Internet History?

Hi,

Starting to get the hang of my new Macbook

After browsing the internet is there a way to completely clear my mac of the sites visited?

I do this regularly on my pc to keep it running smoothly. I have used the clear history function but would like to know if there is anything else I can do?

Your internet history has absolutely nothing to do with how your computer runs.

Now if you have to clear the history so your wife doesn't see all the porn you look at......thats a different story

LoL at Blizare XD

To poster, I actually don't know. What Blizare said just made me laugh lol.

lol at Blizare

im guessing your using safari, click on safari on the menu bar then click on reset safari on the dropdown menu. this erases everything for safari.

Well if you let the files build up for a number of months then of course it will affect the systems performance. Temporary internet files and cookies can take up a rather large ammount of disk space!

If you're looking to clear the history of sites visited and nothing else, from the top bar menu select History > Clear History.

You may have to scroll down the list to see it, as it's the last option on the menu.

danjstock said:

Well if you let the files build up for a number of months then of course it will affect the systems performance. Temporary internet files and cookies can take up a rather large ammount of disk space!

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The two sentences here are unrelated. The browser (whatever browser, on whatever OS) stores data on visited pages in a temporary directory that only the browser accesses. It does not affect other system functions.

As for these files taking large amounts of space, in many browsers this is controllable through settings. I typically set mine to about 50MB of cached files. Unless your computer is from 1993, this isn't much space. I don't know how to set it in Safari.

Blizare said:

Your internet history has absolutely nothing to do with how your computer runs.

Now if you have to clear the history so your wife doesn't see all the porn you look at......thats a different story

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Just use the private browsing option in Safari when surfing for porn. That's what I do

hclincha said:

Just use the private browsing option in Safari when surfing for porn. That's what I do

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I was just going to suggest that! Great job.

Eric559 said:

I was just going to suggest that! Great job.

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I use the Guest Account - no evidence whatsoever.

It is not necessarily true that there is no evidence of your internet browsing activity if you use a Guest Account. It depends on whether you are the administrator or have admin privileges.

Don't forget that if (for example) parental controls are enabled on the computer, the administrator account will be able to track every web site you have visited, even if you have cleared your history and emptied the cache/deleted cookies.

AJB said:

It is not necessarily true that there is no evidence of your internet browsing activity if you use a Guest Account. It depends on whether you are the administrator or have admin privileges.

Don't forget that if (for example) parental controls are enabled on the computer, the administrator account will be able to track every web site you have visited, even if you have cleared your history and emptied the cache/deleted cookies.

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It's cool, I'm the admin of EVERYTHING in this house

And I kinda like having at least a couple of days of history on my browser. I tend to forget what I was doing or what the address of that site I liked was, and I'm terrible with bookmarks - millions of them all over the place.

Why is interent porn so fascinating ? I have always found it mildly funny that straight dudes like to watch other dudes have sex.

Being a lady I can't comment too much on that one... I watch a bit here and there, it can be a turn-on, but the stuff my boyfriend has on his computer really isn't! It's all humping, grunting, and none of the nice stuff!

OK this is turning into a porn conversation!

I was only asking if it is worth clearing the history and cache to keep my system running smoothly!

hee heee sorry Dan - I think what you want to delete are cookies. Not the history. Because the Cookies are whats taking up space. And how to do that on a Mac I wouldn't know.

Why hide your porn habits?! Show it off to the world! My bookmarks bar is full of top quality porn sites!*

(*just trying to make a joke there. Or am I? )

Thanks Jenny, many people missing the point of my post! I think I have found how to do it.... clear cache?

Nooooo! I was just making sure that my next post was going to be proper and by mistake I reset my Safari!!

Anyway, to clear your cookies, just hit Safari > Reset Safari. Then you get to choose what stuff gets cleared. Everything from browser history to cookies to whatnot.

danjstock said:

OK this is turning into a porn conversation!

I was only asking if it is worth clearing the history and cache to keep my system running smoothly!

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Sorry ;D

It's not going to be taking up much space, so do it if you want, but if your forget nothing dire should happen.