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Delete History Not Working

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 13 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

footprintdigitalnyc
footprintdigitalnyc
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Despite everything I have tried, including uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox, my delete history function is not working.

I have also gone through most of the tips and tricks offered via your online support library.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Best,

Robert

Despite everything I have tried, including uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox, my delete history function is not working. I have also gone through most of the tips and tricks offered via your online support library. Any advice would be appreciated! Best, Robert

All Replies (2)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Hi Robert, what steps are you trying to delete history?

For example, you visit this site. It is added to URL history. One method to remove it from history (probably not the fastest) is:

(1) Press Command+Shift+H to open the History sidebar.

(2) Select Today (or change the View) to list the pages you have visited recently.

(3) Right-click (one button: Ctrl+click) the entry you want to remove to open the context menu.

(4) Click "Delete page" to remove that URL from history

Is that what you had in mind? Or is the unwanted history showing up somewhere else?

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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If you use Sync then best is to disconnect Sync temporarily during troubleshooting.

This could be a problem with the places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder.

  • use the "Places Database" -> "Verify Integrity" button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page

If errors are reported with "Verify Integrity", close and restart Firefox or reboot and retry.

If "Verify Integrity" cannot repair places.sqlite, rename/remove all places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed. Firefox will rebuild places.sqlite and restore the bookmarks from the most recent JSON backup in the bookmarkbackups folder.

  • keep a backup copy of places.sqlite in case a new places.sqlite database has to be created
  • you lose the history when a new places.sqlite is created

You may have to restore an older bookmarks backup in the bookmarkbackups folder via the Bookmarks Manager (Library).

See also:

You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).