Clearing Safari history on an iPhone 14 removes the browsing history Safari keeps on the device and can also remove related website data. The menu location varies somewhat by iOS version.
How to do it
- Open Settings on the iPhone.
- On current iOS versions, go to Apps > Safari; on older versions, Safari appears directly in Settings.
- Tap Clear History and Website Data.
- Choose the time range/profile options shown, if your iOS version provides them, and confirm the clear action.
- Open Safari and check History if you want to verify the selected history was removed.
What gets affected
Clearing history can sign you out of websites because cookies/site data may be removed. AutoFill information stored separately and saved passwords in Passwords/iCloud Keychain are not the same thing as Safari history. If Safari is synced through iCloud, history changes can affect other synced Apple devices.
What to know
If Clear History is unavailable, there may be no qualifying history/data or Screen Time/content restrictions may be involved. Use Private Browsing for future sessions you do not want added to normal history.
Practical details
If you only want to remove data for one website, Safari’s Advanced > Website Data controls (where available in the current iOS settings) are more targeted than clearing everything. Closing tabs is also separate from clearing history. Choose the narrowest cleanup action that solves the privacy or troubleshooting goal.
Troubleshooting and verification
Clearing history is not the same as deleting bookmarks, Reading List items, or downloaded files. Those should remain unless you remove them separately. If the purpose is troubleshooting one broken site, removing that site’s website data first is less disruptive because a full clear can sign you out of many unrelated sites.
Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.
He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office, and many other popular applications and devices.