You may often clear your computer’s browsing history, but that isn’t the only thing you need to worry about. The mobile browsers your use on your Android smartphone or tablet remember your browsing history, too. Anyone that gets access to your phone can see exactly which webpages you’ve visited. If you use multiple browser apps, each one stores its own browsing history.

These steps will take you through deleting your browsing history in five of the most popular web browsers for Android, as well as the Google Search app included with Android. If you’re using a different, less-popular browser, the steps will be similar – open your browser’s menu, enter its settings screen, and use the options you find there to erase your browsing history.

Built-In Browser (Internet)

If you’re using Android 4.0 or earlier, the built-in browser is named “Internet.” To erase your browsing history from this built-in browser, tap the Menu button and select Settings.

From the Settings screen, scroll down to the Privacy settings section and use the following options to clear different types of browsing data: Clear history, Clear cache, Clear all cookie data, Clear form data, and Clear location access. You can also use the Clear passwords option under Security settings to erase the passwords you’ve saved in the browser.

Chrome For Android

To erase your private data in Chrome for Android, tap the menu button, tap Settings in the menu, and tap the Privacy option. From the Privacy screen, tap the Clear Browsing Data option at the top-right corner of your screen.

Select the types of data you want to clear and tap the Clear button.

Bonus Chrome Tips:

• Long-press a thumbnail icon on your new tab page and select Remove to prevent a page you’ve visited from appearing on your new tab page.
• Tap the menu and select New Incognito tab to use Chrome for Android in incognito mode. In incognito mode, Chrome won’t remember any pages you’ve visited.

Dolphin Browser

To clear your browsing history in Dolphin, tap the Menu button, select Settings, and tap the Privacy & Personal Data category. From this screen, use the Clear Data option to clear your browsing history, cache, cookies, and other data.

You can also enable Browsing Without History to prevent Dolphin from remembering your browsing history. This functions as a sort of permanent incognito, or private-browsing, mode.

When you tap the Back button to leave Dolphin, you’ll also be asked if you want to clear your browsing history and cache. Select Clear History and tap Exit to close Dolphin and clear your browsing history. You can also select Do not ask me again and Dolphin will automatically clear your browsing history whenever you close it.

Firefox for Android

In Firefox for Android, tap the menu button and select Settings to access the privacy options.

Tap Clear private data under Privacy & Security, select the types of data you want to clear, and tap the Clear data button.

Opera Mobile

To clear your browsing history in Opera Mobile, tap the O-shaped menu button at the top of the Opera browser, tap the Settings icon, and tap the Privacy option in the settings menu. Use the different options in the Privacy menu to clear your browsing history, cache, shared locations, camera permissions, and passwords.

To prevent a webpage from appearing on Opera’s speed dial page, long-press one of the icons on the speed dial page and tap the X button on each thumbnail you want to remove. Tap Done at the bottom of the screen when you’re finished removing pages from your speed dial page.

Google Search Widget

Your device remembers a list of the Google searches you’ve made using the Google search widget. Searches you perform in your browser don’t appear here, but searches you perform in the Google search widget on your home screen or in Google Now do.

To clear this list, tap the Google search widget to start searching. From the search screen, tap the Menu button and select Settings or Search Settings. If you’re using a newer version of Android, you’ll find the menu button near the bottom of the Google Now screen.

Use the Clear on-device search history or Clear on-device history option to clear the list of Google searches made from the widget.

You may also want to clear your Google Web History, a history of all the searches you’ve made from a Google account. Google stores this information online, along with your Google account.

Do you use another browser not mentioned here to delete browsing history, or do you have any other tips on keeping Android free of your private browsing data? Leave a comment and share your knowledge!