Browse Safely
If you are in an abusive or controlling relationship, it’s important to make sure you take measures to protect yourself online.
There are ways you can cover your tracks and the websites you have been looking at – but it’s important not to delete anything, such as passwords, that will rouse suspicions.
Are you worried about someone finding out that you have visited our website?
Most mobile and desktop internet browsers automatically save some information about the sites you have visited, including things you have searched for online.
There are steps you can take to protect yourself if you think someone might be monitoring your activity.
However, if you share your computer with someone else, you may delete their saved passwords or other information, which could make them suspicious.
To avoid arousing suspicion, you should delete certain parts of your history, rather than clearing it all.
For advice on how to delete your history across different browsers, see below.
Closing our site in a hurry
If you click the Quick Exit button in the top right corner of your screen it will take you to the Google homepage.
It won’t delete the fact that you have been on our website.
To do that, you will need to delete your browser’s history and cookie information (see below).
To avoid arousing suspicion, you should delete certain parts of your history, rather than clearing it all.
- On your computer, open Chrome.
- At the top-right, click More .
- Click History History.
- Tick the box next to each item that you want to remove from your History.
- At the top-right, click Delete.
To search for something specific that you wish to delete, use the search bar at the top and then:
- Tick the box next to each item that you want to remove from your History.
- At the top-right, click Delete.
To delete recently visited sites:
- Open the Safari web browser
- Click “History” menu in the top left, then select “Show All History”
- Select the item you want to delete from Safari history
- Hit the “Delete” key on the Mac keyboard, or right-click and choose “Delete” from the pop-up menu
To delete past history of visiting a site
- Open the Safari web browser
- Pull down the “History” menu in the top left, and choose “Show All History”
- You’ll now be presented with all stored Safari History of web browsing activity, with each browsing history session separated by date
- Click into the search box seen in the upper right corner of the History screen
- Type in any word, term, or phrase to search the Safari History for, any matches will be shown on screen
- Select the item
- Hit the “Delete” key on the Mac keyboard, or right-click and choose “Delete” from the pop-up menu
- Click the Library button, click History and then click Clear Recent History….
- Select how much history you want to clear:
- Click the drop-down menu next to Time range to clear to choose how much of your history Firefox will clear
- Click the Clear Now button. The window will close and the items you’ve selected will be cleared.
To remove a specific website from your history:
- Click the Library button, click History and then click the Show All History bar at the bottom to open the Library window.
- Search for the website you want to remove from your history by typing its name in the Search History field in the top-right corner and then pressing Enter.
- Then, in the search results, right-click on the site you want to remove, and select Forget About This Site.
- Finally, close the Library window.
In Internet Explorer, Windows 10, Windows 8.1:
- In Internet Explorer, select the Favourites (?) button.
- Select the History tab, and choose how you want to view your history by selecting a filter from the menu. To delete specific sites, right-select a site from any of these lists and then select Delete.
In Explorer 10 and Explorer 11:
- In Internet Explorer, select the Tools (??) button, point to Safety, and then select Delete browsing history.
- Choose the types of data or files you want to remove from, and then select Delete.
In Explorer 9:
- In Internet Explorer, select the Tools (??) button, and then select Internet options.
- Under Browsing history, select Delete.
In Explorer 8:
- In Internet Explorer, select the Safety menu, and then select Delete Browsing History.
- Choose the types of data and files you want to remove from your PC, and then select Delete.
Click here for more information.
- To view your browsing history, select Hub (Star with 3 lines at the bottom right) > History (Clock with an arrow around the face).
- Select Clear all history.
- Choose the types of data you want to remove from your PC, then select Clear.
- If you use Cortana and want to clear browsing history that’s stored in the cloud, select Change what Microsoft Edge knows about me in the cloud, then select Clear browsing history.
Use private browsing mode
Some internet browsers have a special function where you can browse websites discretely. This is highly recommended, as if you exit the site in a hurry, there will be no record of it in your history.
However, if you are at work, for example, your employer can still track which website you have visited, even in private browsing mode. And if you have downloaded any files they will still be on your device after you close your browser tab, so you will need to delete them.
For advice on how to use private browsing mode, click on the appropriate section below.
If you are still worried, you can delete your history and temporary information, which you can find in the menu on your internet browser – but be careful as this might erase logins and passwords for other sites, too, which could arouse suspicion.
Google Chrome has an ‘Google Chrome – Incognito Mode’ which you can access from the settings menu at the top right of the browser. You will know it’s working if you see a message that says “you’ve gone incognito” when you open a new tab. Using Incognito Mode means your browsing history and any website cookies won’t be saved on your device once you close the browser
Safari is the browser on most Apple devices, such as iPhones and iPads.
Go to: File > New Private Window to enable private browsing. A Safari browser window that’s using Private Browsing has a dark Smart Search field with white text.
When you close the window your browsing history, form data, and cookies are cleared automatically
The Firefox Private Browsing mode feature in FireFox offers similar privacy tools to other browers. To open a new Private Browsing window in FireFox either click the menu button, which is presented as three horizontal bars in the top right corner of the window, and then click New Private Window; or you can open a link in a new Private Window by right-clicking on any link and choose Open Link in New Private Window from the context menu.
In Private Browsing mode, the browser window will have a purple mask at the top.
To switch on private browsing in Microsoft Internet Explorer and Edge go to the browser menu and click Safety -> Tools -> Inprivate Browsing.
Your browsing data, such as cookies, form data, temporary files, and web history, won’t be saved, and temporary data stored on your device is deleted after all private browsing tabs and windows are closed.
Toolbars
Some internet search engines and toolbars, like Google, keep a record of the words you have used to look for information online.
To delete this information, you will have to check the settings for your toolbar.
The most commonly used engine and toolbar is Google – just click the logo and choose ‘clear search history’.
Don’t use your own computer or mobile
If you can, try and use a public computer, e.g. in a library, or perhaps at work or at a friend’s house. That way you can take your time and look for the information you need without worrying that someone will find out what you have been looking for.