browsingData.removeHistory()

Clears the record of web pages that the user has visited (browsing history).

You can use the removalOptions parameter, which is a browsingData.RemovalOptions object, to:

  • clear only records of web pages visited after a given time
  • control whether to clear only records of normal web pages or to clear records of hosted apps and extensions as well.

This is an asynchronous function that returns a Promise.

Syntax

var removing = browser.browsingData.removeHistory(
  removalOptions            // RemovalOptions object
)

Parameters

removalOptions
object. A browsingData.RemovalOptions object, which may be used to clear only records of web pages visited after a given time, and whether to clear only records of normal web pages or to clear records of hosted apps and extensions as well.

Return value

A Promise that will be fulfilled with no arguments when the removal has finished. If any error occurs, the promise will be rejected with an error message.

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
removeHistory
Yes
79
53
This function also removes download history and service workers.
?
Yes
No
?
?
No
See bug 1363010. Before Firefox for Android 79, browser.history.remove(options, {history:true}) can be used instead.
?
?
?

Examples

Remove records of pages visited in the last week:

function onRemoved() {
  console.log("removed");
}

function onError(error) {
  console.error(error);
}

function weekInMilliseconds() {
  return 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * 7;
}

var oneWeekAgo = (new Date()).getTime() - weekInMilliseconds();

browser.browsingData.removeHistory(
  {since: oneWeekAgo}).
then(onRemoved, onError);

Remove all records of visited pages:

function onRemoved() {
  console.log("removed");
}

function onError(error) {
  console.error(error);
}

browser.browsingData.removeHistory({}).
then(onRemoved, onError);

Note: This API is based on Chromium's chrome.browsingData API.

Microsoft Edge compatibility data is supplied by Microsoft Corporation and is included here under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/API/browsingData/removeHistory