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Troubleshoot problems viewing or saving history in Internet Explorer 9


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Summary

This article discusses troubleshooting steps that can help resolve issues when you are unable to view or save your history in Internet Explorer 9.

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Cause

Problems viewing or saving webpage history may occur for one or more of the following reasons:

  • This issue can occur if you have the Delete browsing history on exit box checked in your Internet options.
  • If your hard disk is getting full, you may need to free up disk space.
  • The number of days that Internet Explorer keeps a history of the webpages you have visited may be set to 0 or a low number. After that period of time, the history is automatically deleted.
  • Your history may be corrupt or locked by another process.
  • Registry keys may have become corrupt or modified.
  • Your�user profile may be corrupt.

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Resolution

Method 1: Check to make sure the Delete browsing history on exit box in your Internet Options is not checked.
  1. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Internet Explorer, and then, in the list of search results, click Internet Explorer.
  2. Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
  3. Under the General tab, and then under Browsing History, make sure the Delete browsing history on exit box in not checked.��
Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, go to the next method.


Method 2: Check to see if there is enough free space on your hard disk
  1. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Internet Explorer, and then, in the list of search results, click Internet Explorer.
  2. Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
  3. Under the General tab, and then under Browsing History, click Settings. Under Disk space to use, make sure the disk space is set to 250MB, and under History, make sure the Days to keep pages in history is set to 20.
    Note: If you don�t want a webpage history kept, set the number of days to 0.
Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, go to the next method.


Method 3: Delete your temporary Internet files

It�s a good idea to delete temporary Internet files periodically to free drive space.

  1. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Internet Explorer, and then, in the list of search results, click Internet Explorer.
  2. Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
  3. Under the General tab, and then under Browsing History, click Delete.
  4. In the Delete Browsing History dialog box, select�Temporary Internet files, Cookies, and�History, click Delete, and then click OK.

    Your changes will take effect the next time you open Internet Explorer
Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, go to the next method.


Method 4: Reset Internet Explorer settings

Warning: Resetting Internet Explorer is not reversible. After a reset, all previous settings are lost and can't be recovered. To reset Internet Explorer settings, see reset Internet Explorer 9 settings.

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, go to the next method.



Method 5: Rebuild your browsing history

Here�s how to display hidden files and folders.

  1. Open Folder Options by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Folder Options.
  2. Click the�View tab.
  3. Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and uncheck Hide protected operating system files, and then click OK.
Here�s how to manually delete your browsing history.
  1. Close all Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer windows that are currently open.
  2. Click the Start button, click Run, type %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\windows\ , and then click OK.
  3. To manually delete all of your history, delete the contents of the entire folder, to delete specific history, only delete the files that you do not want to keep.
Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, go to the next method.

Advanced Troubleshooting

This section is intended for more advanced computer users.� If you are not comfortable with advanced troubleshooting, go to the �Additional Support� section.

Method 1: Delete your�HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet\Settings\5.0 registry key

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. Locate and then click the following registry key:�����

    HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current\Version\Internet\Settings\5.0
  3. Right-click the file, and then click Delete.
  4. Exit Registry Editor������

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, go to the next method.

Method 2: Fix a corrupt user profile

If your user profile is corrupt, you will need to create a new profile and then copy the files from your existing profile to the new one. To create a new user profile and then copy your files to it, follow the steps in this article:


Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, see the Additional Support section.

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More information

If you are unable to delete long URLs from your browsing history, see You cannot delete long URLs from the browsing history in Internet Explorer on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2

Additional Support

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, you can also use Microsoft Customer Support Services website to find other solutions. Some services that the Microsoft Customer Support Services website provides include the following:

Searchable Knowledge Base: Search technical support information and self-help tools for Microsoft products.

Solution Centers: View product-specific frequently asked questions and support highlights.

Microsoft Community: Contact counterparts, peers, and Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs)

Other Support Options: Use the web to ask a question, contact Microsoft Customer Support Services, or provide feedback.

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Keywords: KB2652752

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Article Info
Article ID : 2652752
Revision : 7
Created on : 10/2/2012
Published on : 10/2/2012
Exists online : False
Views : 328