Firefox can't delete history automatically no more?
A while ago it became impossible to make Firefox automatically delete history through Tools/Options/Privacy. But it was still possible to manipulate this by going to about:config and modifying browser_history.expire.days. I used to set this to 3 and then Firefox would delete my history after 3 days like I wanted.
But now under about config I can find browser_history.expire.days.min and browser_history.expire.days.mirror. I guess the "min" thing means that FF should keep my history for at least X days, the other one I have no idea.
All of these browser_history.expire.days thingies are however set to 3 for me. And FF still won't delete my history.
But then how can I get FF to delete it automatically? Has Firefox really become incapable of doing such a basic thing as deleting history automatically after a number of days set by the user?!
Modified by tragale
Chosen solution
See: How to clear history
If you don't want to have Firefox retain history ever, checkmark the option called Permanent Private Browsing mode shown in second picture in the above link.
You can also clear history manually by hitting CTRL+SHIFT+DEL and choosing options in the "Time range to clear" at the top.
N.B. Since the release of Firefox 4.0.x, the number of days Firefox will retain history for is directly related to system hardware. Firefox calculates how much history to retain without impacting system performance. You can't change that.
Read this answer in context 👍 2All Replies (13)
Chosen Solution
See: How to clear history
If you don't want to have Firefox retain history ever, checkmark the option called Permanent Private Browsing mode shown in second picture in the above link.
You can also clear history manually by hitting CTRL+SHIFT+DEL and choosing options in the "Time range to clear" at the top.
N.B. Since the release of Firefox 4.0.x, the number of days Firefox will retain history for is directly related to system hardware. Firefox calculates how much history to retain without impacting system performance. You can't change that.
-> Tap ALT key or press F10 to show the Menu Bar
-> go to Tools Menu -> Options -> Privacy -> History section -> Firefox will: select "Use Custom Settings for History" -> place Checkmark on Clear History when Firefox closes -> click Settings... button and place checkmarks on:
(1) Browsing History (2) Downloads History (3) Form & Search History (4) Cookies (5) Cache (6) Offline Website Data -> click OK
-> click OK on Options window
Check and tell if its working.
Modified by Hasan
Yeah, I know all these things you're telling me about, but you don't understand my problem completely. I don't want my recent history to be deleted, I want my old history to be deleted. I want to keep my recent history.
I want any history that is OLDER than 3 days to be deleted (preferably automatically). In other words I want Firefox to remember only 3 days of history and no more.
In the old version (2.x or something) I would go to Options/Privacy and there was a field: "Remember history for X days". And I could set how long my browser remembers my history.
Now, there is nothing like that. And when I go and see my history I see there pages I visited in freakin' April. I don't want that. I only wanna see what I visited 3 days ago and since then. With older versions this was possible. Is it thus not anymore?
-> Tap ALT key or press F10 to show the Menu Bar
-> go to History Menu -> select Show All History or press CTRL + SHIFT + H -> now Delete your previous history as far back as you want
Check and tell if its working.
For the Automated History Deletion, i guess you will have to Tweak your Firefox.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firefox_:_FAQs_:_About:config_Entries
SEE THE TOP OF THIS PAGE BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES
Find the entries with browser.history_expire
BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO MESS YOUR OTHER FIREFOX SETTINGS.
Modified by Hasan
Yeah, I know that I can see all my history by Ctrl + Shift + H and delete it manually, gee. Thank you for the advice, but that's no solution.
About the browser.history_expire solution: I explained in my very first post that I know it, and that in FF 4 this browser.history_expire entry disappeared, only a browser.history_expire.min and browser.history_expire.mirror exist. For me both are set to 3 and yet I can still see my April history. So they don't get the job done.
Then again I tried creating a browser.history_expire integer entry and set it to 3, but soon as I restart my browser it disappears from the about:config list.
So after all it seems that FF is really incapable of deleting history after a user set number of days? If that's the case then Xircal was right when he said: "Firefox calculates how much history to retain without impacting system performance. You can't change that. " But this I just can't understand. Why would the developers remove such a basic feature?
Preferences are not saved
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Preferences%20are%20not%20saved
Check and tell if its working.
Nope. There is no problems with my preferences being saved. I just changed one of the existing values in about:config and it stayed that way. My prefs.js file works perfectly. :P
However, if I add a new entry (browser.history_expire = 3), it will disappear once I restart the browser, probably because Firefox don't know that entry. It used to know it, but it don't know it no more.
The browser.history_expire_days prefs are no longer supported and in Firefox 4 and later you can only enable and disable the history.
See:
This article says: "For this reason we have removed the number of days field from the preferences panel, you don't need anymore to tell us how much days of history your computer can handle."
That's cool but I think that was not the reason most people used this function for. Most people used it because they don't wanna see all the pages in their history that they visited months ago.
I understand that you may think that this is not good privacy, but I don't want this for the sake of privacy, I want this so that I won't have pages popping up in the address bar that I accidentally needed once in my life in the last 3+ months. It's just how I like my browser. And I don't think that it's impossible to put this option back in FF. If some users prefer it that way why delete it? It's not like it slows anything down, especially not for those who prefer not to use it.
But then solution goes to Xircal cuz he mentioned this first. Thanks for the confirmation cor-el!
What you can do if you only want to keep the last three days of history is this.
- Hit CTRL+H to open History in the sidebar.
- Click the arrow to the right of the "View" button and choose "Date". This will give you three folders called respectively, "Today", "Yesterday" and "Last 7 Days".
- Open the one called "Last 7 Days", then right click the first entry and choose "Delete" from the menu.
- Now press and hold down the "Delete key" to remove the rest.
It's a bit of a hassle doing it this way I know, but if does offer an alternative to having to delete everything.
By the way, could you please click the "Solved It" button next to the answer which best describes the solution? This will help others searching for a fix on the same subject.
Thanks.
Yeah, I know this way of deleting history, too. Unfortunately as you described in your first post and as cor-el confirmed there is no way of having Firefox do this automatically instead of me anymore.
Sure, I forgot to click on the button. Your first reply wins. :P
You could maybe add it to the Wish List @ https://forums.mozilla.org/addons/ which is the developer add-ons forum.
I didn't see anyone post this on the Wish List that Xircal suggested, except for this one guy, so if people could post on it maybe it would get seen and possibly considered by the developers. Mozilla Forums Post Here