How to view and clear your web browsing history in Safari on iPhone or iPad

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Nicole Lienemann)

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Tools and requirements
Quick steps
Step-by-step guide
Final thoughts

Knowing how to view and clear your web browsing history in Safari on an iPhone or iPad is fundamental for privacy. After all, browsing history comes bundled with web navigation unless you're on Private browsing.

Safari is Apple’s proprietary web browser, and it offers a simple method to review and delete specific websites from your web history, or all of it. In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to access and clear your Safari browsing history on iPhone and iPad.

Additionally, for an incredibly secure browsing experience on iPad, we recommend checking out the best iPad VPN.

Tools and requirements

An iPhone or iPad

Steps for how to view and clear your web browsing history in Safari on iPhone or iPad

Launch Safari.
On an iPhone, tap the Book icon at the bottom. On an iPad, tap the 'Show Sidebar' button at the top left.
Select the History tab (Clock icon).
Tap 'Clear' and select the timeframe.
Tap 'Clear History'.

Step-by-step guide to view and clear your web browsing history in Safari on iPhone or iPad

We’ve demonstrated the steps below on an iPhone. But the process is nearly the same on the iPad, and we’ve pointed out the differences where relevant.

1. Launch Safari and access History

The first screenshot shows the iPhone home screen with a red arrow pointing at the Safari app. The second screenshot shows the Safari app with a red arrow pointing at the Bookmarks button.

Open Safari on your iPhone and tap the 'Bookmarks' button at the bottom (beside the tab switcher button).

On iPad, tap the 'Show Sidebar' button at the top left corner.

2. Clear History

The first screenshot shows the Safari app with the History tab open and red arrows pointing at the Clock icon and Clear button. The second screenshot shows the Clear History menu with red arrows pointing at the options under CLEAR TIMEFRAME, the Close All Tabs toggle button, and the Clear History button.

Select the History tab (clock icon) to view all your browsing history.

Tap 'Clear' at the bottom right corner to bring up the menu and choose a duration under the 'Clear Timeframe: Last hour, Today, Today and yesterday', and 'All history'.

To close tabs along with clearing history, toggle on 'Close All Tabs'.

Finally, tap 'Clear History' at the bottom to erase your browsing history.

To delete only specific websites from history, go to the History tab, tap 'Edit' (in the bottom left corner), select the websites you wish to delete, and then tap 'Delete' (bottom right corner).

Final thoughts

Clearing your web browsing history in Safari is a straightforward and effective way to boost privacy. But remember that deleting your history removes data that you could easily use to access previously visited websites. If you’d prefer not to save your browsing data, try the Private Browsing Mode on Safari.

For more iPad and iPhone tips, check out our tutorials on how to use and configure a VPN on your iPhone or iPad, how to change your iPhone password or reset it, and how to save, view and manage passwords in Safari.

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Nikshep Myle is a freelance writer covering tech, health, and wellbeing. He has written for popular tech blogs like Tom's Guide, GadgetReview, SlashGear, and Creative Bloq, and has extensively reviewed consumer gadgets. When he’s not writing, you’ll find him meditating, gaming, discovering new music, and indulging in adventurous and creative pursuits.