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Safari history won't completely delete...

Lately, I've had certain items in my Safari history which simply refuse to delete on command. I've already emptied all of the website data caches multiple times and still these items remain. Does anyone have a real solution for this problem, short of just taking a hammer to the iMac?

iMac 27″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Apr 9, 2021 5:00 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 9, 2021 12:03 PM

Remember this will remove all History.

Backup your Mac.

Empty Trash.

Quit all applications.Click “Go” menu in the Finder menu bar.

Press “Option” key down.

“Library” will appear between “Home” and “Computer”.

Click” Library” to open.

Click the 3 lines icon and choose “As List”

Scroll down and click Safari folder to open.


Scroll down to History files.

Right click each of those files and choose “Move to Trash”.

Test.


If you want to put back History:

Click open Trash, right click each item and choose “Put Back”

You will see an alert. Choose “Replace”


3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 9, 2021 12:03 PM in response to truespock

Remember this will remove all History.

Backup your Mac.

Empty Trash.

Quit all applications.Click “Go” menu in the Finder menu bar.

Press “Option” key down.

“Library” will appear between “Home” and “Computer”.

Click” Library” to open.

Click the 3 lines icon and choose “As List”

Scroll down and click Safari folder to open.


Scroll down to History files.

Right click each of those files and choose “Move to Trash”.

Test.


If you want to put back History:

Click open Trash, right click each item and choose “Put Back”

You will see an alert. Choose “Replace”


Apr 10, 2021 8:00 AM in response to truespock

If you press the shift-key when launching Safari, it will not reload its last saved state, and no site will be loaded in the browser. Then you can clear your browser cache, and from the application menu, Clear History… [ all history ], and click Clear History. In my experience with Safari 14.0.3 on macOS 11.2.3, this does whack all history for me.


No need to move the History sqlite3 databases to the Trash.


And right after I performed the first paragraph, and requested Safari to Show history, here is what was displayed:


Safari history won't completely delete...

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