8

Click on Tools and Options. Firefox bundles cookies, forms and history under the heading 'history'. Click the privacy tab, then on "clear your recent history". Select the period you want to delete. Click on Details to select cookies, forms etc.

Disclaimer: If you don’t want someone to see that you’re viewing this website, you can click on the ‘escape’ button on the right, which will take you away from this page to the BBC news website. 

Please be aware that the time it will take to load the BBC website will depend on your connectivity speed and device performance. It may be better to keep another document or website open in a new tab or window while browsing. If someone comes in the room and you don’t want them to see what you’re looking at, you can quickly switch views.