Over months of daily use, the Safari browser on your iPhone accumulates hundreds of megabytes of cached images, tracking cookies, and temporary website data. If a specific website is refusing to load correctly, constantly crashing, or displaying outdated information, it is highly likely that a corrupted file inside this cache is the culprit.
Furthermore, if you want to ensure your privacy before handing your phone to someone else, deleting this data ensures your browsing history cannot be recovered. You can purge all of this data simultaneously in iOS.
How to Clear Safari’s History and Data
Unlike third-party apps, Safari’s core settings are not managed inside the app itself; they are managed at the iOS system level.
- Open the native Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down significantly until you find the block of Apple’s default applications. Tap on Safari.
- Scroll down the Safari settings page. Near the bottom, you will see a button written in blue text that says Clear History and Website Data. Tap it.
A new menu will slide up from the bottom of the screen asking for confirmation and offering a few choices.
- Under the “Clear Timeframe” section, select All history to perform a complete wipe. (You can optionally select “Today” or “Last hour” if you only want to delete recent activity).
- Ensure the toggle for Close All Tabs is switched to the On position if you want Safari to completely reset.
- Tap the red Clear History button at the bottom of the screen.
What Happens Next?
The deletion process takes only a fraction of a second. The blue button in the Settings menu will temporarily turn grey, confirming the purge was successful.
When you reopen the Safari app, it will be completely empty. Be warned: Because you deleted all cookies, you will be instantly logged out of every single website you were previously signed into (like Amazon, Twitter, or webmail). You will need to type your passwords back in the next time you visit them.
Note: If you have iCloud sync enabled for Safari, clearing the history on your iPhone will also simultaneously delete the browsing history on your connected iPad and Mac.