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How to view and clear browsing history on Chrome for mobile

Clearing your browsing history in Chrome for mobile is clear cut, but viewing it is not. We'll show you how to do both.

Ed Rhee
Ed Rhee, a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is an IT veteran turned stay-at-home-dad of two girls. He focuses on Android devices and applications while maintaining a review blog at techdadreview.com.
Ed Rhee

Chrome for mobile
Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET

The Chrome for mobile release has been well-received by iOS and Android users alike, though for Android, Chrome is only available on devices with Android 4.0 and up, like the new Samsung Galaxy S3 or the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. As with most mobile and desktop browsers, Chrome allows you to delete your browsing history from within its settings. You can also view your browsing history, but it's not a feature you can access from the menu. Here's how to view and clear your browsing history in Chrome for mobile.

Chrome for mobile history
Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET

"="" rel="follow" target="_self">Chrome for Android
To view browsing history in Chrome for Android, type, "chrome:history" in the omnibox (address bar). This also works for the desktop version of Chrome. The browsing history will appear with the most recent history at the top. Tapping on the drop-down icon, at the right of each item, will give you the option to remove it from history, or view more history for that particular site.

You can remove multiple items from the history by tapping at the left of the item, then tapping on Remove selected items. If you'd rather clear everything, you can do so by clicking on the Clear all browsing data option.

If you only want to delete browsing history, follow these steps:

Go to Menu > Settings > Advanced > Privacy, then tap on Clear browsing data. You'll be presented with a list of data types to clear. Check the boxes next to each item you want to clear, then tap the Clear button.

Chrome for iOS
Unfortunately, typing "chrome:history" in the iOS version of Chrome doesn't work, as it does for the Android version. Should Google add this feature in the future, we will update this post with the directions. For now, you can only clear your browsing history in Chrome for iOS, which you can do by going to Menu > Settings, then tap on Clear browsing data. Choose the data types you want to clear, then tap Clear.

That's it. Now you know how to view, and delete your browsing history in Chrome for mobile.

Editors' note: Updated on July 16, 2012, to clarify that Chrome for iOS does not yet have the view history feature.