Clear Cache, Cookies and History in Firefox

The controls to clear your Cookies, Browsing history, cache and other data in Firefox are all stored in the same screen. To get to these controls and choose what you want to clear, follow these instructions.

These screenshots are taken in Firefox on Windows but the process is identical on Mac and Linux computers.

1. Click the Firefox menu button

   Click the button that looks like three horizontal lines in the top right corner of the Firefox window.

   

2. Click the "Library" menu item

   In the menu which just appeared, find the Library menu item and click it.

   

3. Click the "History" menu item

   The interface now shows the contents of the Library menu; one of the items is History. Click it.

   

4. Click "Clear Recent History..."

   You'll now see the contents of Firefox's browsing history, showing all the sites that you've visited since the last time you cleared your cache.

   At the top of the History menu, there will be an option called Clear Recent History.... Click it to get some options about what exactly you will clear from your history and cache.

   

5. Choose what to clear

   Firefox gives you a very straight-forward interface for clearing your browsing data.

   For all the various types of history and cache data you want to clear, simply make sure the corresponding checkbox has a tick in it - toggle the tick marks by clicking on them or the label.

   

   Time range to clear

   It's possible to clear your entire history, but it's also possible to be more selective and only clear more recent history items - for example you can clear only what you've done in the last hour. Click the option to choose the time range you want to clear.

   History

   • Browsing & Download history - The list of website addresses you have visited and the list of files you've downloaded from them
   • Cookies - Websites can store little bits of information on your computer to help remember who you are
   • Active Logins - If you've logged into a website it may be remembering that you're logged in... clearing this will cause you to need to log in again
   • Cache - Your computer may store temporary copies of some file types (images etc) so that when you re-visit a website it loads much faster
   • Form & Search History - Firefox remembers what you've previous typed into forms and search fields

   Data

   • Site Preferences - You may have configured custom settings for certain websites (eg You may have allowed a particular website to use your Web Cam). Clearing these preferences will cause Firefox to forget the individual customisations to your permissions you've made
   • Offline Website Data - Some websites allow themseles to be cached and used offline (when you don't have an internet connection). Clearing this data will mean those websites won't work until you visit them again.

6. Click "Clear Now"

   Once you've selected what you'd like to clear from your internet history, simply click the Clear Now button and Firefox will delete it.

   

   Congratulations, you have now cleared your selected browsing data from your computer. You can simply close this window and continue to use Firefox.