It shouldn’t take you more than one or two minutes to clear your search history on Chromebook, no matter what browser you’re using. You just need to access the browser’s history page, and choose what data you want to delete.
Our guide will show you how to do this on four popular Chromebook browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Opera). Our guide will also discuss other relevant topics, like when you should use private browsing modes, how a VPN actually hides your search traffic, and why you might want to clear your Chromebook search history.
>> Learn More: How to Clear Your Search History in 2025
How to Clear Your Search History on Chromebook (4 Web Browsers)
Chromebook devices use the Chrome browser by default. But you can also use other web browsers, like Edge, Firefox, and Opera. So, we’ll show you how to clear your search history on each one of these browsers.
How to Clear Your Search History on Chrome
We’ll cover the Chrome browser first since it’s the default browser for Chromebooks. It’s also built into them. That’s because all Chromebooks run on the ChromeOS operating system. And ChromeOS is integrated with the Chrome browser, which essentially acts as the main interface.
So, here’s how to clear your search history on Chrome:
- Open the main Chrome menu. To do this, click the three-dot icon, which is located in the top right corner in Chrome.
- Next, select “Delete browsing data.” This option is located in the middle of the menu. It has a trash can icon to its left.
- Choose a time range. Chrome lets you delete browsing data from the last hour, last 24 hours, last seven days, or last four weeks. You can also choose to clear your entire history.
- Make sure “Browsing history” is selected. This option needs to be checked, as it includes your search history.
- Finally, click “Delete data.” The button is located in the lower right. Once you click it, Chrome will remove your browsing history.
If you’d like to learn more about clearing your data on Chrome, we recommend reading our full guide on how to clear your Chrome search history.
How to Clear Your Search History on Edge
We decided to cover Edge since it’s actually the third most popular web browser in 2025. At the moment, Edge accounts for over five percent of the worldwide browser market share. If you’re using this browser on your Chromebook, here’s how to remove its search history:
- Open the main Edge menu. Do this by clicking the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner.
- Click “Settings.” Scroll down to the bottom of the menu to find this option. It has a gear icon next to it.
- Click “Privacy, search, and services.” This option is located right at the top of your settings menu, under “Profiles.”
- Select “Clear browsing data.” The button is right at the top, and it has a trash can icon to its left.
- Pick a time range. You can clear your entire browsing history. Alternatively, you can delete browsing data from the last hour, last 24 hours, last seven days, or last four weeks.
- Click “Clear now.” Make sure that the “Browsing history” option is selected before you hit the blue “Clear now” button.
How to Clear Your Search History on Firefox
Some Chromebook users prefer using Firefox for enhanced privacy. If you’re one of them, here’s how to delete your search history:
- Access the “History” page. To do this, open the main Firefox menu panel, and then select “History.”
- Click the trash can icon. This option will open the history deletion window.
- Select the time range. Either use a predefined time range to clear your search history, or just delete it entirely.
- Click “Delete.” Once you do this, all of your Firefox search history will be instantly deleted.
How to Clear Your Search History on Opera
Opera is a pretty popular Chromium browser, which means it runs on more or less the same code as Chrome. But Opera has some tweaks that make it lighter and more private than Chrome. If you’re an Opera user, here’s how you can clear your browsing history:
- Head to the “History” page. Do so by opening the main Opera menu, and then selecting “History.”
- Use the trash can icon. Click this button to start removing your search history.
- Confirm your decision. You might see a pop-up window asking you to confirm your deletion request. Just hit “OK” to approve it.
Will Clearing Your Chromebook Search History Sign You Out of Your Accounts?
This could happen if you also choose to clear your browser’s cookies. A cookie is a small text file that a website saves to your device via a browser. Cookies allow websites to remember your username and password, keep you logged into your account, and remember your website preferences (like which language you chose).
There’s only one exception in this case: if you’re using Chrome and are signed into your Google account. In this situation, you won’t be logged out of your Google account even if you delete your browser’s cookies.
Can You Clear Your Chromebook Search History via Your Google Account?
If you only need to clear your browsing history on Chrome, you can also use your Google account to delete it. You’ll have to access the “My Activity” feature in your Google account dashboard. From there, you’ll have to filter the results, so that you only see search history from Chrome.
Once that’s done, you can start removing your search history. The “My Activity” tool allows you to delete individual search entries, or remove your browsing history entirely. You can also use filters to clear search entries from specific time frames.
>> Find Out More: How to Clear Your Google Search History in 2025
Will Incognito Mode Hide Your Chromebook Search History?
You can use Chrome’s Incognito mode to hide your Chromebook search history to a certain extent. Whenever you use Incognito mode, Chrome won’t save your browsing history when you close it. It also won’t save any cookies that could keep you logged into your accounts.
This is why we mainly recommend using Incognito mode if other people have access to your Chromebook device. For example, your parents, siblings, roommates, or friends. As long as you browse in Incognito mode, nobody will be able to see what pages you accessed in your browser’s history.
FYI: All good web browsers provide access to a private browsing mode. Google calls it Incognito, Edge calls it InPrivate, Firefox refers to it as Private Browsing, and Opera calls it Private mode.
Does a VPN Hide Your Chromebook Search History?
A VPN won’t directly hide what you search for on different search engines. But it will encrypt your internet traffic, which means nobody would be able to see what websites you connect to (or what data you exchange with them).
A VPN doesn’t actually need to encrypt your searches. As long as you use secure search engines like Google, your searches will be automatically encrypted. The VPN only needs to encrypt your connection to the search engine.
In addition to securing your browsing traffic, VPNs also protect your privacy by hiding your IP address. This way, any website you access won’t be able to use your IP to determine where you’re located. Advertisers also won’t be able to track your IP and associate it with your online preferences (so that they can target you with personalized ads).
If you’re interested in using a VPN, we recommend checking out our guide to the best VPNs for Chromebook in 2025.
>> Read More: The Full 2025 Guide to VPNs
Does Clearing Your Chrome Search History Also Clear Your Cookies?
This could happen depending on which browser you use. By default, some browsers clear your cookies alongside your browsing history. While other browsers require you to manually select the cookies to be removed.
Our recommendation is to closely check what data the browser says it will remove when you clear its search history. Most browsers will show different options alongside the browsing history, including cookies, passwords, and site data.
Keep in Mind: If you choose to clear your browser’s cookies, this will result you in being logged out of most online accounts. The only exception is if you use Chrome – it won’t log you out of your Google account.
Does Clearing Your Chromebook Search History Also Delete Your Passwords?
Most browsers won’t remove your passwords with the default history clearing option. Instead, they’ll provide access to a window or tab with advanced removal settings. You’ll then be able to choose if you want to also clear your passwords or not.
Why Should You Clear Your Chromebook Search History?
There are three main reasons why you might want to do this:
- To protect your privacy. If you clear your search history, nobody would be able to access your browser’s history page to see what web pages you accessed. This is important to do if you share your Chromebook device with other people.
- For extra convenience. By clearing your search history, you’ll prevent your browser from displaying previously-accessed web pages when you type something in the URL bar. When the browser shows too many pages, it gets a bit annoying.
- To improve performance. If you choose to clear your search history alongside cookies, site data, and cached files, you might make your web browser run smoother.
Conclusion
Clearing your search history on Chromebook is pretty simple, no matter which browser you’re using. You’ll generally just have to access the browser’s history page, and then pick what data you want to remove. To clear your search history, we recommend selecting any option that mentions browsing history.
Also, you should also consider using your browser’s private browsing mode. Especially if other people have access to your Chromebook device, like your parents or siblings.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Does Incognito mode hide my Chromebook search history?
Yes, as Chrome won’t remember the websites you access when you exit Incognito mode.
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Will clearing my Chromebook search history also clear cached files?
All browsers will allow you to choose if you also want to clear cached images and files in addition to your search history.
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Does clearing my Chromebook search history sign me out of my Google account?
As long as you’re using Chrome, you won’t be signed out of your Google account when you clear your browsing history and cookies.
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Will a VPN hide my Chromebook search history?
VPNs won’t exactly hide what you type on a search engine. But it will hide your connection to the search engine by encrypting it.
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Will clearing my Chromebook search history improve my browser’s performance?
It might, but only if you also clear other data alongside it, like cached images and files, cookies, and site data.
