How to clear the History entries in Internet Explorer

This article describes how to remove the cached History (or Address box) entries in Internet Explorer.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
To remove the cached Internet address entries, clear the History folder. To do so, use the appropriate method:

Internet Explorer 4.0, 4.01, 5, 5.5, 6.0

1. Close all running instances of Internet Explorer and all browser windows.
2. In Control Panel, click Internet Options.
3. Click the General tab, and then click Clear History.
4. Click Yes, and then click OK to close the Internet Options dialog box.

If the cached addresses are still listed in the Address box in Internet Explorer, use the following steps:

1. Quit Internet Explorer.
2. Delete all of the values except for the (Default) value from the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\TypedURLs

NOTE: Values in this registry key are listed as Url1, Url2, Url3, and so on. If you delete only some values and the remaining values are not in consecutive numerical order, only some of the remaining entries are listed in the Address box. To prevent this behavior from occurring, rename the remaining values so that they are in consecutive numerical order.

Internet Explorer 3.0

1. In Internet Explorer, click Options on the View menu.
2. Click the Navigation tab.
3. Click Clear History, and then click OK.

If the cached addresses are still listed in the Address box in Internet Explorer for Windows 95, use the following steps:

1. Quit Internet Explorer.
2. Delete all the values except for the (Default) value from the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\TypedURLs

NOTE: Values in this registry key are listed as Url1, Url2, Url3, and so on. If you delete only some values and the remaining values are not in consecutive numerical order, only some of the remaining entries are listed in the Address box. To prevent this behavior from occurring, rename the remaining values so that they are in consecutive numerical order.