How to use Auto History Wipe

Auto History Wipe automatically clears your browsing history, cache, cookies, downloads and more — on browser startup, on a schedule, or with one click. This guide walks through installation, the setup wizard, the toolbar popup, and every setting on the Options page.

1. Installing the extension

1. Open the Auto History Wipe page on the Chrome Web Store and click Add to Chrome, then Add extension.
2. Click the puzzle-piece (Extensions) icon in Chrome's toolbar and pin Auto History Wipe so its icon is always visible.
3. The guided setup wizard opens automatically on the first run (and again after major updates).

2. The first-run setup wizard

The wizard gets you configured in under a minute. You can change any of these choices later on the Options page.

Step	What you choose
Language	Your interface language, plus Text display: My language, English only, or Both (your language and English side by side). A live preview updates as you choose.
Startup	Whether to automatically clean the selected data every time your browser starts.
Notifications	Whether to show a "Cleaning complete" message. Also reminds you of the Ctrl+Shift+E shortcut.
Data	Which data types to clear (history, cache, cookies, downloads, form data). You can refine this later.
Advanced	Optional powerful settings (passwords, site storage, deep clean). Leave off if you're unsure.
Protection	Keep bookmarked sites safe (stay logged in), or turn that off for a total wipe. A deep-clean option is available here too.

Click Finish setup to save. (You can also Skip and use the sensible defaults.)

3. Everyday use — the toolbar popup

Click the toolbar icon to open the popup:

• Clean Now — cleans immediately using your current settings. A confirmation step lists exactly what will be deleted before it happens.
• One-Click Clean — when enabled, clicking the toolbar icon cleans instantly instead of opening the popup.
• Whitelist this site — quickly protect (or unprotect) the site in the current tab.
• Last cleaned — shows when the most recent clean happened.
• A red toolbar icon appears briefly while cleaning is in progress, then returns to normal.

4. Keyboard shortcut

Press Ctrl+Shift+E (⌘+Shift+E on Mac) anywhere to clean instantly. To change it, open chrome://extensions/shortcuts in Chrome.

5. The Options page (every setting)

Open the Options page from the popup's Settings gear (it opens in its own tab). Settings are grouped into tabs.

General

• Clean on Browser Startup — automatically clears the selected data each time you start your browser.
• Show completion notifications — displays a message after data has been cleared.
• Data to Clear — the everyday categories:
  • Clear History — deletes your browsing history.
  • Clear Cache — empties the browser cache.
  • Clear Cookies — removes cookies and other site data (this signs you out of sites, unless they're whitelisted/bookmark-protected).
  • Clear Download History — clears the list of downloads (your downloaded files are not deleted).
  • Clear Form Data — deletes saved form/autofill information.
• Quick Presets — one-click Quick / Standard / Deep configurations (see section 6).
• Protect bookmarked sites — automatically keeps cookies, cache and data for every site you've bookmarked, so you stay logged in. Requests bookmarks access when enabled.
• Language & Display — interface language and text display mode (My language / English only / Both).

Advanced

Powerful, more aggressive options. Turning any of these on shows a confirmation because they can cause irreversible data loss.

• Deep Clean (protected sites) — also clears data for protected sites like Google and YouTube. This can temporarily reset your bookmark icons (favicons) until you revisit the site. Bookmarks are never deleted. Off by default.
• Clear Passwords — deletes all your saved passwords.
• Clear Local Storage — removes data stored by websites.
• Clear Service Workers — can fix issues with offline web apps.
• Clear IndexedDB — clears storage used by web applications.

Time Period

Choose how far back cleaning reaches: Last Hour, Last 24 Hours, Last 7 Days, Last 4 Weeks, or All Time.

Schedule

Set an interval to clean automatically in the background: Every Hour, Every 12 Hours, Every Day, or Every Week. The page also shows the last and next scheduled clean.

Whitelist

Add domains (e.g. google.com) to keep you signed in to sites you trust.

Statistics

• Collect statistics — keeps a local count and history of cleanings. It never leaves your device, and it's optional (off by default).
• When enabled you can see Total cleans, Last clean, your Schedule, a 7-day activity chart, and Recent activity tagged by trigger (Startup, Scheduled, Manual, Toolbar, Shortcut).
• Clear statistics — wipes the local stats at any time.

6. Quick Presets explained

Preset	What it clears	Best for
Quick	History & cache.	A fast tidy-up that keeps you logged in everywhere.
Standard	History, cache, cookies, downloads, form data.	A thorough everyday clean (signs you out of non-protected sites).
Deep	Everything, including site storage and protected sites.	A complete reset. Use with care.

7. Good to know

• Your bookmarks are never deleted. Clearing history may temporarily reset bookmark favicons until you revisit a site — standard Chrome behavior.
• Clearing cookies signs you out of sites (usually the point). To stay signed in to specific sites, add them to the Whitelist or enable "Protect bookmarked sites".
• Google account search suggestions shown in the address bar can't be removed by any extension — they're stored on Google's servers. Manage them at myactivity.google.com or sign out.
• It won't slow down your browser — it only does work while it's actually cleaning, and clearing cache/history can even make Chrome feel faster.
• 100% private: everything runs on your device — no tracking, no servers, no analytics. See our Privacy Policy.