Why won't my browser history clear?

This latest upgrade has been awful for a very basic computer user like me. I've used Mozilla happily for years but the amount of time I'm spending trying to put it back to the way I like it is starting to make me reconsider the whole thing. Chrome is looking awfully good right now.
I've already spent hours trying to rid myself of the Yahoo thing that just suddenly appeared as my search engine and now my browser history won't clear. I used to be able to go to show all history and delete. Easy! Now even when the history says it's clear, even when I've closed down all the tabs prior to closing down mozilla (except for my home page Google) When I reopen Mozilla the last four tabs are back again. It should, based on my my prior usage, only open to my home page and if I want to restart at my previous tabs it asks me. Why is this happening?
I'm a very basic computer user and this sudden hijacking of my browser and search engine is actully a bit distressing and frankly I'm getting sick of trying to fix it.

I had a similar problem clearing the browser history that was maddening. No matter how much I cleared the history when I went to type in a web address it would still show a list of webpages I had visited that started with similar URLs. It is unclear if this is the exact problem you are experiencing but here is how I fixed it:
* Go to the following menu: Tools > Options > Privacy.
* At the bottom of the menu there is a seperate setting for the Location Bar (which I guess is the term for the area you type in web addresses).
* Change the setting to "When using the location bar suggest NOTHING."
I don't know why they kept this seperate from the other options to clear your history. It seems like a pretty bad design flaw to me, very counterintuitive. I hope that helps.

Similar Messages

Firefox hangs on browser history clearing...can I do anything about it?

There's about 7 months worth of browsing history in my Firefox profile. Trying to clear it "entirely" is giving me trouble, even in safe mode. Cache, cookies, and everything '''else''' clears fine in a small amount of time. I'm writing this question in Chrome as we speak because Firefox is currently unusable.
The problem is with clearing browser history (only on time setting "everything") specifically because Firefox will hang (and entirely freeze the GUI) until I decide to manually kill it in the task manager. The firefox.exe process shows a curious, steady 13% cpu utilization during this task on a core i7-920 cpu. Same result in safe mode. Same result if I try to set the browser history clearing settings "when I close Firefox" -- Firefox will indeed close but still be listed in the task manager taking up a 13% cpu utilization and refuses to open again until I manually kill it. So far I've waited for around an hour for the process to complete but honestly though, the task of "deleting 7 months worth of browsing history" should only takes seconds...possibly "minutes" maximum on a mid-range PC, no?
Some additional info on my machine: it's custom built from 2009 but it still performs strongly. Not too long ago I upgraded to a Samsung 840 Pro SSD and this is where the Firefox profile is on. Even though I only have 6GB of RAM, I still enable "Rapid Mode" in Samsung Magician. That process will chew through 5-6GB fairly easily, but it's still a noticeable speed increase over my native SATA II chipset limitation on my motherboard. Intel's ICH10R raid controller is a bit dated, but it works (mostly) and gives me a cheap raid1 solution for a couple of existing storage drives in my system (they're not related to the OS drive anyway.) I have set the recommended amount of 10% over-provisioning on the SSD. I keep a very close eye on the software I chose to execute so I'm fairly confident that there isn't anything else (hardware '''or''' software related) "slowing down" the system. Drivers/Win7 x64/Firefox 33 are all up to date (even running on "legacy" status now with my GPU drivers.) I do have a probably "more than average" number of extensions and custom scripting via Greasemonkey...I also have quite a bit of customization on Reddit from the "Reddit Enhancement Suite" tool -- so I wouldn't be surprised if "more than average" customization somehow corrupted the '''places.sqlite''' file and this is the explanation for my current troubles. I get rid of unnecessary plugins like Java but there's some you can't really mess with like Google's "update" plugin that's automatically installed if you have Chrome installed on your system for example.
So, after talking about all of that, let's talk about some realistic options. I could "reset" back to a factory Firefox installation but I would need to backup all of my extension data so I'm hoping that's a "last resort." What do you think about these options:
1. Letting the task run all night and see if it actually finishes in the morning, even if it's only using 13% cpu.
2. Following this option: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1004992#answer-587688 where you simply manually delete the places.sqlite file (and then hope all your extensions are still intact -- considering that was posted for Firefox 29.) Backing up bookmarks is no issue but I would really feel worried that "other settings" would go with this file.
3. I '''could''' temporarily take my storage raid1 offline as Intel's raid controller and its limited bios memory is likely the biggest bottleneck in my system. However I would probably risk blue-screening on Windows startup as I don't know how the OS would react to such a traumatic change in SATA configuration type from "RAID" to "AHCI"...plus the Intel Matrix Storage Console is (I believe) no longer in development so it would probably break too and I would probably somehow end up losing the raid volume, something I'd rather avoid than "experiment with." I wish Samsung Magician was able to do more with the SSD SATA connection and not let it revert to a legacy "perhaps IDE-like" mode (it doesn't detect bios raid modes) but I guess there's only so many things a 2009 motherboard can do.
4. Your suggestions?
I think the main thing I learned from all this is to be sure to clean your history/cache on a regular basis and don't let it build up like I did. I had operated for some time knowing that it would be nice to keep a history of every site I visited because I could go back and look at specific times for when I visited associated sites as sort of "online diary" to see how I spend my time throughout the months. Turns out I paid the price for this assumption.

Hello
Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a ''Clean reinstall''. This means you remove Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. Please follow these steps:
'''Note:''' You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.
#Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from http://www.mozilla.org and save the setup file to your computer.
#After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (click Exit from the Firefox or File menu).
#Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
#*'''Windows:'''
#**C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
#**C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
#*'''Mac:''' Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
#*'''Linux:''' If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see [[Installing Firefox on Linux]]. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the [http://www.mozilla.org/firefox#desktop Firefox download page], simply remove the folder ''firefox'' in your home directory.
#Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
##Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
##Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.
More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found [[Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems#w_5-reinstall-firefox|here]].
<b>WARNING:</b>Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your [[Profiles|Firefox profile]] data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. <u>These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device!</u> See [[Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles]]. 
Please report back to say if this helped you!
Thank you.

Email yes but why won't web browser work?

In the last few weeks, both my powerbook G4 with 10.4.6 and my ibook with 9.2 have develop problems browsing the web. my web surfing will be fast and fine and then, without warning, i click a link and it will search without success for as long as ten minutes. i can stop and reclick, try a different web site altogether, quit my browser and relaunch it, try another browser and i can even restart my airport base station. none of these things work. it just reconnects whenever it feels like it. the whole time this is happening, my airport icon is telling me i have a full connection and my email works at regular speed (Entourage), so it isn't like i am completely disconnected from the internet. why would one part of my online connection (email) work perfectly all of the time while my web connection through my browsers works intermittently? especially when everything worked perfectly for eight months prior to this.
Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Tom,
You mean that the IP address of the mail server (even for a different ISP's mail server) has been "cached" somehow ? I tried to mention this earlier, ISP's will "cache" the IP addresses for the big-ticket websites and mail servers (like gmail and hotmail maybe).
It can also happen at the network level, usually OSX Server is required, or a PC equivalent - but this isn't usual for individual computers. I suppose it could also happen at browser level, but I don't know of a browser that does this. Cache the IP address of each website visited and it's valid for that session only, would be harmless.
The original poster could take note of the IP address of something big (google) - using traceroute in the Network Utility - next time the web goes south, try accessing via the IP address.
I did hear of a horde of complaints about AirPort and OSX 10.4.5, but none that allowed the user to still receive mail (even from a different ISP). I've searched the discussion forums again just now, nothing. Although there was one thread relating to the inability to use email while the internet worked fine. Maybe you could post a link to the threads you've found.

Why won't my browser load?

Hello. I hope someone can tell me what is wrong with my browser, because it's been doing weird things. Since yesterday, my browser has been loading without the address bar. I'll hit Command T to access Top Sites in another tab. The space where the address bar is supposed to be is blank. The Top Sites are there. When I click on a page, the browser gets stuck and will not open the site. Or it will access the site, but the page is dim and frozen. I have to restart my computer to get the browser working again. It's happening frequently since yesterday. I've never seen my browser malfunction like this before. Please tell me what is wrong? I have attached screenshots of the problem. Thanks for the help.
FYI, I was informed months ago that Apple won't be sending me software updates anymore, so my browser has not been updated since a year or maybe more.

As you are running Leopard 10.5.8 that would be Safari 5.0.6?
Yes, no further updates for Leopard, and if yours is a PPC iMac that is as far as it can go. If it is an Intel iMac you could upgrade to Snow Leopard.
Try deleting Safari's Preference file from Home/Library/Preferences, then repairing permissions, then rebooting.
Reset your Safari preferences, such as the toolbar etc. OK now?

Why won't the browser display this?

It compiles and I can run it from the command line. But when I
try to run it from the browser it does nothing. If I remove the
jdbc calls it displays "Antonio6"
import java.sql.*;
import oracle.html.*;
public class table2
public static void main (String args [])
throws SQLException, ClassNotFoundException
HtmlHead hd = new HtmlHead("Table Sample");
HtmlBody bd = new HtmlBody();
bd.setBackgroundColor("#fffff2");
HtmlPage hp = new HtmlPage(hd, bd);
// Load the Oracle JDBC driver
Class.forName ("oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver");
// Connect to the database
// You can put a database name after the @ sign in the
connection URL.
Connection conn =
DriverManager.getConnection
("jdbc:oracle:oci8:@ORCL", "scott", "tiger");
// Create a Statement
Statement stmt = conn.createStatement ();
// Select the ENAME column from the EMP table
ResultSet rset = stmt.executeQuery ("select ENAME from EMP");
while (rset.next ())
bd.addItem(rset.getString(1));
bd.addItem(new banner("Antonio6"));
hp.print();
null

You cannot run JDBC/OCI program inside a browser.
Try using THIN driver.
Antonio (guest) wrote:
: It compiles and I can run it from the command line. But when I
: try to run it from the browser it does nothing. If I remove the
: jdbc calls it displays "Antonio6"
: import java.sql.*;
: import oracle.html.*;
: public class table2
: public static void main (String args [])
: throws SQLException, ClassNotFoundException
: HtmlHead hd = new HtmlHead("Table Sample");
: HtmlBody bd = new HtmlBody();
: bd.setBackgroundColor("#fffff2");
: HtmlPage hp = new HtmlPage(hd, bd);
: // Load the Oracle JDBC driver
: Class.forName ("oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver");
: // Connect to the database
: // You can put a database name after the @ sign in the
: connection URL.
: Connection conn =
: DriverManager.getConnection
: ("jdbc:oracle:oci8:@ORCL", "scott", "tiger");
: // Create a Statement
: Statement stmt = conn.createStatement ();
: // Select the ENAME column from the EMP table
: ResultSet rset = stmt.executeQuery ("select ENAME from
EMP");
: while (rset.next ())
: bd.addItem(rset.getString(1));
: bd.addItem(new banner("Antonio6"));
: hp.print();
Oracle Technology Network
http://technet.oracle.com
null

Why won't Firefox browse to my address when I press enter on the keyboard?

Since I installed (and uninstalled) the 4.0 beta, when I type an address in the address bar (in 3.6) and press the enter key on the keyboard, nothing happens. I now must click the arrow to browse to my typed address. Solutions?

Try disabling the AVG Safe Search extension that you have installed. As '''''John99''''' alluded to, that extension has been reported to cause that problem for other users on 3.6.13 - AVG has some fixing to do with that extension.

Why won't the browser allow me to download mp3s? is there a setting I need to activate?

question regarding downloading mo3s?

You can download mp3s using Firefox beta which can be found in the Play Store. While Firefox is playing an mp3 you can long press on it and choose save to save the file.
This feature will make it to the release version of Firefox around May 15th.

Why won't my browser allow me to load Google pages/links or Bing?

When I try to go to Google.com, an error message comes up and says, "The connection has timed out. The server at www.google.com is taking too long to respond."
It also does this at Bing.com and if I do a Yahoo search, but I can get on Yahoo.com to check e-mail.

I have started seeing the same issue as well. In fact able to get to sites like microsoft.com, oracle.com, but not igoogle.com, gmail.com, google.com or bing.com amongst others, and same as you re yahoo.com to search. I tried from IE 8/9, Firefox 4, Opera and Chrome and all have the same problem so I don't think this is just a Firefox problem.
I see nothing in the registry indicating the sites that fail, although have just had a visit from a program "Best Malware Protection" which I wouldn't be surprised if it had a hand in this before I removed it. (Seems I can no longer open the Task Manager as well anymore).
Perhaps these are unrelated, but perhaps not
If anyone comes across an resolution I would greatly appreciate hearing about it
Thanks

In FF28 the "Options - Privacy - History - Clear your recent history " does not work.

Never works to clear history. I can remove individual cookies.
Here's my settings:
Options
- General - Show my windows and tabs from last time.
- Tabs - top 4 checked.
- Content - Block pop-up windows checked
- Privacy - Tracking - first box selected; History - FF will remember history.
- Security - Top three checked.
- Advanced - Network - Cached web content - Override cache management checked. Limit to 350mb.

See also:
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
If you use "Clear history when Firefox closes":
*do not clear the Cache (Firefox will disable the disk cache in this case, see about:cache)
*do not clear the Browsing History (clearing history will prevent reopening tabs automatically via session restore)
*Options > Privacy > Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history": [X] "Clear history when Firefox closes" > Settings
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/remove-browsing-search-and-download-history
Note that clearing "Site Preferences" clears all exceptions for cookies, images, pop-up windows, software installation, passwords, and other website specific data.
Clearing cookies will remove all specified (selected) cookies including cookies with an allow exception that you would like to keep.

Why can't I clear my browsing history in safari

I am trying to clear my browsing history on my iPhone 4 but the bit ton is gray and won't allow me to select it in either the settings menu or in the actual browser. I also tries putting my safari app into private mode but for some reason cannot find the button... It should be in safari at the bottom when I choose to look at multiple tabs (or at least that's where I have always found it) but I don't see it anywhere. I am not sure if this is a problem with the new iOS update I just got or if I somehow changed my settings somewhere to not allow these functions but it is really annoying not being able to clear my history... Please help me figure out how to fix this

Hi,
Once you delete your History, make sure you fill it back up again!
Go to www.fillmyhistory.com for a quick, easy and safe way to fill up your browser.
Nothing is more suspicious than an empy Internet History!
Regards,
Fill My History Team
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.
<Edited by Host>

Why won't my iPad 3 history clear?

Here is some other information: I noticed a few days ago that a website I had not visited was in my iPad's browsing history. I deleted my history and cookies and data but they remained. I was on my dad's username: he and I shared one; now that I'm an adult, I decided to create my own.
I went into Settings/Safari and then cleared everything, but there are still some sites that I visited that won't clear. What should I do? Is anything wrong?
The site that orignially appeared that I didn't visit was the NFL site and the site that now won't go away is my local newspaper.
I should also note that I have checked my bookmarks to see if I accidentally added it; I didn't.
RABG

If you have a data only plan for your iPad with Telstra for connecting to the internet via their cellular data/internet network, contact Telstra.

My browsers (safari and chrome) continue to open an old version of a website. Even though I've cleared my browser history and cache. Please help! what else can I do.

My browsers (safari and Chrome) continue to open an old version of a website - even though I've cleared my browser history and cache. It's essential I see the newly launched site - rather than the old ones. It's strange it's happening in both browsers.
Please help!

You, or someone using your computer, hacked the system to redirect certain URL's. The file modified is /etc/hosts.
The easiest way to fix the hosts file is to restore it from a backup that predates the modification, or to copy the unmodified file from another Mac. If you can't do that, then do as below. Please read this whole message before doing anything.
Back up all data. This is a simple procedure, but if you don't follow the instructions exactly, you could be left with an unbootable system. In that case, you'll have to restore from a backup or reinstall OS X.
If you have more than one user account, you must be logged in as an administrator.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
open -a TextEdit /etc/hosts
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). A TextEdit window should open. At the top of the window, you should see this:
# Host Database
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
127.0.0.1                              localhost
255.255.255.255          broadcasthost
::1                                        localhost
fe80::1%lo0                    localhost
Below that, you'll see some other lines. There should be nothing above the first line "##". If you have any doubt about that, STOP and ask for guidance. Make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom of the document. Scroll bars are hidden by default until you actually start scrolling, so you may not realize that you’re not seeing the whole document.
If the contents of the TextEdit window are as described, close it, then enter the following command in the Terminal window in the same way as before (by copy and paste):
sudo sed -i~ '11,$d' /etc/hosts
This time, you'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. Confirm. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator. Quit Terminal.
That will fix the hosts file. There is now a copy of the old hosts file with the name "hosts~" in the same folder as "hosts". You can delete the copy if you wish. Don't delete the file named "hosts".

Why firefox keep deleting my history? i try to reinstall it but it won't work. help me please.

I just upgrade my windows and reinstall my firefox. then it won't make me save my history. at first the history saved. but when I restart my laptop then open my firefox the history won't show up. and i try to reinstall but nothing changes. help :(

I expect you are deleting your history at the end of your session, as opposed to only clearing cache.
Make sure your are saving history, then in the settings that you are not clearing history.
'''Tools > Options > Privacy''' you must have "Remember my browsing history" and in Settings where check marks mean to clear things you must leave unchecked "Browsing history". Annotated picture:
* http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/4928/clearcachew.png
FWIW,
App-tabs are considered part of browsing history so you must save your browsing history for app-tabs to work.

Is it possible to recover safari browsing history after history has been cleared?

I have a 2012 iMac running Mavericks OSX 10.9.4 with a Seagate Backup Plus connected with Time Machine. I would like to restore safari browsing history to view some web pages from about two weeks ago. Safari history has been cleared. I think I need the history cache and or the history.plist but I'm not sure. I have 2 data recovery apps. One is Stellar Phoenix Mac data recovery and the other is Seagate file recovery for Mac. I just don't know if those are the correct files and if they may still be somewhere that they can be found in a still usable form.
I have searched this question on the web and found several answers that had step by step instructions on how to accomplish the task but none of the methods actually worked. The claims were all talking about older operating systems however.
Can anyone help? Is it possible?

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it, then copy it to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
~/Library/Safari
Quit Safari.
Select
Go ▹ Go to Folder
from the Finder menu bar. Paste into the text box that opens by pressing command-V, then press return.
A folder window should open. Restore the file named "History.plist" in that folder from a snapshot taken on the day in question, or the first available day afterwards.

Is there a way to keep my app tabs set up if I clear my browsing history between sessions? (v. 4.0 on Mac OS 10.6.6)

Just downloaded version 4.0 yesterday, running on Mac OS 10.6.6. When I set up a few app tabs, they worked fine during the session but were gone when I restarted Firefox.
I usually have my preferences set to clear my browsing history, download history, forms, cache, active logins, and most cookies when I close Firefox. I changed them to clear everything else as usual but to remember my browsing history, and this seems to solve the problem - my app tabs reappeared when I restarted FF. Is there a setting I'm missing that would let me clear my history but maintain the app tabs across sessions?

Based on everything you have told us, Without a doubt, you need a lot more RAM installed in your iMac.
OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard can, at times, use up the full 4 GBs of RAM, for. itself, alone.
Your model iMac can take, a total of 16 GBs of RAM.
My advice is to install the max. 16 GBs of RAM.
Correct and reliable Mac RAM can be purchased from online Mac RAM sources Crucial memory or OWC (macsales.com).
RAM is user installable and very easy to do for beginning or novice computer users or novice computer upgraders.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3918
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=XjU_NQh6e1k&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXjU_NQh6e1 k
Good Luck!

Why won't my browser history clear?

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