Resetting Safari
If you use a shared or public computer, you may want to reset Safari to deter other people from seeing which webpages you’ve visited and other information about how you’ve used Safari.
Important:Plug-ins—small applications that perform specific tasks, such as playing multimedia files—are often installed to extend computers’ capabilities. Some plug-ins store information about which sites you’ve visited. Such information is not deleted when you reset Safari, so resetting Safari may not remove every trace of your browsing history.
To reset Safari:
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Choose Action menu > Reset Safari. (The Action menu is near the upper-right corner of the Safari window, and looks like a gear.)
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Deselect any items you don’t want to reset:
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Clear history: Clears the list of webpages you’ve viewed.
Reset Top Sites: Clears any changes you’ve made to Top Sites, such as adding or pinning sites. Your Top Sites page reverts to showing the webpage previews displayed when you first installed Safari 4.
Remove all webpage preview images:
Clears any thumbnail images Safari has saved of webpages you’ve viewed.Empty the cache: Clears the webpages you’ve viewed from the temporary location on your computer where Safari stores them. The cache helps webpages load more quickly.
Clear the Downloads window: Clears the list of files you’ve downloaded from websites. Only the names are removed; the files themselves are still on your disk until you remove them.
Remove all cookies: Removes cookies that websites have stored on your computer.
Remove all website icons: Removes website icons, which are small graphics that help identify sites on the Internet. You see them in the Safari address bar and bookmarks list, and other places. These icons are stored on your computer.
Remove saved names and passwords:
Removes user names and passwords that Safari automatically fills in at websites that require them (if the AutoFill feature is turned on).Remove other AutoFill form text:
Removes some personal information, such as telephone numbers, that Safari uses to automatically fill in forms on webpages (if the AutoFill feature is turned on). Removing AutoFill information does not remove information from your address book.Close all Safari windows: If you don’t close all Safari windows, someone could use the Back and Forward buttons to view the webpages you’ve visited.
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Click Reset.
Open windows are closed and a new window opens. The new window has a new history for the Back and Forward buttons.
Resetting Safari removes all cookies, saved passwords, and saved AutoFill information, not just the ones saved during the current browsing session. Cookies saved by other applications may also be removed.