Web browsers save browsing data and keep it unless the user decides to delete it manually. These data include cookies from various websites, temporary files, form data, browsing history, entered login data and other things. The fact that the browser stores the sites visited is not an invasion of our privacy, given that thanks to these stored data we can access our pages faster, without having to re-enter the access data or perform a new search to open the right site.
The only problem with the stored browsing data is that if we share the computer (or browser) with a friend or family member, privacy is completely lost and all users will know which sites have been visited by others.
In this guide we will show you how to solve the problem brilliantly, setting an action that automatically erases all the data and cookies of the sites visited when you close Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox so that, when they are reopened, no trace of the session will be found anymore previous one.
READ ALSO: Clear history on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge
How to clear browsing data when closing browsers
The Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers allow you to set the automatic deletion of browsing data every time we close the browser; we will only have to make sure that this action does not happen with us still in front of the PC (to avoid having to repeat it all over again!).How to clear browsing data when closing Google Chrome
To set the deletion of browsing data when Google Chrome is closed, we open the browser and add the Click & Clean extension.
Once installed on our browser and / or on our Chrome user profile, just open it and press the Close Browser button safely to automatically delete all personal data in the browser. To make cleaning even more effective, press the Options button and, in the Chrome section, activate the check mark on all items.
To automatically clean the personal data and cookies, let's go back to the Options menu of the extension and then activate the Delete personal data when Chrome closes item .
If we use Google Chrome for Android and iOS, we will not be able to install any extension of this type: we will therefore have to rely on the protection systems integrated in the phone (fingerprint, face, password, PIN etc.) to protect our browsing data, as seen in the our guide Smartphone protection and more secure screen unlock for Android .
How to clear browsing data when closing Mozilla Firefox
If we use Mozilla Firefox as a browser on our system, we will not have to install any extensions, since the browser natively provides the function to delete browsing data when closed. We then open the Mozilla browser, click on the symbol with the three horizontal lines at the top right, press the Options menu, go to the Privacy and security tab and then put the check mark on the item Delete cookies and website data when closing Firefox .
To avoid restoring the previous section, we recommend that you open the General tab and remove the check mark from the Restore previous session item (in case we had activated it in the past to quickly resume work).
If instead we want to delete the data of our navigation in a limited period of time (for example the last 5 minutes, the last 2 hours or the last 24 hours), without touching the other data in the browser, we just need to add the Forget button to browser interface. To add it, press the menu on the top right with the three horizontal lines, select Customize and then drag the Forget button on the upper bar, where we consider it more appropriate. When we need to quickly delete our personal data generated immediately, press the Forget button, choose the period to be deleted and finally press down on the red Forget button.
It is also possible to use the History Cleaner extension to make Firefox history automatically clear after a certain period of time.
Compared to Google Chrome, Firefox for Android and iOS offers the possibility to delete browsing data when leaving the browser, so as to protect our privacy; to do this we open the Firefox app, press the menu at the top right, press the Settings menu, select the Privacy menu then activate the Delete personal data on closure item .
Now all we have to do is go back to the main screen, open the menu at the top right again and then use the Exit item to delete our personal data.
Programs and apps to erase browsing data
If we have more than one browser from which to delete browsing data, we recommend using a program such as CCleaner to clean all the browsers present.
To clean, simply open the program, go to the Advanced Cleaning menu, select all the items under Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge and the other browser names, present in the Windows section and in the Applications section. Once the navigation data items have been selected, press on Analyze, wait for the end of the analyzes then press on Start cleaning .
The same functions can also be tried on an Android smartphone or tablet, by downloading the corresponding CCleaner app; if we want to try other apps for cleaning browsing data on our Android smartphone, we recommend you read our guide to Apps to clean Android from unnecessary files that take up space .
Conclusions
Protecting our privacy on browsing data is possible, especially if we have a PC shared with other relatives or friends and we use Chrome or Firefox as a system browser. On the subject Firefox is definitely the best browser to protect our privacy, since without extensions it allows you to delete browsing data by simply closing the browser (dangerous option but still very useful for those who care a lot about privacy).In another guide, we showed you how to set up your computer for family and friends to use it separately and safely .
If instead we wanted to use incognito mode or separate profiles for each user, we recommend you read our guides on when to use incognito mode and how to create different profiles on Chrome and Firefox .
If instead we wanted to activate the incognito mode automatically, we advise you to read our article on the incognito mode on selected sites in Chrome and Firefox .
