Thanks in large part to the seamless integration of software and hardware with the badly fast A15 Bionic, iPhones have better speed. But that doesn’t mean that Apple smartphones are infallible and they never slow down unexpectedly. Most of the time, it is due to cluttered storage which tends to trigger a series of issues like throttled speed, iPhone overheating, fast battery drain and slowness. So what’s the way to fix this chaos and get your precious storage back? Well, one of the most reliable ways to get rid of clutter is to clear your iPhone history. Here’s how to clear history on your iPhone and iPad.
9 Ways to Delete History on iPhone and iPad (2022)
While iOS doesn’t have a “Kill All” button to remove all history at once, there are multiple ways to delete saved history to free up storage space on your device. In this guide, we mainly focused on clearing history, not documents and data associated with an app. If you are wondering about System Data on your iPhone, check our detailed article on how to delete System Data to save space.
Many iOS apps allow you to track and delete recorded history, whether to protect privacy or to take up space. If you’re wondering how to deal with apps that neither allow you to track history nor offer a clear way to delete it, there are several radical ways to deal with such apps.
1. Clear Safari History and Website Data on iPhone and iPad
Safari saves your browsing history so you can access your frequently visited websites and also log in to websites with ease. While this is pretty clean and improves your overall browsing experience, over time this history and cache can become a storage hog. Moreover, if you are a privacy conscious person, from time to time you may also want to delete the Safari history on your iPhone or iPad.
Note that when you remove the Safari browsing history on your device, iOS also clears the history on other devices signed in to your iCloud account.
- Go to the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad -> Safari.
- Tap Clear History and Website Data. Then tap Clear History and Data on the popup to finish.
2. Delete Cookies While Saving Safari Browsing History on iPhone and iPad
What if you want to get rid of cookies while keeping Safari browsing history? Don’t bother, iOS gives you the flexibility to delete certain website data or delete them all at once. For those wondering what the purpose behind saving website data is, it allows websites to track your activity, protect your login information to speed up your browsing experience.
- Go to: Settings app on your iPhone or iPad -> Safari -> scroll down and tap on Advanced -> Website Data. Now, tap on To organise in the upper right corner of the screen. Next, you should see a long list of stored cookies.
- If you want to delete specific website data, red button hit your left and then To delete button.
- If you want to delete all website data stored in Safari, tap . Remove All Website Data and then hit Remove Now to approve.
3. Clear Cookies and Browsing History in Google Chrome on iPhone and iPad
Just like Safari, Chrome saves your browsing history cookies, site data, cached image files, saved passwords and autofill data to provide a more personalized experience. Whether it’s to protect your privacy or save free space, you can clear cookies and browsing history in Google Chrome on your iDevice.
- Open Google Chrome Tap -> on your iOS/iPadOS device. “…” icon in the lower right corner of the screen -> History.
- Now, tap on Clear Browsing Data -> choose preferred time time range like last hour, last 24 hours, last 7 days, last 4 weeks and all times as per your requirement. If you want to get rid of all the history in Chrome, make sure to select it. Saved Passwords and Auto Fill Data. then shoot Clear Browsing Data and confirm.
4. Clear Browsing History in Firefox on iPhone and iPad
Mozilla Firefox also stores your browsing history, cache, cookies, offline website data and saved login information to provide a fully personalized browsing experience. It allows you to clear all browsing history to make sure you have the control you want over the saved data.
- Open Firefox On your iOS device -> menu button (three horizontal lines) in the lower right corner of the screen -> History.
- Now, shoot Clear recent history -> select preferred time range like Last Hour, Today, Today and Yesterday or Everything depending on your need and you are ready to go!
5. Free Up Valuable Storage by Clearing Spotify Cache on iPhone and iPad
Specifically, Spotify shows the actual size of the cache and cookies. So you have a clear idea of how much space you can recover after removing the history. If you’re worried about losing downloads, rest assured it won’t affect your downloads at all.
- get over your head Spotify app on your device -> Settings icon in the upper right corner of the screen -> Storage -> Delete Cache and confirm.
6. Clear Snapchat History to Take Up Storage on iPhone
Deleting history on Snapchat is also very simple. When you want to keep this social networking app organized, you can clear the saved cache and cookies. It is worth noting that clearing Snapchat history does not affect the backup of your memories. So you shouldn’t worry about losing them.
- Launch Snapchat on your iPhone and tap the profile icon in the top left. Now, tap on the settings cog in the top right.
- Scroll down Account Transactions section and tap on “Clear Cache”. Now, tap on Clear on the popup to confirm. The app will restart for the change to take effect.
- Note that Snapchat also lets you: clear your search history, browsing history and voice browsing history. So you can clean them all if you want to open a clean slate.
7. Delete Google Maps History on iPhone and iPad
Google Maps provides a simple way to keep track of your activity and delete them all if necessary. If you are using this navigation app on your iOS device, you’d better take a look at the saved activity and remove everything.
- Go to Google Maps on your device and tap your profile in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Tap on “Your Data in Maps”. Go now View and delete activity Located under Location History and Web & App Activity.
8. Delete and Reinstall Apps to Clear History on iPhone and iPad
There are many iPhone apps that do not offer a dedicated “clear history” feature. If you are trying to free up some space on your iPhone from such apps, you can delete them and reinstall them. This is an efficient way to delete all data associated with an app. So if you’re on a cleaning mission, be sure to try this radical yet effective method. Be sure to back up data if you don’t want to lose it.
- touch and hold an app icon -> Uninstall App -> Delete App.
- Now, a pop-up window with warning will appear. “Deleting the app also deletes its data.” Faucet To delete In the pop-up window to confirm the deletion of the application
9. Restore Your iPhone or iPad As New
If your iPhone is still slow or you want to get more storage space on your iOS device, restoring iPhone as new would be a viable offer. Correctly called the nuclear solution, this is probably the best way to optimize your device to not only remove the clutter but also ensure that the device delivers its best.
Note that restoring cleans the entire device and erases all media and data in the process. So, before using this radical solution, make sure to backup the device (Settings app -> profile -> iCloud -> iCloud Backup -> Back Up Now). With iOS 15, Apple offers temporary and unlimited iCloud storage for free to allow you to backup and restore your device.
- If you already have an iCloud backup, go to: Settings app -> General -> Transfer or Reset iPhone/iPad -> Reset -> Erase All Content and Settings. Once your device is erased, set it up as a new iPhone.
- Alternatively, you can use iTunes/Finder to backup and restore your device. To do this, connect your device to computer -> launch iTunes/Finder -> select the device. After that, backup the device and then restore it.
Remove History on Your iPhone or iPad to Free Up Storage Space
This is almost done! I hope you now fully know the ways to deal with the past on your iOS device. By regularly removing the saved cache and cookies associated with an app, you not only prevent storage from getting clogged, but also help the app (and your iPhone) run smoothly. That’s not all, it can also play an important role in preventing the app from consuming more storage space.
So how often do you find yourself clearing your iPhone history? Like us, you prefer Apple to include an easy way to clear history on your iPhone? Let us know in the comments.