Clearing Browsing Data on Close

Microsoft

Clearing Browsing Data on Close

Instead of manually clearing your browsing data, you can schedule Microsoft Edge to automatically delete it from the browser when you close all windows. This feature allows you to schedule the same data that can be manually cleared.

Here’s how you do it: 

  1. Select Settings and more (…) and then Settings
  2. Select Privacy and services and then click on “Choose what to clear every time you close the browser”
  3. Toggle on or off each data type that you’d like to be cleared when all instances of your profile are closed.

    delete browser data.pngPrivacy and services / Clear browsing data.

The next time you launch your browser, the data you selected will be cleared. This can be verified by returning to the same page inside settings and observing if you have any data remaining for the toggles you have enabled. You may also visit edge://history to verify your history has been cleared.

If your data has not been cleared, please Send Feedback and include a description of what was supposed to be cleared, if you have any extensions installed, and the amount of data (e.g . 96 Browsing history items) that should be cleared.

Some things to consider:

  • This setting will only clear data from your local device unless sync is enabled for that data type, to clear your data associated with a Microsoft account please visit the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard,
  • This setting is profile specific and will only affect data from the Profile that you enabled the setting in.
  • The automatic deletion will only happen once all windows of a specific profile are closed, this includes any PWAs that may be running. Having the app pinned to the taskbar does not affect this.
  • If you have toggle on “Cookies and site data” and have enabled the “Continue where you left off” setting inside Settings > On startup, the same tabs will remain open in your next browsing session but you may be signed out of some sites since your cookies were cleared.
32 Replies

Hi  @Elliot Kirk 

 

I've already posted about an issue with this yesterday and today right here at Clear data on close

 

Dennis5mile

Thank you, @Dennis5mile. We also wanted to call this out as a new feature in the Developer channel. This has been one of more frequently asked for features, and we wanted to make sure that people saw that it is now available.

Thanks,

Elliot

Understandable... Posted here as well as I did not know if you had seen my posts on this matter yet....

Thanks
Dennis5mile
Thanks a lot, Elliot for this. I was (one of those) suggesting this feature, and the implementation with the options to choose from is brilliant. Keep up the good work!

@Elliot Kirk Nice feature. What would be really cool: The ability to clear all the cruft from a particular page when I close the tab, leaving other tabs alone. Sometime I'm logged into various sites, browsing whatever, and I open an new tab and immediately think "Big mistake - its Google/facebook/twitter related." Then I have to go clear all my cookies etc.

I would be interested to know whether this is a simple deletion or a secure deletion. Whether this is of use to me or anyone else in business might well depend on the answer to that. 

@Paul_H_UK 

I concur. In fact I'd like all delete functions to be secure. Delete should mean Delete.

When you say "Secure Deletion" what specifically do you mean?

In general, you should use Bitlocker Full Disk Encryption to mitigate physically-local attackers. There's a fuller explanation of why local attackers are outside of the browser threat model here: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/docs/security/faq.md#Why-arent-physically_lo...

@Elliot Kirk - how does this work relative to "Site permissions -> Cookies -> Keep local data only until you quit your browser"? 

This is actually a scenario a customer brought to my attention earlier this week. There is a whole area of content with Chrome because it does not facilitate this sort of thing, at least not the way some would like.
i wanted to know, when will come the read aloud to edge chromium to read PDF ? thanks for your attention and have a nice day, see you

@juninhosales 

 

Chromium based browsers can use "Read Aloud" and it will read PDF pages. It's an extension rather than built-in but it will do the job until MS make it a native ability in Edge. You can get it in the Chrome store.

@Elliot Kirk I'd like to see an option for Clear Search Strings.  I've noticed that search strings previously used are coming through as top search suggestions.  This is true in the standard browsing session but more concerning is that search strings used during InPrivate browsing are also coming through as top search suggestions is the standard session.   

 

So private is really 100% private.  :unamused_face:

Can you share some examples? Is there any reason to believe that the top search suggestions in questions are not, in fact, the top search suggestions *for everyone*?

You can always (also) add a favorite to your favorite bar to Clear Brower Data which is like in a way adding your own clear data/history button. I did it, and all I do is click the icon (or right click to a new window tab) and clear data/history with in a second when I want to clear data. Its: chrome://settings/clearBrowserData (type it in to get to that setting as copy/pasting/clicking link here wont work properly) to do so and than bookmark the tab (star). One can do that, and/or also set clear data upon exit to have both routes or if they watn to clear data/history real fast when needed, but not always want it cleared upon exit. Example:

 

Untitled.jpg

 

@Eric_Lawrence After some further experience especially with Edge for Android I'm starting to think the problem may actually be associated with the keyboard being used.  The in-private mode on Edge for Android does not seem to clear out the keyboard data and as a result the words used during an in-private session appear on the keyboard as top suggested words to start your next typing session.  Very obvious with SwiftKey keyboard.  

 

I did seem to experience similar behaviour on my desktop browser but not to the same extent.

@Elliot Kirk  When will this option be available in GPO?

Hi @stesch79, I will ask the owners of this area and find out for you.  Thanks - Elliot

It looks like there is already a policy that does this: Clear browsing data when Microsoft Edge closes. It should be in the latest policy files for Dev / Canary. Thanks - Elliot