We are used to the fact that resetting a router or smartphone is an effective way to solve technical problems. But this trick works with web browsers too. Like any application in which we spend a lot of time, they gradually collect a bunch of all kinds of information. And if bookmarks and passwords are really useful, then, for example, last year's browsing history and extensions that you installed and used once a long time ago only clutter up your memory.
Regular reset clears up the browser and makes it faster, and most developers give users the ability to do this quickly and without any hassle. You can choose exactly what data is deleted and how it will affect other devices using the same account. It is also the easiest way to restore factory settings that you cannot manually change.
Another reason some people think about resetting the browser is the synchronization imposed by Google, Apple, Microsoft and other corporations. It's probably time to prevent Chrome on your work laptop from syncing data to your home computer.
Chrome
To selectively clear data, go to the settings and find the item "Clear history" in the "Privacy and security" section. Here you will have the option to clear history, download list, cookies, cache, passwords, data autocomplete, site settings for the selected period (hour, 24 hours, 7 days, 4 weeks or for all time). Select the desired items and click "Delete data".
If you want to reset all settings Chrome, but keep the information associated with your Google account (for example, passwords and browsing history), in the settings, scroll to the "Advanced" section and click on "Restore settings by default ". This will reset the start page, pinned tabs, site permissions, cookies, and disable all extensions and custom themes.
Finally to erase all traces your Google account and data from it in Chrome, at the very top of the settings page, click on the "Disable" button in the "Me and Google" section. You will also have the option to delete all user data from the browser (all this information will remain in your account, so you can restore it when you log in to Chrome again on this or another computer).
Firefox
Firefox has two types of factory reset:
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Manual. Open the settings and go to the "Privacy and Security" section. Under Cookies and Site Data, click Clear Data to clear cookies, site permissions, browsing history, and more. In addition, in the same section there is a checkbox for automatically deleting cookies and site data every time you close your browser. Below in the "History" section, you can prevent the browser from remembering the history of visits, downloads, searches and save form data.
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Standard reset (which Firefox calls cleanup). To do this, open a new tab and enter in the address bar “about: support"Without quotes. On the page that opens, click Refresh Firefox. This erases all custom browser settings including add-ons and themes. This will not affect cookies and passwords.
To set up data synchronization between devices with one account, click on the "Synchronization" section in the settings. Here you can choose which types of data from this computer will be available on other devices.
Safari
Unlike other browsers, Safari doesn't have the ability to press two buttons to solve all problems at once. Here's what to do if you still want to get rid of the excess:
- To clear cache, you need to enable developer mode (click Safari → "Preferences" → "Add-ons" and click the checkbox next to the item "Show Develop menu in the menu bar"). Then click on the Develop panel and select Clear Caches (or click ⌥ + ⌘ + E).
- For deleting site dataincluding cookies, click Safari → Preferences → Privacy → Manage Website Data. Here you can delete data selectively, or from all sites at once.
- To clear browser history, just click Safari → "Clear History". The program will offer several periods: for the last hour, today, today and yesterday, or complete deletion of the entire history. This also deletes cookies.
- Extensions will have to be removed manually. To see a list of everything you've installed, click Safari → Preferences → Extensions.
Edge
Updated Microsoft Edge is powered by Chromium, so it works very similarly to Chrome. Open Settings and select "Privacy & Services" in the left pane. Find the section "Delete web browsing data" section and click "Select items to delete".
To unlink the browser from your account, go to the "Profiles" section (it opens automatically when you go to the settings. Here you need to turn off sync. In addition, the panel on the left has a "Reset Settings" function, which returns browser settings to their original settings, but leaves user data such as passwords and favorite sites.
Opera
If you use Opera, go to the "Advanced" section of the settings and find the subsection "Privacy and Security". It has an item "Clear browsing history", which allows you to selectively delete the history of visits, downloads, cookies and other data for a selected period of time.
To unlink your Opera account from this browser, find the "Sync" item in the settings. Here you can also configure whether actions on this computer will be displayed on other devices that use the same account.
Like Chrome and Edge, Opera is also based on Chromium, and it also has an option to reset to defaults by scrolling to the bottom of the settings. This feature resets all local settings, but leaves data synchronized with the account, including saved passwords.
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