how to access history on safari

PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
EDIT Edit this Article
EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
Browse Articles
Learn Something New
Quizzes Hot
This Or That Game New
Train Your Brain
Explore More
Support wikiHow
About wikiHow
Log in / Sign up
Computers and Electronics
Internet Browsers
Safari Browser

2 Easy Ways to Check Your Safari Search History

Last Updated: January 17, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Rain Kengly . Rain Kengly is a wikiHow Technology Writer. As a storytelling enthusiast with a penchant for technology, they hope to create long-lasting connections with readers from all around the globe. Rain graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Cinema. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 154,348 times. Learn more...

Do you need to check your Safari browser history? In a few simple steps, you can easily view all the websites you accessed in the past. You can also search for specific websites in your history and clear any website data you don't want. This wikiHow will teach you how to view and delete your Safari history on iPhone, iPad, and macOS.

Things You Should Know

On iPhone and iPad, you can click the book icon, then the clock icon to find your Safari history.
On macOS, you can click the "History" tab, then "Show History".
You can search for specific websites and clear your history data.

Using iPhone and iPad

If needed, you can change your General Settings .

If you're signed in with the same Apple ID to you use to log into your Mac, your Mac's Safari history will appear in this list as well.

Step 4 Use the search bar to find specific websites.

You may have to swipe down on the History page to find it.
The results will load as you type.

Tap a time period to delete the history from just that time period. To delete the entire log, select All time .
You can also swipe left on individual websites in your history, then click Delete .

Using macOS

Be sure to update Safari.

If you're logged into the computer with the same Apple ID you use on your iPhone or iPad, you'll also see sites you've visited on those devices.

A list of matching results from your history will appear. Click a site to load it in Safari.

Select a time frame from the drop-down menu, then click Clear History .
You can also delete cookies from Safari .

Expert Q&A

↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/search-your-browsing-history-ibrw1114/mac
↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201265

About This Article

iPhone/iPad: 1. Open Safari . 2. Tap the book icon. 3. Tap the clock button. macOS: 1. Open Safari . 2. Click History . 3. Click Show All History . Did this summary help you? Yes No

Send fan mail to authors

Is this article up to date?

Featured Articles

Watch Articles

Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Do Not Sell or Share My Info
Not Selling Info

wikiHow Tech Help Pro:

Level up your tech skills and stay ahead of the curve

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

Easily wipe your browsing history in Apple's Safari web browser in seconds.

How to find your web-browsing history

How to clear your web browsing history.

Clearing your browsing history on iPhone and iPad in Safari has been a straightforward affair for years now.

Sometimes, you may want a fresh start with your web browsing — perhaps to get rid of some history that may bring up a memory you'd rather forget as you type in a website URL in the address bar.

Apple makes this feature very easy to access on both the iPhone and iPad by offering two ways to clear your history. So with this in mind, here's how you can do just that and make a fresh start in Safari .

Viewing your web history in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 is very easy to do — and it's all done from Safari.

In Safari, tap the Bookmarks button in the toolbar that's below the address bar.
Tap the History icon in the upper right corner. Here, you can view your entire web history.

To search for bookmarks, tap the Bookmarks button in the toolbar at the bottom of the app, then select the Bookmark icon.

Use the History search bar to find previously viewed pages.

To find History, tap the History menu. Then use the search to find previously viewed information.

If the time calls to wipe most or all of your web browsing history in Safari, here's how to do it on both iPhone and iPad.

To note, the below steps will be the same if you attempt to wipe your web browsing history on an iPhone 15 Pro Max , and an iPad Mini 6 for example.

In Safari, tap the Bookmarks button.
Select the History icon in the upper right corner.
Tap Clear and select how much history you'd like to clear: the last hour, the last day, 48 hours' worth, or all recorded history.

One more thing… A feature no one talks about

Privacy on the web matters more than ever in these modern times. Websites store the pages you click on, especially when you sign into a page that can contain personal information about you.

Master your iPhone in minutes

iMore offers spot-on advice and guidance from our team of experts, with decades of Apple device experience to lean on. Learn more with iMore!

It's great to have a feature like this in Safari — but it would be good to have this automated. To tell Apple's web browser to automatically clear history after 24 hours would be very useful, as you wouldn't leave a trail behind.

Regardless, it's still a good feature, and one you should use every week.

Daryl is iMore's Features Editor, overseeing long-form and in-depth articles and op-eds. Daryl loves using his experience as both a journalist and Apple fan to tell stories about Apple's products and its community, from the apps we use everyday to the products that have been long forgotten in the Cupertino archives.

Previously Software & Downloads Writer at TechRadar, and Deputy Editor at StealthOptional, he's also written a book, ' The Making of Tomb Raider ', which tells the story of the beginnings of Lara Croft and the series' early development. He's also written for many other publications including WIRED, MacFormat, Bloody Disgusting, VGC, GamesRadar, Nintendo Life, VRV Blog, The Loop Magazine, SUPER JUMP, Gizmodo, Film Stories, TopTenReviews, Miketendo64 and Daily Star.

Bryan M Wolfe Staff Writer

Apple Pencil might one day work with iPhone — but new battery-free patent design might disappoint pen power users

New Jersey Apple Store of 104 employees files to Unionize after a year-long pause on efforts

Google is about to give iPhone owners a privacy and security headache as it prepares to shut down another key service

How to View Browsing History on Safari

It's free and super easy to set up

Safari is a popular web browser developed by Apple Inc. for its devices. One of the essential features of Safari is its browsing history that keeps track of the websites you have visited on the browser. If you want to revisit a previously visited website or clear your browsing history for privacy reasons, it is important to know how to access and view your browsing history. In this article, we will guide you through the process of viewing browsing history on Safari for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

Understanding Safari Browsing History

Before we dive into the specifics of viewing browsing history on Safari, let's first understand what it is and why it is important. Browsing history is a log of websites that you have visited using the Safari browser. Essentially, every time you visit a website on Safari, it is added to your browsing history, along with the date and time of your visit. The browsing history helps you to revisit a website quickly and also improves your web surfing experience. Knowing how to access and manage your browsing history can help you optimize your browsing experience and protect your privacy.

What is Browsing History?

Browsing history is a record of the websites that you have visited on your web browser. It includes the name of the website, web address, the date and time of your visit, and any cookies stored by the website. Every web browser, including Safari, keeps track of a browsing history to improve user experience by allowing users to revisit their favorite websites without having to type in the website's address or search for it again.

Why is Viewing Browsing History Important?

Viewing browsing history is important for several reasons. First and foremost, it allows you to revisit previously visited websites quickly, without having to type in the URL or search for it. Additionally, browsing history can help you keep track of the websites you have visited, and you can use it as a reference when researching a particular topic. Lastly, viewing your browsing history can help you keep an eye on your online activity and ensure that you are not accidentally visiting inappropriate websites or revealing sensitive information.

Accessing Browsing History on Safari for Mac

There are several ways to access browsing history on Safari for Mac, including using the Safari menu, keyboard shortcuts, and the sidebar. Let's take a look at each method in detail:

Using the Safari Menu

The easiest way to access your browsing history on Safari for Mac is by using the Safari menu. Here are the steps:

Click on the Safari menu in the top left corner of your screen.

Select the option "History."

You will see a dropdown menu that displays your browsing history.

Alternatively, you can click on the "Show All History" option at the bottom of the dropdown menu to open a dedicated browsing history window. From here, you can view your browsing history, search for specific websites, and delete individual entries.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

If you prefer using keyboard shortcuts, you can use the following steps to access your browsing history:

Press the "Command + Y" keys simultaneously to open your browsing history in a new window.

Viewing Browsing History in Sidebar

You can also view your browsing history by opening the sidebar in Safari. Here are the steps:

Click on "View" in the Safari menu bar.

Select "Show Sidebar."

Click on the "History" icon in the sidebar to view your browsing history.

Accessing Browsing History on Safari for iPhone and iPad

Just like Safari for Mac, Safari for iPhone and iPad also keeps track of your browsing history. Here's how you can access your browsing history on these devices:

Opening Safari's History Tab

Here are the steps to view browsing history on Safari for iPhone and iPad:

Open the Safari app on your device.

Tap on the "Bookmarks" icon at the bottom of the screen.

Select the "History" option.

You can now view your browsing history.

Navigating Through Browsing History

You can navigate through your browsing history by scrolling up and down the list of websites. You can also use the search bar at the top of the screen to find a specific website quickly.

Clearing Browsing History on iOS Devices

If you want to clear your browsing history on Safari for iPhone or iPad, follow these steps:

Tap on "Clear" at the bottom of the screen.

Select the time range for which you want to clear the history. You can choose from the last hour, today, today and yesterday, or all time.

Click on "Clear History."

Managing and Organizing Browsing History

Now that you know how to access your browsing history on Safari for Mac and iOS devices let's take a look at how you can manage and organize your browsing history.

Searching for Specific Websites in History

If you are looking for a specific website that you previously visited, you can use the search bar in your browsing history to quickly find it. Type in the name of the website or any keyword related to the website, and Safari will display all the relevant results.

Deleting Individual History Entries

If you want to delete individual history entries, follow these steps:

Open your browsing history window on Safari for Mac or iOS devices.

Find the website entry you want to remove.

Swipe left on the website entry on iOS devices, or click on the three dots on the right side of the entry on Safari for Mac.

Select the "Delete" option.

Clearing All Browsing History

If you want to clear all your browsing history on Safari for Mac or iOS devices, follow these steps:

Click on "Clear History" or "Clear" at the bottom of the screen.

Select the time range for which you want to clear your browsing history.

Click on "Clear History" or "Clear Browsing History."

Now that you know how to view browsing history on Safari for Mac and iOS devices, you can easily revisit previously visited websites and manage your online activity. Browsing history can help you optimize your browsing experience, but it is important to keep track of it and clear it regularly for privacy reasons. Follow the steps outlined in this article to view, manage, and clear your browsing history on Safari with ease.

Let's set you up !

Working on the web!

Student Tips

Startup Tools

Browser Glossary

Browser Tips

PC & Mobile

How To View History in Safari on a PC, Tablet, or Mobile Device

Lee Stanton Lee Stanton is a versatile writer with a concentration on the software landscape, covering both mobile and desktop applications as well as online technologies. Read more July 19, 2022

Device Links

Device Missing?

Safari for iOS provides a convenient way to keep track of your browsing history. You can use it to call up web pages quickly you’ve visited. You can easily go down the rabbit hole when performing searches online. This makes it difficult to remember exactly where you found a valuable piece of information. Reviewing your browsing history can retrace your steps, saving you the arduous task of finding the data from scratch. This article covers how to see your history in Safari. Check out how to do that below.

How To View History in Safari on a PC, Tablet, or Mobile Device

How to View History in Safari on an iPhone

Safari stores your browser activity, making it possible to revisit sites at a later date. You could either view your most recent history or check out the entire list of previously visited websites. This is how to do that.

You have now accessed your recent history on Safari.

If you would like to view your complete Safari browsing history, here’s how to do that.

You’ve now accessed your Safari browsing history.

How to View History in Safari on an iPad

Safari allows users to keep track of their browsing history. This feature can then be used to revisit sites that might be of interest. You could either view recent history or peruse all your browsing data. The steps listed here detail how to do that.

You have now viewed the recent history on your iPad.

To view your complete browsing data, follow the steps outlined here.

How to View History in Safari on a Mac

Your Safari browsing history allows you to revisit sites you viewed in the past. You can even use the search tool so that you don’t have to scroll through the entire list of results to find what you are looking for. Here’s how to view your browsing history on an iPhone.

Click on it to open the page in your browser.

You can now see your history in Safari. If you signed in to your device using the same Apple ID that you use on your other Apple devices, that history would also be displayed on your Mac.

Can You View History From Private Browsing?

Private Browsing is a feature that prevents Safari from storing information on sites you have visited. It ensures there’s no record of your online activity, including passwords or autofill information. It also prevents iCloud from storing data on any tabs that you open. To provide an additional layer of privacy, Safari prevents sites and content providers from tracking you. Any cookies you might have picked up are deleted once you close the tab.

This means that Safari doesn’t store your browsing history when you activate Private Browsing. You will therefore be unable to view it in the future.

How to Clear History in Safari

If your Apple device is lagging or otherwise misbehaving, you might consider clearing your browsing data. This is how to do that.

Your browsing data will now be removed from your device.

Retracing Your Steps

Like many web browsers, Safari stores information on websites you’ve visited. This data can come in handy when you want to go back to a particular site. This guide shows you how to retrieve the browsing history stored on your Apple devices.

Have you viewed your browsing history on Safari? What did you think of the process? Let us know in the comments below.

Disclaimer: Some pages on this site may include an affiliate link. This does not effect our editorial in any way.

Parth Shah February 29, 2024

Lee Stanton February 23, 2024

Lee Stanton February 19, 2024

Send To Someone

Missing device.

Please enable JavaScript to submit this form.

Tech Gift Ideas for Mom
Hot Tech Deals at Target Right Now

How to Manage Browsing History on Safari for iPad

Protect your privacy on your mobile device

What to Know

Open Safari . Select the Bookmarks icon.
Choose the Clock icon to open the History pane displaying the list of sites visited during the past month.
Select Clear and indicate which entries to delete using one of the four options: The last hour, Today, Today and yesterday, and All Time.

This article explains how to manage browsing history on Safari for iPad, including how to view and delete the iPad Safari history, cookies, and stored website data. This article applies to all iPad devices with iOS 10 or iPadOS 13 or later. The process for managing browser history in Safari on an iPhone is slightly different.

How to View and Delete Your iPad Browser History in Safari

Reviewing your iPad browser history is a straightforward process. Safari stores a log of websites you visit along with other related components, such as the cache and cookies. These elements enhance your browsing experience, but you may want to delete your browsing history for privacy reasons.

You can manage your web browsing history on the iPad in two ways. The easiest option is to do it directly in Safari:

Open the Safari web browser.

Select the Bookmarks icon (it looks like an open book) at the top of the screen.

Select the clock icon to open the History pane. A list of sites visited over the past month appears.

To delete a single website from the browser history, swipe left on its name.

Select Clear at the bottom of the panel to reveal four options: The last hour, Today, Today and yesterday, and All time.

Select your preferred option to remove the browsing history from your iPad and all connected iCloud devices.

How to Delete History and Cookies From the iPad Settings App

Deleting the browser history through Safari doesn't remove all the data it stores. For a thorough cleaning, go to the iPad Settings app. You can also delete the browsing history and cookies from the Settings app. Clearing the history this way deletes everything Safari saved.

Select the gear icon on the Home screen to open the iPad Settings .

Scroll down and select Safari .

Scroll through the list of settings and select Clear History and Website Data to delete the browsing history, cookies, and other cached website data.

Select Clear to confirm, or select Cancel to return to the Safari settings without removing any data.

How to Delete Stored Website Data on iPad

Safari sometimes stores additional website data on top of a list of web pages you visited. For example, it can save passwords and preferences for frequently visited sites. If you want to delete this data but don't want to clear the browsing history or cookies, selectively delete specific data saved by Safari using the iPad Settings app.

Open the iPad Settings app.

Scroll to the bottom of the Safari settings screen and select Advanced .

Select Website Data to display a breakdown of the data each website currently stores on the iPad.

Select Show All Sites to display the expanded list if necessary.

Select Remove All Website Data at the bottom of the screen to delete the site data at once, or swipe left on individual items to clear items one at a time.

Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day

How to Clear Search History on iPhone
How to Clear Private Data, Caches, and Cookies on Mac
How to Manage Your Browsing History in Safari
How to Clear Your Search Bar History
Managing History and Other Private Data in Safari for macOS
How to Delete and Clear Cookies on an iPhone
How to Clear Cookies on iPad
How to Manage History and Browsing Data on iPhone
How to Reset Safari to Default Settings
Manage Browsing History and Other Private Data in IE 11
3 Ways to Clear Cache on an iPad
How to Clear Cookies and Cache in Chrome
How to Control iPhone Safari Settings and Security
Manage Browsing History and Private Data in Firefox
How to Clear the Browsing History in Chrome for iPad
How to Delete Cookies in Every Major Browser

How To Check Safari History on iPhone and Mac [2024]

Recently a man in the EU discovered that his Safari browsing history was included in his Apple data download. After I discussed the issue with him and compared my data download, it turns out he received a lot more information than I did.

After this experience, I decided to research and learn different ways to manage your Safari browser history on your Mac and iPhone. But before we dive into this, what exactly is the Safari Browsing History and why is it so important?

How To Check Safari Search History on iPhone?

1. Open Safari .

2. In the Menu bar, look at the lower right corner of the screen and tap the History icon.

A Pop-up window showing the list of all the websites you have visited in Safari will appear. Also, If you want to, you can search the history for particular websites, and do this:

3. Enter a phrase into the search bar at the top of the screen.

This filters just the websites with that particular keyword or phrase. It is also important to know how to clear your Safari Browsing History.

To do this, follow these simple steps below.

How To Check Safari Search History on Mac?

There are a number of ways you can manage your browser history for Safari on both your macOS and iOS. Here are different techniques and how you can do it. First, let´s consider how to view your browsing history.

Time needed: 1 minute

View Your Safari Browsing History on Mac

Follow the simple steps below to view your browsing history on your iPhone as well.

Delete Your Safari Browsing History on your Mac

To clear your browser history on Mac, follow these straightforward steps:

1. Open Safari.

2. Open the History Bar at the top of the screen.

3. Click the Show All History tab in the Menu bar or press Command (⌘) + Y in Safari, which will take you to the history view.

4. Select Clear History .

A pop-up menu will come up and it will allow you to choose how far back you want to clear the existing history. This option lets you choose if you want to clear your history from the last hour, day, week, two weeks, a month, or even for all time.

5. Choose your preferred option and click Clear History .

Great! You have successfully cleared your Safari browsing history on Mac. Now, Let´s see how we can do this for iPhone as well.

Delete Your Safari Browsing History on iPhone

Clearing your browsing history on your iPhone is also easy. Follow these simple steps too:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Scroll through the options and click on Safari .

3. Again, scroll and find the Clear History and Website Data option.

4. Tap Clear History and Data .

Yes! You have successfully cleared all Browsing History on Mac and iPhone.

Following these next easy steps to remove all the records of the web pages or sites you have visited over the selected period.

You can also prevent Safari from tracking your browsing history. Let us quickly dive into this too.

Prevent Safari From Tracking Your Browsing History on Mac

Suppose you prevent Safari from tracking the history of the websites you visited. In that case, it means that Safari cannot save any record of the searches you perform or the websites you visit. How can you do this?

2. Navigate to click Safari in the Menu Ba r .

3. Select Preferences from the Menu Ba r .

4. Next, Click on the Privacy tab.

5. You´ll see a box that is next to Prevent cross-site tracking, Check the box.

Let me also walk you through how to do this on your iPhone.

Prevent Safari From Tracking Your Browsing History on iPhone

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Scroll down to the bottom and tap Safari .

3. On this page as well, scroll down to the Privacy and Security section .

4. Toggle on the switch that is next to the Prevent Cross-Site Tracking .

You have successfully prevented Safari from tracking your browsing history both on your Mac and iPhone!

If you prefer additional protection for your browsing activity and for your iPhone and Mac overall, we recommend a dedicated antivirus like Intego Internet Security that can block malicious websites from accessing your data.

That is not all. Sometimes, you might not want your Safari Browser to save your browsing history, website data, or even cookies. Using the private browsing mode is the solution to this.

Keep Your Browsing History Private on Mac

To keep your browsing history private on Mac, you need to use the private browsing mode. Follow these very easy and straightforward steps to do this:

2. Look at the top of your screen, select File , and click New Private Window .

A new window will be opened and this will disallow Safari from saving your Browsing or search history.

This would also restrict Safari from sending auto-fill information to any website you visit while using the window. You can also do the same on your iPhone.

Keep Your Browsing History Private on iPhone

2. Tap the Page tab in the bottom right corner of the Safari screen.

3. Switch the page option to Private .

4. Finally, Click the ‘+’ sign at the bottom left corner to open a new private browser.

Keeping your browsing history private is very important, but in some situations, you may have visited a website by mistake or you don´t want another person to see that you visited the website. In this situation, the best thing you should do is delete the individual website from your Browsing history. Let me quickly show you how to do this:

Delete Individual Websites From Your Browsing History for Mac

To delete individual items or websites from your Safari Browsing history, follow these very easy steps:

1. Open your Safari Browser .

2. Click on the History tab in the Menu bar

3. Select the Show All History tab

4. Find the website you want to remove and Right-click on it.

5. Select the Delete from History option.

Let me quickly walk you through how to do this on iPhone as well.

Delete Individual Websites From Your Browsing History for iPhone

1. Open the Safari app.

2. Click the history tab at the bottom right corner of the screen of the browser.

3. Look for the website you want to delete from your history and swipe left on it.

4. Finally, Tap the Delete option.

Yeah! You have successfully deleted individual websites from your browsing history. But if you use Safari on multiple devices of yours such as iPhone, Mac, and maybe your iPad, iCloud sync can help you to keep all your history synchronized across all the devices you own. This means that you can start browsing on your iPhone and continue later on your Mac. Let me quickly show you how to set this up.

Manage Your Safari Browsing History Across Multiple Devices Using iCloud Sync

To use the iCloud sync feature, you must have iCloud enabled on all the devices you own and they all need to be signed in to the iCloud with the same Apple ID.

If you have Safari iCloud syncing turned on and you clear your history, it will also be cleared from all of your other Apple devices with iCloud sync enabled. How can you enable and disable iCloud sync for your Safari browsing history on your Mac and iPhone?

Manage Your Safari Browsing History Across Multiple Devices Using iCloud Sync on Mac

2. Select Safari > Preferences > iCloud Option

4. Check the checkbox next to Safari to make sure that it syncs across all your devices

To sync your browsing history across certain devices, do this:

5. Click on the Manage Devices Button and select the devices you want to sync with.

6. Click Done

Manage Your Safari Browsing History Across Multiple Devices Using iCloud Sync on iPhone

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Click on your name at the top of the settings screen.

3. Tap the iCloud option.

4. Under Apps Using iCloud , select Safari.

5. Finally, toggle on the switch next to Safari.

Great! You have successfully enabled iCloud sync for Safari browsing history and it will be updated on all your devices using the same Apple ID when you visit new websites or close an existing Safari tab.

Suppose you’ve carefully followed the methods and steps I’ve provided in this step-by-step guide. In that case, you will have a great edge over efficiently managing your Safari browsing history on one or even multiple devices.

Which of these methods worked for you? Feel free to share your thoughts here in the comment section. Also, if you are having problems with iCloud syncing on your devices, check out our guide for effective solutions.

One thought on “ How To Check Safari History on iPhone and Mac [2024] ”

I like to use imymac——Browser Cleaner to clean up browser traces, historical records, etc.Browser Cleanup lets you clean up junk files, cookies, and history, eliminate deceleration reasons, clear privacy traces to protect your confidential data and more. It is performed on Mac OS and Mac OS X.

Tips & Tricks

Troubleshooting, how to access & search safari history on mac.

Just about all modern web browsers default to maintaining a history log of your web browsing activity, and Safari for Mac is no different. This article will focus on how to access your Safari history on the Mac, and also how to search Safari browsing history for specific words, terms, and matches.

Accessing and searching through Safari browser history can be helpful for tracking down websites or articles that were previously visited on a particular topic but that you’ve since forgotten, retrieving previously visited websites, looking for a particular match, amongst many other valid uses for individual users, parents, public computers, information security, systems administrators, and much more.

Searching Safari web browsing history on a Mac is easy, here’s how it works:

How to Search Safari History on Mac

Open the Safari web browser on the Mac if you have not done so already
Pull down the “History” menu and choose “Show All History”

Show All Browser History in Safari on Mac

You’ll now be presented with all stored Safari History of web browsing activity, with each browsing history session separated by date
Click into the search box seen in the upper right corner of the History screen

Type in any word, term, or phrase to search the Safari History for, any matches will be shown on screen

In the example here, we searched for the term “Chromebook” and Safari returned all matches for that term.

Safari History Search will find matches as far back as possible, searching through all Safari history for the current Mac user. Anything matching will be returned as a search result.

Searching browser history can be helpful for many reasons, whether you’re trying to recall something you were looking at some time ago, or you want to find a website or article about a particular topic you know you have visited before. Of course searching through web browser history can also be useful for forensic purposes and data auditing too, for those involved in fields where that can be necessary or relevant.

Safari will store browser history for as long as you have been using Safari, unless it has been cleared specifically. There are multiple options for clearing Safari history, and if you want to completely clear all history in Safari on the Mac that is possible. You can also prevent browser history from being stored in the first place by choosing to use Private Browsing mode in Safari for Mac , which doesn’t store local browsing session data or cookies.

Do keep in mind if you (or the target Mac) run multiple different versions of Safari, like Safari alongside Safari Tech Preview, then you’d need to check history in both Safari browsers, and likewise you’d want to clear history in both of them too if you were wanting to clear our history for whatever reason.

The capability to find and look through past browsing data is not unique to the Mac, you can also search Safari browsing history on the iPhone and iPad too, and virtually every other modern web browser also has the same capability, except for most TOR browsers and privacy centric apps like Firefox Focus.

Enjoy this tip? Subscribe to our newsletter!

Get more of our great Apple tips, tricks, and important news delivered to your inbox with the OSXDaily newsletter.

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

How to Recover Deleted Safari History on Mac
How to Delete Specific Safari History on Mac
View Browsing History on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch from Safari
How to Clear Google Maps Search History on iPhone & iPad

» Comments RSS Feed

My safari on my MacBook Pro is getting buggy and a lot of things aren’t working, like I can’t click on an email address to start an email from the mail program, I click and nothing happens. Now I am trying to find a web page from a few days ago, so I try to go to ‘show all history’ but nothing happens. I can’t get my history to show in the browser!! It does have recent history, it’s just that I can’t access my whole history like I should be able to. What gives?

I used to use history a lot when I created a search in Safari. After going to a website that lead to further exploration it would sometimes take clicking the back arrow several times to get back to the original search and it was quicker to go to history and just click on the original search. Since one of the recent updates I have been unable to find the original searches any more. I don’t know if I am just not seeing it or if it isn’t there. Anyone else have this problem?

I have asked this before but I’m asking it again. It is possible to make a guide on how to go to root and _delete_ the option “new private window” from the File dropdown menu? How to edit the nib file etc…

You can Enable Parental Controls on Mac and that can be used to disable Safari Private Mode.

Or this below, which I found on the web and would not recommend to anyone:

If logging isn’t practical or you want to be more proactive and prevent Private Browsing from being accessible in the first place, it is possible (though not a short process) to disable Private Browsing if you are willing to mess with Safari’s internal files.

Note that macOS 10.12+ will not allow you to modify, overwrite, or delete Safari. You can make the following modifications to a copy of Safari and put that version in the Dock, but the original Safari will still need to exist in the Applications folder.

Install the necessary files

Install Xcode (available in the App Store) Download a zip file of Nib-Decompiler from GitHub (or clone the repository if you know how to do that) Open the NibDecompiler.xcodeproj Xcode project in Xcode Compile the project. This will produce a file named NibDecompiler.action. You can now close the project. Copy NibDecompiler.action into ~/Library/Automator* From your download, copy NibDecompiler.workflow into ~/Library/Services* Remove the “New Private Window” option from the menu bar

Note that this involves editing the Safari internal files. You will need to redo these steps every time you update Safari.

Go to Safari in the Finder and right-click “Show Package Contents” This will open the app as if it were a folder. Go to Contents, then Resources, then Base.lproj folder. Find MainMenu.nib. Copy it outside of the package somewhere (like the Desktop). Right-click on the file and choose “NibDecompiler”. The file will be made editable. Open the file in Xcode (should be double-clickable) In the window with the Safari menu, choose “Safari” to expand it. Click on the “New Private Window” menu item. Hit the delete key to see it disappear. Save the file. Back in the Base.lproj folder of the Safari app, make a copy MainMenu.nib just in case something goes wrong and you need to restore it. Copy your edited MainMenu.nib to Base.lproj, overwriting the existing one. Open Safari to make sure that it still opens (if it doesn’t, restore your original MainMenu.nib file). (Optional) If everything works, you may delete the backup MainMenu.nib if you so choose. By removing the “New Private Window” menu item from the menu bar, they will not be able to enter private browsing. Additionally, keyboard shortcuts are tied to menu items, so that’s disabled too.

* ~ means your user home directory. Library is a hidden folder that isn’t visible when you navigate to the home directory. You can get to this folder in the Finder by going to the “Go” menu and choosing “Connect to Folder…”, then typing in ~/Library. You will then see the folders you need to copy files to.

Instructions copied from this MacRumors forum thread ( https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-to-disable-private-browsing-in-safari.175238/page-3#post-23387488 )

You can see things you wish you didn’t see by doing this on someone elses computer!

You can find cold things in their refrigerators, too, genius.

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Subscribe to OSXDaily

- How to Opt Out of ChatGPT Using Your Training Data While Keeping Chat History
- How to Check Disk Health on Mac with smartctl
- How to Enable Do Not Disturb on Apple Watch
- 3 Mac Tips for Working with International Teams
- How to Disable ChatGPT Chat History & Training Data Usage
- Opinion: Shiny Keys on MacBook Air & Pro Are Ugly and Shouldn’t Happen
- MacOS Ventura 13.6.6 & Safari 17.4.1 Update Available
- Using M3 MacBook Air in Clamshell Mode May Reduce Performance
- First Beta of iOS 17.5, macOS Sonoma 14.5, iPadOS 17.5 Released for Testing
- iOS 16.7.7 & iPadOS 16.7.7 Released for Older iPhone & iPad Models

iPhone / iPad

- What Does the Bell with Line Through It Mean in Messages? Bell Icon on iPhone, iPad, & Mac Explained
- Fix a Repeating “Trust This Computer” Alert on iPhone & iPad
- Create a Resume with Pages on Mac, iPhone, iPad
- How Secure are Personal Hotspot Connections from iPhone?
- You Can Play Flappy Bird in the Mac Finder
- Fix “warning: unable to access /Users/Name/.config/git/attributes Permission Denied” Errors
- How to Fix the Apple Watch Squiggly Charging Cable Screen
- NewsToday2: What it is & How to Disable NewsToday2 on Mac
- Why Did My iPhone Alarm Stop Automatically & Turn Itself Off?

Shop on Amazon to help support this site

About OSXDaily | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Sitemap

This website is unrelated to Apple Inc

All trademarks and copyrights on this website are property of their respective owners.

How to search your browsing history on an iPhone, in Safari or Google Chrome

It's easy to search the history on your iPhone's web browser to return to a specific webpage you've visited previously.
You can search the history on your iPhone in the Safari or Google Chrome browsers with these steps.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The search history on your iPhone's web browser can be helpful in taking you back to a site you want to see again, but scrolling through the whole list can be time consuming and annoying.

Luckily, there's a search tool to help you get back to websites you may have visited a while ago — without going through the trouble of trying to remember the date you visited it.

This feature is available on both the Safari and Google Chrome browsers. Here's how to use it to search your web history on an iPhone .

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Iphone 11 (from $699.99 at best buy), how to search the history on your iphone in safari .

1. Open the Safari app.

2. Tap the book icon at the bottom of your screen. It is the second icon from the right. This will bring up your search history.

3. Pull down on this History menu to reveal a bar at the top labeled "Search History" with a magnifying glass to the left of it.

4. Tap the search bar you just revealed to bring up the keypad, and type your search query. The query doesn't have to be exact to bring up results.

5. The result you are looking for should appear. Tap it to return to the website you visited.

How to search history on your iPhone in Google Chrome

1. Open the Google Chrome app.

2. Tap the three dots in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. This will bring up an options menu.

3. Tap "History," which is the second to last option on the list of items in blue. The icon looks like a clock with an arrow around the outside pointing counterclockwise.

4. On the new History page, tap the search bar at the top to bring up your keyboard.

5. Type your search query into the search bar.

6. Tap the name of the site you were looking for. This will bring you back to the page.

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech :

How to close all of the open tabs on your iphone's safari browser at once, how to stop pop-ups from appearing on your iphone's safari browser, how to add bookmarks and favorites on an iphone's safari browser for quick access to your preferred webpages, how to clear the safari search history on your iphone in three different ways.

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

Insider Inc. receives a commission when you buy through our links.

Watch: I'm a diehard iPhone user who switched to Android for a week — here's what I loved and hated about the Google Pixel 3 XL

Main content

How To See My History On Safari

Software & Applications
Browsers & Extensions

Introduction

Safari, Apple's native web browser, is a popular choice for users across the globe due to its seamless integration with Apple devices and its user-friendly interface. Whether you're using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, Safari offers a smooth and intuitive browsing experience. One of the key features that users often find useful is the ability to access their browsing history. This feature allows you to revisit previously visited websites, making it convenient to find information or revisit a favorite page.

Understanding how to access and manage your browsing history on Safari can greatly enhance your browsing experience. Whether you want to revisit a website you stumbled upon a few days ago or clear your browsing history for privacy reasons, knowing the ins and outs of Safari's history feature is essential.

In this article, we will delve into the various methods for accessing and managing your browsing history on Safari across different Apple devices. From iPhones to iPads and Macs, we will guide you through the steps to view your browsing history and provide tips for managing it effectively. By the end of this article, you will have a comprehensive understanding of how to navigate your browsing history on Safari, empowering you to make the most of this essential feature.

Accessing Safari History on iPhone

Accessing your browsing history on Safari from your iPhone is a straightforward process that allows you to revisit websites you've previously viewed. Here's how you can access your Safari history on your iPhone:

Open Safari : Launch the Safari app on your iPhone by tapping on the Safari icon on your home screen.

View History : Once Safari is open, tap the book icon located at the bottom of the screen. This will open a new window with various options.

Access History : In the new window, tap the clock icon labeled "History" to view your browsing history. This will display a list of websites you've visited within a specific timeframe.

Navigate History : You can scroll through the list to find the specific website you're looking for. Tapping on any of the listed websites will take you directly to that page.

Search History : If you have a large browsing history and need to find a specific website, you can use the search bar at the top of the History page to search for keywords or website titles.

By following these simple steps, you can easily access your browsing history on Safari from your iPhone. Whether you want to revisit a website you visited a few days ago or need to find a page you viewed recently, accessing your browsing history on Safari can be incredibly useful.

Understanding how to access your browsing history on Safari is just the first step. In the following sections, we will explore how to access your browsing history on Safari from an iPad and a Mac, providing you with a comprehensive guide to managing your browsing history across all your Apple devices.

Accessing Safari History on iPad

Accessing your browsing history on Safari from your iPad is a simple and convenient process that allows you to revisit websites you've previously viewed. Here's how you can access your Safari history on your iPad :

Open Safari : Begin by unlocking your iPad and locating the Safari icon on your home screen. Tap the icon to launch the Safari browser .

View History : Once Safari is open, you can access your browsing history by tapping the book icon located at the top of the screen. This will open a new window with various options.

Access History : In the new window, tap the clock icon labeled "History" to view your browsing history. This will display a chronological list of websites you've visited within a specific timeframe.

Search History : If you have an extensive browsing history and need to find a specific website, you can use the search bar at the top of the History page to search for keywords or website titles.

Accessing your browsing history on Safari from your iPad is a seamless process that can be incredibly useful. Whether you want to revisit a website you stumbled upon a few days ago or need to find a page you viewed recently, knowing how to access your browsing history on Safari can greatly enhance your browsing experience.

Understanding how to access your browsing history on Safari is just the first step. In the following section, we will explore how to access your browsing history on Safari from a Mac, providing you with a comprehensive guide to managing your browsing history across all your Apple devices.

Accessing Safari History on Mac

Accessing your browsing history on Safari from your Mac is a convenient and essential feature that allows you to revisit websites you've previously viewed. Here's how you can access your Safari history on your Mac:

Open Safari : Launch the Safari browser on your Mac by clicking on the Safari icon in the dock or locating it in the Applications folder and double-clicking to open it.

View History : Once Safari is open, you can access your browsing history by clicking on the "History" tab in the top menu bar. This will reveal a drop-down menu with various options.

Access History : From the "History" drop-down menu, select "Show All History." This will open a new window displaying your complete browsing history, organized by date and time.

Navigate History : In the history window, you can scroll through the list to find the specific website you're looking for. Each entry includes the website's title and the date and time it was visited.

Search History : If you have an extensive browsing history and need to find a specific website, you can use the search bar in the top-right corner of the history window to search for keywords or website titles.

Organize History : Safari allows you to organize your browsing history by date, site, and most visited. You can also clear your history from specific time ranges or remove individual website entries.

Accessing your browsing history on Safari from your Mac is a seamless process that can be incredibly useful. Whether you want to revisit a website you stumbled upon a few days ago or need to find a page you viewed recently, knowing how to access your browsing history on Safari can greatly enhance your browsing experience.

Understanding how to access your browsing history on Safari is essential for effectively managing your browsing experience. By following these simple steps, you can easily access and navigate your browsing history on Safari from your Mac, empowering you to make the most of this essential feature.

Managing Safari History on all devices

Managing your browsing history on Safari across all your Apple devices is essential for maintaining privacy, optimizing storage, and streamlining your browsing experience. Whether you want to clear your entire browsing history, remove specific entries, or prevent certain websites from appearing in your history, Safari offers a range of options for managing your browsing history effectively.

Clearing Browsing History

To clear your entire browsing history on Safari, you can follow these steps on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac:

iPhone and iPad : Open Safari, tap the book icon, select "History," and then tap "Clear." Choose the desired time range and tap "Clear History" to confirm.
Mac : Open Safari, click on the "History" tab in the top menu bar, select "Clear History," choose the desired time range, and click "Clear History" to confirm.

Removing Individual Entries

If you want to remove specific websites from your browsing history, you can do so by following these steps:

iPhone and iPad : Open Safari, tap the book icon, select "History," swipe left on the entry you want to remove, and tap "Delete."
Mac : Open Safari, click on the "History" tab, locate the entry you want to remove, right-click on it, and select "Delete."

Preventing Websites from Appearing in History

Safari also allows you to prevent specific websites from appearing in your browsing history. This can be useful for maintaining privacy or preventing certain websites from being easily accessible. To achieve this:

iPhone, iPad, and Mac : Open Safari, visit the website you want to exclude from your history, tap and hold the bookmark icon, and select "Add to Reading List" instead of "Add to Favorites."

Enabling Private Browsing

Private Browsing mode in Safari allows you to browse the web without saving your browsing history. This can be particularly useful when you want to maintain privacy or when using a shared device. To enable Private Browsing:

iPhone and iPad : Open Safari, tap the tab icon, and then tap "Private" to switch to Private Browsing mode.
Mac : Open Safari, click on "File" in the top menu bar, select "New Private Window," and start browsing in Private mode.

By understanding and utilizing these management options, you can effectively control your browsing history on Safari across all your Apple devices. Whether you want to maintain privacy, optimize storage, or streamline your browsing experience, Safari provides the tools to manage your browsing history according to your preferences.

In conclusion, understanding how to access and manage your browsing history on Safari across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac is essential for optimizing your browsing experience. The ability to revisit previously viewed websites, clear your history for privacy, and prevent certain websites from appearing in your history provides a level of control and convenience that enhances your overall browsing experience.

By following the simple steps outlined in this article, you can effortlessly access your browsing history on Safari from your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Whether you want to revisit a website you stumbled upon a few days ago or need to find a page you viewed recently, knowing how to access your browsing history empowers you to make the most of this essential feature.

Furthermore, the ability to manage your browsing history by clearing your entire history, removing individual entries, preventing specific websites from appearing in your history, and enabling Private Browsing mode gives you the flexibility to tailor your browsing experience to your preferences. Whether you prioritize privacy, storage optimization, or seamless browsing, Safari offers a range of options for effectively managing your browsing history across all your Apple devices.

As technology continues to evolve, the seamless integration of browsing history across devices has become increasingly important. With Safari, Apple has provided users with a cohesive and user-friendly browsing experience that extends across their entire ecosystem of devices. By understanding how to navigate and manage your browsing history on Safari, you can make the most of this integrated experience, ensuring that your browsing history is easily accessible and tailored to your individual needs.

In essence, the ability to access and manage your browsing history on Safari empowers you to take control of your browsing experience, allowing you to revisit favorite websites, maintain privacy, and optimize your browsing habits. By leveraging the features and options provided by Safari, you can navigate your browsing history with ease and efficiency, ultimately enhancing your overall browsing experience across all your Apple devices.

How To Delete Downloads On Safari

How To Get Safari Back To Normal

How Do You Turn Off Incognito Mode?

How To Delete Download History

How To View Private Browsing History On Safari IPhone

What To Do If Safari Keeps Crashing

How To Clear Search History On Safari For Mac

How To Erase Top Hits On Safari

How to Find the Best Midjourney Alternative in 2024: A Guide to AI Anime Generators

How to Know When it’s the Right Time to Buy Bitcoin

Unleashing Young Geniuses: How Lingokids Makes Learning a Blast!

How to Sell Counter-Strike 2 Skins Instantly? A Comprehensive Guide

10 Proven Ways For Online Gamers To Avoid Cyber Attacks And Scams

$10 Best AI Math Solvers for Instant Homework Solutions$

Privacy Overview
Strictly Necessary Cookies

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

How to View Safari History on iPhone

The Safari Web browser on your iPhone keeps a record of the websites you visit.

This can be a useful tool, especially if you’ve already read something and want to go back to it.

Our tutorial below will show you how to view Safari history on iPhone by completing just a few steps.

You can also visit ashevilleatc.com for additional iPhone tutorial topics.

How to See Safari History on iPhone 11

Launch Safari.
At the bottom of the screen, tap the book icon.
To examine your history, tap the clock symbol.

Our explanation continues below with further information on seeing your iPhone’s Safari history, as well as screenshots of these procedures.

When you use your computer or smartphone’s Web browser without using a private browsing session, the browser saves your browsing history.

When iPhone users are concerned about their phone’s browsing history, they frequently want to delete it. That history, though, can be valuable.

It can assist you with locating an intriguing article that you read earlier but can’t remember the address for, or it can assist you in determining which store had the greatest pricing on a product that you were looking at from a range of various retailers.

When you use the Safari Web browser on your iPhone, it saves a history of all the pages you visit.

Possessing this history makes it much easier to return to a previously visited page, as you can access that history and simply tap on the page that you want to visit.

Our article below will show you how to quickly discover and use your Safari iPhone history.

Related: Find out what that delivered message means that shows up under some of your iPhone texts.

How to Locate Safari History on Your iPhone (Guide with Pictures)

The procedures in this post were carried out using an iPhone 11 running iOS 13.6.1. The same methods will work on most other iOS versions and iPhone models.

If you’ve updated to iOS 15, your address bar may now be at the bottom of the screen. If this is the case, your screen may differ from the examples in the guide below. Yet, the buttons for accessing the history remain in the same locations.

Step 1: Launch the Safari browser.

Step 2: Tap the icon that looks like an open book at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3: Click the clock-shaped tab at the top of the screen.

Now that you know how to discover your Safari history iPhone data, you may utilize it to find information that you previously saw and either wanted to double-check or share with someone else.

You should now be able to see your browsing history. You can navigate to the page by tapping on an item in the list. Individual Web pages in this history can be deleted by swiping to the left and hitting the Delete button.

Your browser’s search history will be mixed in with the pages you’ve visited. This implies that the terms you entered in the search field at the top or bottom of the screen will be visible as well. Depending on your selected search engine, your search phrases will appear beside domains such as “google.com” or “bing.com.”

Continue reading our tutorial below for more information on locating and using history data in your iPhone’s Safari browser.

Further Details about Checking Safari History on iPhone

It is important to note that Safari does not save your history for pages visited while using Private Browsing. Toggling between ordinary and private browsing is as simple as touching the Tabs icon (two overlapping squares) at the bottom of the screen and selecting the Private option.

Safari also does not save browsing history for other iPhone browsers, such as Google Chrome or Firefox. Instead, you’d have to open those browsers to see their history.

Also, deleting the browsing history for Safari will only affect the browsing history for the Safari app. Other browsers’ history menus will remain accessible on your iOS device unless you opt to delete the existing data for those browsers as well.

Go to Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data to remove your Safari history. This will also clear your cookies and log you out of any accounts you are presently signed into.

When you remove Safari’s browser history, you won’t be able to view Safari history for any browsing sessions that occurred before the deletion. Safari will only display your Online surfing history when that information has been removed.

If you haven’t erased Safari history previously, your browser history can be quite large. Normally, the device’s full history will be available for 30 days.

How to Lookup Safari History on an iPhone

Searching through your iPhone Safari history is another intriguing thing you can do with it.

When you open Safari, press the book symbol at the bottom of the screen, then select the History tab at the top of the screen, you’ll notice a “Search History” area.

When you tap inside that field and type a search query, you’ll see a list of pages from your history that contain those search terms.

This is especially useful if you recall a single word or term but don’t remember where you saw it or the name of the website where you saw it.

If you have another browser installed on your iPhone, such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, those browsers will also retain history, which you may search through in the same way.

Commonly Asked Questions About iPhone History in Safari

How can i view my iphone’s safari history.

By opening Safari and clicking the book symbol at the bottom of the screen, you may access the history of all Web pages you’ve visited in the iPhone Safari Web browser.

Then, at the top of the window, select the tab with the clock on it. This is your browsing history, arranged chronologically. You may either search through it or scroll down to see everything. Touching on a location in your past will take you there.

How can I view my whole Safari history?

When you pick the book symbol, and then the History tab in the Safari browser on your iPhone , the full Safari history that is available is displayed.

To view your whole history in the Safari app on a MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air, go to the History tab and then click on Show All History.

How long does the iPhone Safari history last?

The Web sites you visit in your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch’s Safari browser are saved for one month.

Safari history on a Mac is retained for one year.

How can you check your iPhone’s history?

On your iPhone, you can view your history at any moment by launching Safari, selecting the open book button, and then pressing on the History symbol to see a list of Web pages that you have viewed.

Pages viewed in Private tabs, as well as pages viewed in other Web browsers such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, are not included in this history.

To view the history in Chrome, open the browser, hit the three dots in the bottom-right corner, and then tap the History button.

To view the history in Firefox, launch the Firefox iPhone app, tap the three lines in the bottom-right corner, and then select the History option.

It is important to note that the history displayed in the Safari browser on your iPhone is distinct from the history displayed in other phone browsers such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

Also, clearing the history in Safari does not remove the history in the other browsers, and vice versa.

Video on Safari History iPhone

Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.

His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.

Get Our Free Newsletter

How-to guides and tech deals

You may opt out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy

Clear your browsing history

You can remove all records that Safari keeps of where you’ve browsed during a period of time you choose. If your Mac and your other devices have the iCloud Safari feature turned on, your browsing history is removed from all of them. Clearing your browsing history in Safari doesn’t clear any browsing histories kept independently by websites you visited.

Open Safari for me

Choose History > Clear History and Website Data, then click the pop-up menu and choose how far back you want your browsing history cleared.

When you clear your history, Safari removes data it saves as a result of your browsing, including:

History of webpages you visited

The back and forward list for open webpages

Top Sites that aren’t marked as permanent

Frequently visited site list

Cookies and website data saved while visiting webpages

Recent searches

Icons for open webpages

Snapshots saved for open webpages

List of items you downloaded (downloaded files aren’t removed)

Websites added for Quick Website Search

Websites that asked to use your location

Websites that asked to send you notifications

Websites with plug-in content you started by clicking a Safari Power Saver notice

Responses to requests to let websites use WebGL

How to Access Your Safari Browsing History on Your iPhone

If you’re an iPhone user, you know the importance of being able to access the websites you visit. Whether it’s for research or entertainment, having quick and easy access to your browsing history can be invaluable.

Unfortunately, with Safari for iOS there’s no straightforward way to view your browsing history. But don’t worry! We’re here to show you how to access it quickly and easily on your iPhone or iPad.

To begin, open Safari for iOS on your device. Next, press and hold the back arrow button on the far left hand side of the bottom tool bar. This will bring up a menu that contains all of your recent web activity. From here, you can tap on any link to pull up that page again.

If you want to search through your browser history quickly and easily, use the Search field at the top-right corner of the window in Safari on your Mac. This will allow you to type in specific keywords or phrases which will help narrow down your results.

It’s also important to note that when browsing with Safari for iOS, data such as history, cache, and cookies are stored on your device as well. This data helps deliver faster load times while also providing records of all searches performed while using Safari from an iPhone or iPad. Additionally, this data is what allows web forums to automatically populate when visited again and tailors advertisements specifically for each user based off their past browsing habits.

if you’re looking for a way to access information such as websites visited from within Safari for iOS on an iPhone or iPad then press and hold the back arrow button at the bottom of the screen and look thrugh your browser history menu that appears afterwards! And don’t forget about searching through it with keywords from within Safari on Mac too!

How to Access Your Safari Browsing History on Your iPhone 1

Viewing Full History on Safari for iPhone

You can view the full history of your web browser activity in Safari on your iPhone or iPad by following these steps:

1. Open Safari and tap the bookmarks icon (the open book icon) at the bottom of the screen. 2. Tap the clock icon at the top of the screen to access your browsing history. 3. Here, you will see a list of all websites that you have visited for that session, organized by date and time. You can scroll through this list to view all of your browsing history for today or any other date listed in the sidebar. 4. If you wuld like to view more detailed information about a specific website, tap on it to open up its page info window. This window will provide details such as when you visited it, how many times you’ve visited it, and other related data points. 5. To clear your browsing history in Safari on an iPhone or iPad, simply tap “Clear” at the bottom of the page info window and confirm this action with “Clear History” when prompted.

Viewing Browser History in Safari

To view your browser history in Safari, open the Safari app on your Mac and go to History > Show All History. This will open a window showing all of your recent browsing activity. You can search for specific websites by typing in the Search field at the top-right corner of the window. You can also use this window to view how long ago you visited a certin website, or to quickly jump back to a page you recently visited.

Does Browsing History Get Stored on iPhones?

Yes, browsing history is stored on iPhone. It is stored as part of the data that your iPhone collects when you use its web browser. This includes information such as which websites you have visited, when you visited them, and how long you spent on each site. Additionally, your web browser may store details about the webpages you visited such as images, text and oter elements of the page. This information is stored in a cache and may be used to speed up loading times for returning visitors or to tailor ads to your preferences. Finally, cookies are also stored on your device and can contain data about website visits or preferences.

Recovering iPhone Safari History

Yes, you can recover iPhone Safari history. If you have an iTunes backup of your phone, you can restore that backup to get your deleted Safari history back. To do this, open iTunes and click on your iPhone icon. Then select the ‘Restore Backup’ option and choose the file that contains your deleted Safari history. You can also use third-party data recovery software to recover your lost data from an iOS device.

Deleting Safari History on an iPhone

Yes, iPhones can delete Safari history. To do this, go to Settings > Safari and tap Clear History and Website Data. This will remove all of your browsing history, cookies, and other website data from the Safari app. It won’t affect any of your AutoFill inforation though, so if you’ve saved details like credit cards or passwords for websites in the past, they’ll still be there.

Viewing My iPhone History

Your history on your iPhone is located in the Safari app. To find it, open the Safari app and tap the book icon at the bottom of your screen. This will bring up a menu showing your recent browsing history. Pull down on this History menu to reveal a bar at the top labeled “Search History” with a magnifying glass to the left of it. You can use this search bar to search for specific sites that you have visited in the past. You can also scroll throgh your full history by selecting “Show All History” from the bottom of this menu.

How Long Does iPhone Browsing History Remain Accessible?

Browsing history on an iPhone typically stays visible for the last 30 days. Unfortunately, thre is currently no way to change this behaviour in Safari on iOS, so if you need to view a longer period of time, you’ll need to use a third-party app or use Safari on Mac OS. On Mac OS Safari, you can choose to Show All History and also set when history is deleted (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, manually).

Retention Period of Safari History on iCloud

Apple’s iCloud stores your Safari browsing history for up to two weeks. This includes all the webpages you have visited, even if you have cleared your browser history manually. It is important to note that this data is stored in iCloud, not on your device itself. After two weeks, it may be deleted or made invisible to tools like Phone Breaker – however, it is important to remain aware that this data may still be stored in iCloud even if it is not visible on your device.

In conclusion, Safari for iPhone and iPad offers a convenient way to view your browsing history. By pressing and holding the back arrow button on the bottom toolbar, you can view all the websites you have visited in an easy-to-access menu. Additionally, search functions allow you to quickly find websites you visited in the past. Data such as history, cache, and cookies are stored on your device, which can make loading webpages faster and more tailored to your needs. Keeping track of your browsing history is a great way to stay organized and protect your privacy.

How to Fix Hisense Roku TV Screen Mirroring Issues with Your Phone 3

Sanjeev Singh

Clear the history, cache and cookies from Safari on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

Find out how to delete your history, cookies and cache in Settings.

Delete your history, cache and cookies

Clear your cookies and the cache, but keep your history

Delete a website from your history, block cookies, use content blockers, delete history, cache and cookies.

Go to Settings > Safari.

Tap Clear History and Website Data.

ios-17-iphone-14-pro-settings-safari-clear-history-and-website-data

Clearing your history, cookies and browsing data from Safari won't change your AutoFill information.

When there’s no history or website data to be cleared, the button to clear it will turn grey. The button may also be grey if you have web content restrictions set up under Content & Privacy Restrictions in Screen Time .

To visit sites without leaving history, turn Private Browsing on .

Go to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data.

Tap Remove All Website Data.

When there’s no website data to be cleared, the button to clear it will turn grey. The button may also be grey if you have web content restrictions set up under Content & Privacy Restrictions in Screen Time .

Open the Safari app.

Tap the Edit button, then select the website(s) that you want to delete from your history.

Tap the Delete button.

A cookie is a piece of data that a site puts on your device so that site can remember you when you visit again.

To block cookies:

Go to Settings > Safari > Advanced.

Turn on Block All Cookies.

ios-17-iphone-14-pro-settings-safari-block-all-cookies

If you block cookies, some web pages may not work. Here are some examples:

You'll likely not be able to sign in to a site even when using your correct user name and password.

You may see a message that cookies are required or that your browser's cookies are turned off.

Some features on a site may not work.

Content blockers are third-party apps and extensions that let Safari block cookies, images, resources, pop-ups and other content.

To get a content blocker:

Download a content blocking app from the App Store.

Tap Settings > Safari > Extensions.

Tap to turn on a listed content blocker.

You can use more than one content blocker. If you need help, contact the app developer .

Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Contact the vendor for additional information.

Contact Apple Support

Need more help? Save time by starting your support request online and we'll connect you to an expert.

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

Backchannel
Newsletters
WIRED Insider
WIRED Consulting

David Nield

It’s Time to Switch to a Privacy Browser

Image may contain Electronics Text and Label

Google's admission that, yes, it does track you while you're in Chrome's Incognito mode , is just the latest in a long line of unsettling revelations about just how keenly Big Tech keeps an eye on our movements every time we connect to the internet. Billions of data records will now be deleted as part of a settlement to a class action lawsuit brought against Google.

As we've written before , Incognito mode and the equivalent modes offered by other browsers aren't as secure as you might think, particularly if you start signing into accounts like Google or Facebook. Your activities and searches as a logged-in user on large platforms can still be recorded, primarily to create advertising that's more accurately targeted toward your demographic.

Google, for its part, says it’s transparent about what data it’s storing and why—and in recent years it has made it easier for users to see and delete the information held about them. To really lock down your privacy and security, though, it’s best to switch to a browser not made by a company that earns billions of dollars selling ads.

And there are alternatives: Below we recommend several browsers built with user privacy and security as a priority. Even better, in many cases they can import data such as bookmarks and passwords from your current browser—Google Chrome, for example.

DuckDuckGo ( Android , iOS , Windows , macOS )

The DuckDuckGo browser blocks trackers at their source.

You might know DuckDuckGo as the anti-Google search engine, but the parent company has branched out to make its own browsers too. They keep you well protected online and at the same time give you plenty of information about the tracking technologies being proactively blocked.

DuckDuckGo starts by enforcing encrypted HTTPS connections when websites offer them, and gives each page you visit a grade based on how aggressively it's trying to mine your data. It'll even scan and rank site privacy policies for you.

When it comes to browsing data, this can be cleared automatically at the end of each session or after a certain period of time. Pop-ups and ads are snuffed out, and of course the DuckDuckGo search engine is built in, free of the Google trappings.

Bird Flu Is Spreading in Alarming New Ways

Jeremy White

This Woman Will Decide Which Babies Are Born

Karen Williams

You also get extras like throwaway email aliases you can use in place of your real email address to protect your privacy, and everything about the browser and its features is simple to use: You don't really need to do anything except install them, so you're getting maximum protection with minimal effort.

Ghostery ( Android , iOS , Windows , macOS )

Ghostery comes with a range of tools to protect your privacy.

Install Ghostery on your mobile device or your computer, and straight away it gets to work blocking adverts and tracking cookies that will attempt to keep tabs on what you're up to on the web. There are no complicated setup screens or configurations to manage.

Like DuckDuckGo, Ghostery tells you exactly which trackers and ads it's blocking and how many monitoring tools each website has installed. If you do come across certain sites that are well behaved, you can mark them as trusted with a tap.

Or, if you find a site that's packed full of tracking systems, you can block every single bit of cookie technology on it (for commenting systems, media players, and so on), even if the site ends up breaking. A simple, private search engine is built in to replace Google too.

Ghostery's tools are a little more in-depth and advanced than the ones offered by DuckDuckGo, so you might consider it if you want to take extra control over which trackers are blocked on which sites—but it's simple enough for anyone to use.

Tor Browser ( Android , Windows , macOS )

Tor connects you to the Tor network, to keep your online activities more private.

Tor Browser markets itself as a browsing option "without tracking, surveillance, or censorship." It is worth a look if you want the ultimate in anonymized, tracker-free browsing—unless you're on iOS, where it isn't available (Tor recommends the Onion Browser instead).

The browser is part of a bigger project to keep internet browsing anonymous: Use Tor and you use the Tor Project network, a complex, encrypted relay system managed by the Tor community, making it much harder for anyone else to follow your activities online.

As well as this additional layer of anonymity, Tor Browser is super-strict on the background scripts and tracking tech that sites can run. It also blocks fingerprinting, a method where advertisers attempt to recognize the unique characteristics of your device.

At the end of each browsing session, everything gets wiped, including cookies left behind by sites and the browsing history inside the Tor Browser app itself. In other words, private browsing that leaves no trace is the default—and indeed the only option.

Brave ( Android , iOS , Windows , macOS )

Brave gives you a clean, speedy browsing experience.

Brave comes with all the tracking protection features you would expect: Ads are completely blocked, there are tight restrictions on the data that sites can gather through cookies and tracking scripts, and you're always kept informed about what's happening.

The browser comes with an optional built-in VPN, though it costs extra ($10 a month). You can also, if you want, use Brave to access the Tor network we mentioned with the Tor browser and take advantage of its anonymizing relay service that hides your location and browsing data.

There's no doubt about the effectiveness of Brave's tracker-blocking technologies, and getting around the web in Brave is quick and snappy. It's a comprehensive package and one that strikes a well-judged balance between simplicity and power for the majority of users.

Brave has regularly pioneered features related to innovative web technologies, including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and (most recently) artificial intelligence; there's actually a new AI assistant built into it. In other words, it's not exclusively focused on security and privacy.

Firefox ( Android , iOS , Windows , macOS )

Firefox is part of a suite of privacy products from Mozilla.

Firefox has long been at the forefront of online privacy—blocking tracking cookies across sites by default, for example—and it continues to be one of the best options for making sure you're giving away as little data as possible as you make your way across the web.

Firefox also gives you a ton of information on each website you visit regarding the trackers and cookies that pages have attempted to leave, and which ones Firefox has blocked. Permissions for access to your location and microphone can be easily managed as well.

Aside from looking after the interests of its users, Firefox also scores highly for user customization. You can change the look and behavior of the browser in a variety of ways, and there are useful integrations like the built-in Pocket utility that saves web stories on your device so you can read them later.

Firefox developer Mozilla offers plenty of extras, including a free data-breach monitor that tells you when your usernames and passwords may have been exposed somewhere online, a free email alias system to keep your actual email address protected, and a VPN that costs $10 per month. It all adds up to a comprehensive package for keeping you safe online.

Safari (iOS, macOS)

Safari has been blocking tracking cookies for some time.

Apple continues to add privacy tech to Safari with each release on iOS and macOS—like requiring user authentication (such as a Face ID scan) when returning to a browsing session—though it's obviously not a browsing option if you're on Android or Windows.

Safari has long been blocking third-party tracking cookies that try to connect the dots on your web activity across multiple sites. It also blocks device fingerprinting techniques that try to identify your devices, and it reports back on the trackers it has disabled.

The browser can now also warn you when you try to use a password that's too weak on a new website or service, and it will make a suggestion of a stronger password if needed. Recent browser updates added support for logging in with passkeys too.

Safari operates against the backdrop of Apple's commitment to collect as little information about you as possible and to keep most of that information locked away locally on your device rather than on Apple's servers.

Update: April 6, 2024, 8:30 am: This guide was updated to include new guidance for DuckDuckGo and Ghostery, as well as to bring some descriptions of browser providers' data collection policies up to date.

You Might Also Like …

In your inbox: Will Knight's Fast Forward explores advances in AI

Hackers found a way to open 3 million hotel keycard locks

A couple decided to decarbonize their home. Here's what happened

A deepfake nude generator reveals a chilling look at its victims

Are you noise sensitive? Here's how to turn the volume down a little

How to Stop Your Data From Being Used to Train AI

Matt Burgess

Some of the Most Popular Websites Share Your Data With Over 1,500 Companies

Kate O'Flaherty

Amanda Hoover

The Incognito Mode Myth Has Fully Unraveled

Dell Cameron

The DOJ Puts Apple's iMessage Encryption in the Antitrust Crosshairs

Andy Greenberg

DuckDuckGo Is Taking Its Privacy Fight to Data Brokers

Stephen Clark, Ars Technica

IMAGES

How to View History on Safari in 4 Easy Steps
How to View and Search Your Safari History: 2 Simple Ways
How to view recent Safari history on iPhone and iPad
Quickly access your history in Safari for iOS
How to View History on Safari in 4 Easy Steps
How to Manage Your Browsing History in Safari

VIDEO

View Safari Web Browsing Search History on iPhone
How to See All History on Safari on Mac
How to Clear Safari History on iPhone (2 Methods)
How to view history in safari [easy]
How To Delete Safari search History iOS 17 || Clear Safari search history With Restrictions iOS 17
How to view deleted history on safari //iOS 7+

COMMENTS

How to View and Search Your Safari History: 2 Simple Ways
Use the search bar to find specific websites. Enter your text in the Search bar. A list of matching results from your history will appear. Click a site to load it in Safari. 5. To clear your history, click the "History" menu. Click Clear History…. [2] Select a time frame from the drop-down menu, then click Clear History.
Search your web browsing history in Safari on Mac
In the Safari app on your Mac, choose History > Show All History. Type in the Search field at the top-right corner of the window. Safari uses iCloud to keep your browsing history the same on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac computers that have Safari turned on in iCloud preferences. On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, go to Settings ...
How to view and clear your web browsing history in Safari on ...
In Safari, tap the Bookmarks button. Select the History icon in the upper right corner. Tap Clear and select how much history you'd like to clear: the last hour, the last day, 48 hours' worth, or all recorded history. To clear History, tap the Bookmarks button, then choose the History icon.
Clear the history, cache, and cookies from Safari on your iPhone, iPad
Delete a website from your history. Block cookies. Use content blockers. Delete history, cache, and cookies. Go to Settings > Safari. Tap Clear History and Website Data. Clearing your history, cookies, and browsing data from Safari won't change your AutoFill information. When there's no history or website data to clear, the button to clear it ...
How to See the Safari History on an iPhone: A Step-by-Step Guide
Seeing the Safari history on an iPhone is a straightforward process. Just open the Safari app, tap the book icon at the bottom of the screen, and then tap the clock icon to view your browsing history. You'll be able to see a list of all the websites you've visited, sorted by date. After completing this action, you'll have access to the ...
How to Manage Your Browsing History in Safari
Here's how to manage Safari's history on a Mac: Open the Safari browser and select History in the menu bar located at the top of the screen. You'll see a drop-down menu with the titles of the web pages you visited recently. Select a website to load the respective page or select one of the previous days at the bottom of the menu to see more options.
How to See Safari History on iPhone 11: A Step-by-Step Guide
To see your Safari history on an iPhone 11, simply open the Safari app, tap the book icon at the bottom of the screen, and then select the clock icon to view your browsing history. It's a straightforward process that doesn't require any technical know-how. After completing this action, you'll have access to a list of websites you've ...
How to View Browsing History on Safari
The easiest way to access your browsing history on Safari for Mac is by using the Safari menu. Here are the steps: Click on the Safari menu in the top left corner of your screen. Select the option "History." You will see a dropdown menu that displays your browsing history. Alternatively, you can click on the "Show All History" option at the ...
How To View History in Safari on a PC, Tablet, or Mobile Device
Tap "History" then "Show All History" to reveal the list of websites you have visited. To find a particular website, search for it in the search bar at the top of the screen. Click on it ...
How to Manage Browsing History on Safari for iPad
Open the iPad Settings app. Scroll down and select Safari . Scroll to the bottom of the Safari settings screen and select Advanced . Select Website Data to display a breakdown of the data each website currently stores on the iPad. Select Show All Sites to display the expanded list if necessary. Select Remove All Website Data at the bottom of ...
How To Check Safari History on iPhone and Mac [2024]
Follow these simple steps too: 1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone. 2. Scroll through the options and click on Safari. 3. Again, scroll and find the Clear History and Website Data option. 4 ...
Search your web browsing history in Safari on Mac
In the Safari app on your Mac, choose History > Show All History. Type in the Search field at the top-right corner of the window. Safari uses iCloud to keep your browsing history the same on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac computers that have Safari turned on in iCloud preferences. On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings ...
How to Access & Search Safari History on Mac
Open the Safari web browser on the Mac if you have not done so already. Pull down the "History" menu and choose "Show All History". You'll now be presented with all stored Safari History of web browsing activity, with each browsing history session separated by date. Click into the search box seen in the upper right corner of the ...
How To View Browsing History In Safari [Tutorial]
How To View Browsing History In Safari [Tutorial]Issues addressed in this tutorial:safari private browsing historysafari browser historyclear browsing histor...
How to Search the Browsing History on an iPhone in 2 Ways
1. Open the Safari app. 2. Tap the book icon at the bottom of your screen. It is the second icon from the right. This will bring up your search history. Click on the book icon to access your ...
How To See History Of Safari On Mac
To access your Safari browsing history, follow these simple steps: Open Safari: Launch the Safari web browser on your Mac. You can do this by clicking on the Safari icon in the dock or by searching for Safari using Spotlight. Navigate to History: Once Safari is open, look for the "History" option in the top menu bar. Click on "History" to ...
How To See My History On Safari
Open Safari: Begin by unlocking your iPad and locating the Safari icon on your home screen. Tap the icon to launch the Safari browser. View History: Once Safari is open, you can access your browsing history by tapping the book icon located at the top of the screen. This will open a new window with various options.
How to View Safari History on iPhone
How to See Safari History on iPhone 11. Launch Safari. At the bottom of the screen, tap the book icon. To examine your history, tap the clock symbol. Our explanation continues below with further information on seeing your iPhone's Safari history, as well as screenshots of these procedures. When you use your computer or smartphone's Web ...
Clear your browsing history in Safari on Mac
Open Safari for me. In the Safari app on your Mac, choose History > Clear History, then click the pop-up menu. Choose how far back you want your browsing history cleared. When you clear your history, Safari removes data it saves as a result of your browsing, including: History of webpages you visited. The back and forward list for open webpages ...
Clear your Safari browsing history
Choose History > Clear History and Website Data, then click the pop-up menu and choose how far back you want your browsing history cleared. When you clear your history, Safari removes data it saves as a result of your browsing, including: Remove all records that Safari keeps of where you've browsed during a period of time you choose.
How to Access Your Safari Browsing History on Your iPhone
1. Open Safari and tap the bookmarks icon (the open book icon) at the bottom of the screen. 2. Tap the clock icon at the top of the screen to access your browsing history. 3. Here, you will see a ...
Clear the history, cache and cookies from Safari on your iPhone, iPad
Clear your cookies and the cache, but keep your history. Delete a website from your history. Block cookies. Use content blockers. Delete history, cache and cookies. Go to Settings > Safari. Tap Clear History and Website Data. Clearing your history, cookies and browsing data from Safari won't change your AutoFill information.
Best Privacy Browsers (2024): Brave, Safari, Ghostery, Firefox
The browser is part of a bigger project to keep internet browsing anonymous: Use Tor and you use the Tor Project network, a complex, encrypted relay system managed by the Tor community, making it ...