How can I clear the Internet Explorer history file on a PC?

1. Select "Internet Options" under the "View" or "Tools" option (depending on the version you are running) on the toolbar.

2. Under the "General" folder under "Internet Options", there is a section called "History".   Change the "Days to keep pages in History:" to 0 and click the "Clear History" button.

3. Click "Apply" at the bottom of the "Internet Options" box, then click "OK"

4. To double check that everything is cleared, click the "History" button on the web browser toolbar - it should be empty. Also, click the arrow on the right of the URL Address box - it should be empty as well.

How can I clear the Internet Explorer history file on a Mac?

1. In Internet Exporer 4 or above, open the Edit menu, and then click on Preferences.

2. Double click on "Web Browser" until the list drops down.

3. Select "Advanced."

4. You will see a box called "Cache," and click on "Empty Now" button.

5. Click "OK," then Quit from Internet Explorer and restart your computer if you need to.

How can I clear the Netscape history file?

To change or clear the history file in Netscape Navigator

1. From the Options menu, select General Preferences then the Appearance tab.

2. Click "Expire now" to immediately clear the history file.

To change or clear the history file in Netscape Communicator:

1. From the Edit menu, select Preferences then the Navigator category in the list along the left side of the window.

2. Click on "Expire now" to immediately clear the history file.  With Netscape closed, search your computer for the history file and delete it. The next time you open the browser, the file will be recreated.

* For Windows (all versions), the file is called netscape.hst
* For Macintosh, the file is called global history
* For Unix (all versions), the file is called history.dat

 

How do I clear the Location (Netsite) Toolbar drop-down menu?

If you do not know which version of Netscape Navigator or Communicator you are running, under the "Help" menu, click on About Communicator, Navigator, or Netscape (the entry will differ depending on which version you have). The first line of the resulting screen will tell you the version number.

Operating Systems: Windows 95, 98, or NT 4.0
Product version: Navigator 2.0 - 3.04
Only the last 10 URLs you typed into the Location Bar text field will be listed. Since only the last entries you typed are stored, the easiest method of clearing unwanted entries is to type a number of URLs to displace those currently listed.

In order to completely clear all URLs:
The following instructions require editing the Windows Registry. This can potentially harm the system if the wrong entries are edited or deleted. Make sure you have current backups of your system before proceeding. Consult Windows help if needed.
1. Close Navigator.
2. From the Windows Start menu, select Run...,
type: regedit.exe (in Windows 95 and 98) or regedt32.exe (in Windows NT 4.0), and press ENTER.
3. Click the plus sign beside the following: hierarchy:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
-Software
-Netscape Navigator
4. Select "URL History" on the left.
5. On the right, clear each entry. In order to do this, double-click in the Name column of a line, then delete whatever appears in the Value data field of the dialog box; click OK to save the changes. Repeat this for each line.
6. Exit the registry editor by clicking Regedit|Exit.

If this does not work, it is possible that the the Windows 3.1 version of Navigator is installed. In that case, try using the the Windows 3.1 version of Navigator instructions to clear the URL history.
Operating Systems: Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0
Product and Version: Communicator 4.0 - 4.05
Only the last 15 URLs you typed into the Location Bar text field will be listed. Since only the last entries you typed are stored, the easiest method of clearing unwanted entries is to type a number of URLs to displace those currently listed.

In order to completely clear all URLs:
Clearing the location bar URL History involves editing a Netscape data file. Editing this file incorrectly could prevent Communicator from launching or working properly. Before you edit, make a back up copy of the file.
1. Go, on your hard drive, to your Communicator profile folder. If you have installed in the default location, it is likely located here:
C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\{Your_Profile_Name}\ .
2. Find the prefs.js file.
3. Copy this file to a safe location on a floppy disk or elsewhere on your hard drive.

After making a copy of the file, you can edit the original:
1. Close Communicator.
2. Open a text editor such as Windows Notepad.
If you have not edited your Windows 95 Start menu, you should be able to open Notepad by clicking on
Start|Programs|Accessories|Notepad.
3. In Notepad, click File|Open... and browse to the prefs.js file. Open the prefs.js file.
4. Look for lines which look like this:
user_pref("browser.url_history.URL_4", "http://help.netscape.com/");
user_pref("browser.url_history.URL_5", "developer.netscape.com/");
user_pref("browser.url_history.URL_6", "ftp://ftp.netscape.com/");
5. Delete only the lines which begin with "user_pref("browser.url_history.URL".
6. When you have successfully deleted these lines, make sure you have left no spaces between lines, and then save the file by clicking File|Save As.
7. Save as "prefs.js"
Open Communicator and the entries should be gone.

Operating Sytems: Windows (all versions)

Communicator 4.06-4.7
1. Open Communicator.
2. From the Edit menu, select "Preferences".
3. Click on "Navigator" on the left so it is selected.
4. On the right, click the "Clear Location Bar" button.
5. Click OK.