Firefox: Clear History, Cache, and Cookies Quickly

Clear Browsing Data in Firefox on Desktop and MobileKeeping your browsing data under control improves privacy, frees storage, and can fix site issues caused by stale cache or cookies. This guide covers everything you need to know to clear browsing data in Mozilla Firefox on desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux) and mobile (Android, iOS), plus tips for automating cleanup and troubleshooting common problems.

Why clear browsing data?

Privacy: Browsing history, cookies, and cached files can reveal where you’ve been and what you’ve done online. Clearing these removes locally stored traces.
Performance & storage: Cache can grow large over time; clearing it frees disk space and can resolve page loading errors caused by corrupted cached files.
Troubleshooting: Cookies or old cached files sometimes cause login failures or display issues. A cleanup often fixes them.
Control: Regularly managing data prevents unwanted tracking and keeps Firefox behaving predictably.

Desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux)

Open the Clear Data dialog

Click the menu button (three horizontal lines) at the top-right corner.
Choose Settings (or Preferences on some platforms).
Select Privacy & Security from the left sidebar.
Scroll to the “Cookies and Site Data” and “History” sections — these contain the main data controls.

Clear Cookies and Site Data (simple method)

In Privacy & Security, under “Cookies and Site Data,” click Clear Data….
A dialog appears with two options:
- Cached Web Content — removes stored images/files.
- Cookies and Site Data — removes cookies and site-specific storage.
Check the boxes you want and click Clear.

Note: Clearing cookies will sign you out of websites.

Use “Clear Recent History” for finer control

Press Ctrl+Shift+Del (Cmd+Shift+Del on macOS) or go to the menu → History → Clear Recent History.
In the dialog:
- Time range to clear: choose Last Hour, Last Two Hours, Today, Everything, or a custom range.
- Details: check what to remove (Browsing & Download History, Form & Search History, Cookies, Cache, Active Logins, Offline Website Data, Site Preferences, etc.).
Click OK to clear the selected data.

Clear data for specific sites only

Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Manage Data…
Search or scroll to find individual sites, select one or more, and click Remove Selected or Remove All.

Developer tools: clear cache for a specific tab

Open the web page; press F12 (or menu → More Tools → Web Developer Tools).
Right-click the reload button and choose:
- Normal Reload
- Hard Reload (bypasses cache for that load)
- Empty Cache and Hard Reload (in some developer builds)
Or in the Network panel, check “Disable cache” while DevTools is open and then reload.

Mobile (Android and iOS)

Firefox’s mobile apps let you clear data globally or per-site with slightly different menus.

Android

Open Firefox for Android.
Tap the three-dot menu (top-right) → Settings → Privacy.
Tap Clear private data.
Choose which types to clear: Browsing history, Cache, Cookies and active logins, Offline website data, Site settings, Saved logins, etc.
Tap Clear data to confirm.

Tip: Use the overflow menu on the History or Tabs screens to quickly clear recent history.

iOS

Open Firefox for iPhone/iPad.
Tap the menu (bottom-right) → Settings → Data Management (or Privacy).
Toggle the data types you want removed: Cookies, Cache, Site Data, Saved Logins, etc.
Tap Clear Private Data (or Clear Browsing Data) and confirm.

Note: On iOS, Firefox runs within Apple’s WebKit restrictions for rendering but still manages its own browsing data and settings.

Automatic clearing and privacy modes

Use Private Browsing

Private windows/tabs do not save history, cookies, or cache after closed. Use them for temporary sessions.

Auto-delete on exit (Desktop)

Settings → Privacy & Security → History.
Set “Firefox will” to Use custom settings for history, then check Clear history when Firefox closes.
Click Settings… to choose which items to clear on exit (browsing history, download history, cookies, cache, active logins, etc.).

Android: automatic data clearing

In Firefox for Android → Settings → Privacy → Choose Clear private data on exit (options may vary by version).
Select which data types to remove when you exit the app.

Advanced and troubleshooting

Site still appears logged in after clearing cookies

Check for multiple profiles or separate Firefox instances.
Confirm you cleared cookies (not just cache). Also remove site-specific storage via Settings → Privacy & Security → Manage Data…

Broken site after clearing cache

If a website appears broken after clearing cache, try reloading the page (Ctrl+R or Cmd+R) several times or restart Firefox. If the problem persists, disable extensions temporarily—some extensions store settings or change site behavior.

Use about:preferences#privacy and about:cache

Type about:preferences#privacy in the address bar to jump to privacy settings.
about:cache shows detailed information about cached entries (advanced users only).

Profiles and multiple users

Each Firefox profile stores separate browsing data. If data isn’t cleared, ensure you’re in the correct profile (about:profiles to manage them).

Best practices

For routine privacy: use Private Browsing for sessions where you don’t want data saved, and auto-clear on exit for sensitive devices.
For troubleshooting: clear cache first; if problems persist, clear cookies and site data.
For convenience: manage site exceptions (cookies you want to keep) rather than clearing everything frequently.
For shared devices: use separate OS user accounts or Firefox profiles to keep browsing data isolated.

Quick reference — common tasks

Clear all browsing data: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Clear Data… and History → Clear Recent History (Time range: Everything).
Clear data for one site: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Manage Data… → Remove Selected.
Auto-clear on exit (desktop): Settings → Privacy & Security → History → Use custom settings for history → Clear history when Firefox closes.

Clearing browsing data in Firefox is straightforward and flexible across desktop and mobile. Choose full clears when privacy or troubleshooting requires it, and fine-grained or automatic options for regular maintenance.