Must Have: Clear Browsing History on Exit

Bronze Contributor

 

Edge Chromium (like Chrome but unlike Edge (Classic) and Firefox) does not have a "Clear Browsing History on Exit" switch.  To me, that is a basic browser function and a "Must Have" feature.

 

 

Edge-2-Clear Browsing History.jpg

4 Replies
FYI, the screenshot is from Edge (Classic).

@tomscharbach 

Tom,

You show controls for clearing in Edge.  And it is true, Edge C does not have Clear upon closing. However, people could be aware that clearing has a bunch of controls in Edge C, also.  The rational may be that "Time range" supersedes  a need for Clear upon close & takes care of it whether, closing or not.  AND, this doesn't even show all (the long list) that's under the Advanced tab, here.

Clearing.jpg

Cheers,
Drew
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@Drew1903  "You show controls for clearing in Edge.  And it is true, Edge C does not have Clear upon closing. However, people could be aware that clearing has a bunch of controls in Edge C, also.  The rational may be that "Time range" supersedes  a need for Clear upon close & takes care of it whether, closing or not.  AND, this doesn't even show all (the long list) that's under the Advanced tab, here."

 

That is all well and good, but you hammer home my point.  Edge Chromium does not have an option to "clear on exit", so if a user wants to deploy that basic level of privacy/security, the user has to click on "Settings", then click on "Privacy and services", then click on "Clear cookies, history, passwords, and more", then check/select the browser items to clear (see screenshot), then click "Clear".  Those are a lot of steps to take each time a user closes the browser.

 

Edge Chromium Clear History.jpg

 

Clearing history is a basic privacy/security feature/function.  Edge (Classic), Firefox and a host of other browsers offer users a "clear on exit" option -- even vintage browsers like Internet Explorer. 

 

Chrome, of course, doesn't, and forces users to go through a tedious process to clear history each time the user closes the browser.  The obvious (and probably intended) result is that very few users will do so.  I don't mean to be cynical, but Chrome's behavior fits perfectly with Google's reputation as a user-data mining company.

 

Microsoft has offered users the option to "clear history on exit" for well over a decade, in Internet Explorer and in Edge (Classic).   Can you think of a good reason why Microsoft would want to change course now, and not want to offer users the option to clear browsing history on exit?  I can't.

 

@tomscharbach 

Hell, Tom, I wasn't defending Edge C or downplaying your point, at all!  I was just showing what it does have or offer.  I fully agree, the lack of Clear when close is ridiculous, outrageous & wrong.

Cheers,
Drew
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