PC Doctor December 9, 2016

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Dear PC Doctor:

When I look at the internet on a computer, I’m always careful to clear my browsing history before exiting.  It occurs to me that I never do this on my phone.  If I lose my phone and a stranger picks it up, will they be able to see what I looked at on the internet? 

Thank you,

    Curious

 

Dear Curious:

Great questions!

Your cell phone does store your browsing history.  However, if you have protected your phone with a password, passcode, or fingerprint recognition, a casual stranger will not be able to access your phone and see it.

Should you ever want to give your old phone away or donate it to a charity, clearing your browsing history is a good idea.  The steps for doing this vary with each phone model.  In general, you will open your phone’s settings, find the category related to your browser, and choose to clear all history. 

On an iPhone, choose “Settings.”  Then, scroll down until you see “Safari,” and choose that.  Almost all the way to the bottom, you will see “Clear History and Website Data.”  Choose that.  You will see a warning in red, asking if you really want to choose that option.  If you do, click “Clear History and Data.”  All done.

If you are using Chrome for Android, choose “Menu” and then “Settings.”  Scroll down to “Privacy.”  You should see options for clearing your cache, cookies, etc.  Choose the ones you want to clear. 

Specific steps may vary with phone models, but the basic concept is the same.  If you are familiar with your phone, you will likely be able to figure it out.  If not, visit the store where you purchased it and they should be able to help.

For an added bonus, clearing your browser’s cache will also free up some space on your phone!

Until next time,
Happy Computing!

    PC Doctor