Clearing Safari website data does not delete everything - iPhone

One would expect "clear history & website data" from safari would do just that, but that's not always the case.


Often, in my case, there are persistent data that survive the "clear." Usually from Twitter or Facebook, but sometimes from random sites I've visited. I have the Twitter App installed, but not Facebook or other sites that keep showing up.


This doesn't clear them:

Settings>Safari>Clear History and Website Data


Neither does this:

Settings>Safari>Advanced>Website Data>Remove All Website Data


This does work:

Individually swiping left on the persisting data and selecting "delete"


This, IMO, is an unusual behavior since the first method SHOULD do this job.

Most people won't go to ...advanced>website data> to double check if the clearing worked.


I suspect these are similar to "databases" that remain in Desktop Safari and have to be manually removed from

user/library/safari/databases (I had to remove a homedepot.com data that would keep reappearing.)


So the Question: Is this a normal behavior? Does this happen to others?

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 10.2.1

Posted on Mar 25, 2017 12:18 AM

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Clearing Safari website data does not delete everything - iPhone

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