Windows

Clear The AutoComplete History In Internet Explorer 7

Posted by on Mar 6, 2007 | 8 Comments

Internet Explorer has an AutoComplete feature that suggests possible matches for entries you type into such things as Address bars or online forms. Once you begin typing in information, AutoComplete gives you suggestions of what you might be typing in. If a suggestion is a match, you can select it and press ENTER. However, at some point you may need to clear out the AutoComplete history.

The process for completing this task has changed slightly in the latest version of Internet Explorer. The steps are described below.

  1. Open Internet Explorer.
  2. From the Tools menu, click Delete Browsing History.
  3. Click the Delete button under Form Data.
  4. Click Yes to confirm your actions.
  5. Click Close.

[tags]clear, AutoComplete History, Internet Explorer 7, IE 7[/tags]

  • Roy Bishop

    Useful, but what is really needed is a way to selectively delete item, for mis-spelling for example.

  • John Webb

    Does not work to clear dropdown of typed URL’s in IE7 address bar. Anyone know how to do that? I have been searching everywhere but so far nothing works. Thanks.

  • Rachel T

    Hi
    For selective deleting of ur links do the following :

    1. Go to ur history (ie7 : click alt+c ; click history; search de link(folder) u want to delete and just delete it)
    2. Go to run, type regedit; press enter
    3. Click on the pluses(+) next to the following folders

    * HKEY_CURRENT_USER
    * Software
    * Microsoft
    * Internet Explorer
    * Typed URLs
    4. You’ll find a list similar to the following in the right hand column.
    Right-click in the NAME column and delete the desired URL.
    5. Close the Registry Editor
    6. Close all open Internet Explorer windows
    7. Reopen Internet Explorer and the unwanted URL in the address
    dropdown list should be gone.

  • http://blogmines.com/blog/2006/06/19/how-to-clear-and-disable-autocomplete-feature-in-firefox-and-internet-explorer/ Ravi

    Thanks for this information. But with screenshot would benefit lot more Internet users.

  • Michael D

    I have IE 6 – I’ve deleted cookies, temp files, browsing history and I still have URL’s and previously viewed mpg, bmp files still showing up in the Address Bar with Auto Complete on. I’ve gone into the Registry Editor HKEY_CURRENT_USER “Typed URL’s” folder and all I find there is a default folder with no list of the URL’s that show up in the Address Bar. I’ve tried searching for the URL’s and I can’t find them anywhere. The previously viewed mpg, bmp, etc. files only show up in their current location. Is there any way to delete them from showing up in the Address Bar without turning Auto Complete off?

  • Dan

    To clear specific usernames go to Start > Run > Control Userpasswords

    Click Advanced then Manage Passwords

    It’s hidden from any other options menu

  • Another Dan

    Not quite. That holds usernames and passwords for mail servers and the like, but I’m looking for something to take care of the extra crap that goes into web forms.

    Every time I get prompted for a username, every single username that I’ve typed in in since I installed Windows comes up. I want to keep many of them, but one that I used once years ago doesn’t need to be in that list. I want the convenience of just clicking in the field and then clicking hte desired username. (I can still do that, but now there’s a scroll bar on the side of the list…)

    I don’t want to clear every username that I’ve ever used from the list, and I certainly don’t want the system to forget my stored passwords.

    Gah. It could be done with IE6, why not IE7? Maybe I should upgrade to IE8 if it can do it.

  • http://www.broccolibunch.com Vin Broccoli

    Easy enough, thanks.