Auto Delete Firefox Browsing History With History Cleaner
I often recommend Firefox over Google Chrome when it comes to user privacy , but despite legitimate concerns about how much data Google collects about its users, the company has learned very well how to give us control over how that data is processed, including including allowing us to set timers to automatically delete some of this data.
This is where Chrome takes precedence over Firefox. Chrome has the ability to automatically delete your browsing data when you sign out, and Google recently made it easier for us to automatically delete other types of information it collects, such as location data on our devices or on our YouTube. browsing and search history.
Ironically, despite all of its privacy-focused features, Firefox can’t automatically delete just your browsing history by default. Instead, users will have to turn to third-party browser add-ons to set auto-deletion timers in their browsing history, such as History Cleaner.
We first learned about this free open source Firefox extension courtesy of gHacks , and after testing it myself, I’m happy to say it’s very easy for us; all you have to do is set it, set a timer and the add-on will take care of the rest. I should also point out that History Cleaner only deletes your browsing history and leaves your cookies and other data intact, which is nice as you don’t have to constantly log into every website you use after every deletion period.
How to install and configure History Cleaner in Firefox
- Install History Cleaner from the Firefox add-on store by clicking “Add to Firefox”.
- After installing History Cleaner, type “about: addons” into Firefox’s address bar and press Enter. You will be taken to the Firefox Add-ons Settings page.
- Click Clear History.
- Click the Options tab.
- Enter the number of days for which you want to keep your browsing history. For example, if you want Firefox history to be deleted every 5 days, set the value to 5. (Note that setting the timer to 0 will disable automatic deletion).
- Once you’ve set the timer, save and close the settings and you’re done – you don’t have to do anything else. The add-on will clear your web history automatically every five days (or how long you set a timer).