Delete History Not Working
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)
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?
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).
- Bookmarks -> Show All Bookmarks -> Import & Backup -> Restore
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them
See also:
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-bookmarks-and-history-will-not-be-functional
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/cant-add-change-or-save-bookmarks
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).
- Help -> More Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Folder/Directory:
Windows: Open Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data