How to prevent Google Chrome from storing browsing history on Windows PC

Google Chrome is one of the most popular web browsers on the market today. The reason for this preference is that Chrome syncs with your Google account, supports a library of extensions and add-ons, and is fast and free to use. However, Chrome does not offer an option/setting to automatically clear your browser history when you close the browser, which can be frustrating if you want to stay private. Users can manually clear their browsing history, but will need to do so each time they exit the browser in order to clear their history.

Thankfully, with a few settings changes, you can prevent Chrome from storing your browsing history entirely, regardless of what operating system you're running. Do you want to clear your browsing history in Chrome when you close the browser? Then, continue reading the tips mentioned in this article to prevent your Chrome browsing history from being recorded.

Prevent Chrome from storing browsing history

All browsing history in Chrome is saved in a folder on your PC's hard drive. If you restrict Chrome from modifying this file, your browser history will not be saved or updated.

Step 1 - Manually clear browsing history in Chrome

1. Open your Google Chrome browser.

Press Ctrl H to open Chrome’s History page.

In the left panel menu, click Clear browsing data.

Note: Alternatively, you can press the Ctrl Shift Delete key on your keyboard immediately after launching Chrome to open Clear browsing dataWindow.

2. In the Clear browsing data window, select the Basic tab.

Then, select the All Time option from the drop-down menu next to Time Range.

In the list of items that need to be cleared, make sure the box next to Browsing History is checked.

Finally, click the Clear Data button at the bottom of the window to clear your browsing history.

#3. Now, the Chrome browsing history is cleared. You can now take the next step to stop Chrome from storing history.

Step 2 - Restrict access to Chrome history files

Before proceeding with this step, make sure you have completely exited Chrome to avoid any conflicts.

Use the three-dot menu in Chrome in the upper right corner and click Exit to stop Chrome from running in the background.

1. To find Chrome’s history files on a Windows PC, open File Explorer (Windows E) .

In the navigation bar, type or copy-paste the location given below to find the history files related to Google Chrome.

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default

NOTE: If you cannot see the AppData folder, make sure you have the Hide Items option enabled .

Click in the File Explorer command ribbon to view the menu.

Go to Show in the menu and check the Hide Items option.

2. Once in the above location, look for a file named History without any file extension. This is the file that needs to be locked.

Right-click on this history file and select Properties in the context menu.

In the "Properties" window, check the "Properties" section Read-only" box next to it.

Then, click Apply and then OK to save the changes.

3. The history file is now locked.

RestartChrome to start browsing.

If you press Ctrl H, you will see that the history list is blank even after browsing. It displays a message saying history entry not found.

If you want to start recording your browsing history at any time, just repeat the above steps and uncheck the box next to Read-onlyChromeHistory file That’s it.

That’s it!

thanks for reading.

Incognito mode in Chrome prevents browsing history from being recorded but blocks cookies and extensions. The method mentioned in this article is the most popular as you will benefit from using extensions and cookies without having your browsing history recorded.

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