How to delete your browser history in Microsoft Edge, block cookies, and increase your privacy

Every internet user should consider clearing their web browsing history and cookies at least periodically. Sometimes we log into our accounts on a public computer and need to remove all traces of our activity. Other times we need to improve the speed of our browser. Or maybe we don’t want websites tracking our activity on any computer at any point in time.

To help users protect their online privacy and get the most out of their web browsing sessions, I’ve shared steps detailing how you can clear your history, cookies, and cache in Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and in Google Chrome.

We’ll now discuss how you can delete your web browsing data in Microsoft Edge.

One Method to Clear Them All…and on the Web Delete Them

1. Open a new window in Microsoft Edge. At the top right corner of the browser window, you’ll see three horizontal lines, one of which is shorter than the other two, arranged vertically. This is the Hub icon. Click on it.
2. Select the History option. It’s designated by an image of what appears to be a clock, with a circular arrow running counter-clockwise.
3. Select the option Clear all history.

4. Select the types of information you’d like to delete from Microsoft Edge. You can choose “Browsing history,” “Cookies and saved website data,” “cached data and files,” and other pieces of information like location permissions, form data, and download history.
5. Select Clear.
6. If you use Cortana, the personal assistant for Windows 10, and you don’t want it remembering your browsing history, select Change what Microsoft Edge knows about me in the cloud, then choose Clear browsing history.

So You Want to Prevent Microsoft from Saving Your Data…

To block cookies:

1. Open a new window in Microsoft Edge. At the top right corner of the browser window, you’ll see an icon of three dots arranged in a horizontal line. Click on it.
2. Click on Settings. It’s marked by an icon that looks like a gear.
3. Under Privacy and settings > Cookies, select the Block all cookies option.

To prevent Microsoft from tracking you:

1. Go to Start on your Windows machine, then select Settings > Privacy > Feedback & diagnostics. The Settings option is one again identified by its gear icon.
2. Under Diagnostic and usage data, select Basic.

Found this article interesting? Follow Graham Cluley on Bluesky, Mastodon, or Threads to read more of the exclusive content we post.

---