How to Find Cleared Internet History

By Kimberly Turtenwald

Deleting browser history does not ensure privacy.
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Most Internet Web browsers allow computer users to delete their browsing history to hide their activity for one reason or another. Some people may be cavorting with individuals other than their spouse or doing other things online that they'd like to keep private. When a person deletes the Internet history on his browser, he feels that no one will be able to track his browsing habits. However, it is possible to recover a deleted Internet history to find out what websites a person has visited.

Safari

Step 1

Click on the "Time Machine" icon on the desktop.

Step 2

Click on the "Set Up Time Machine" tab, and set the option to "On."

Step 3

Restore the system to a time prior to when the history would have been deleted.

Step 4

Click the "Choose Backup Disc" tab, and select the location where the data would have been stored.

Step 5

Open the Safari browser window, and click on "Preferences."

Step 6

Click the "Security" option and click "Show Cookies" to allow you to view the browsing history.

Firefox

Step 1

Download the Firefox 3 History Recovery Tool.

Step 2

Install the program onto your computer.

Step 3

Run the program to extract the Firefox browser history from the history.dat file in which it was stored.

Internet Explorer

Step 1

Download an index.dat reader to your computer.

Step 2

Search for the index.dat file on your computer. There may be more than one.

Step 3

Open the file to view the browser history that was thought to have been deleted.

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