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How to Clear Browsing Data and Site Permissions in Microsoft Edge

Learn how to clear selected browsing data in Microsoft Edge, delete cookies for one site, change site permissions, manage sync and understand InPrivate's limits.
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In Microsoft Edge, open Settings and more (…) > Settings > Privacy, search, and services. Select Choose what to clear, set a time range, select only the data types you want removed, and choose Clear now. To change permissions for a website, use Site permissions in the same settings area. The right procedure depends on whether you want to clean one site, this device, synced devices, or browsing history associated with your Microsoft account.

Quick answer: clear selected Edge data

  1. Open Settings and more (…) in the upper-right corner of Edge, then choose Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search, and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, select Choose what to clear beside Clear browsing data now.
  4. Choose a Time range, such as the last hour, day, week, four weeks, or all time, as offered by your Edge installation.
  5. Check only the categories you intend to remove.
  6. Select Clear now and wait for Edge to finish.

You can open the same clearing flow with Ctrl+Shift+Delete on Windows. Microsoft documents this navigation and the meaning of the data categories in its Edge browsing-history help.

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Decide the scope before deleting anything

The most important choice is not the time range; it is the scope. Edge can remove data from the current browser profile, from devices connected through sync, or from a Microsoft account’s online history. Those are different stores of information.

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Only this device

If you want to clean the computer you are using while leaving other synced devices unchanged, turn synchronization off before clearing. Microsoft says that clearing with sync enabled while you are signed in can clear synced items across your synced devices. Check the sync setting in Edge’s profile settings first, disable it if necessary, and then use the clearing steps above.

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This profile and its synced devices

When you are signed in and sync is on, Edge treats supported synced data as a shared set. Clearing a synced category can therefore affect other computers or devices using that account. Confirm that consequence before selecting Clear now; a time range does not turn a synced deletion into a device-only operation.

History associated with your Microsoft account

Microsoft’s privacy dashboard is separate from the local Edge dialog. It can show or delete browsing history associated with a signed-in Microsoft account when browsing-history sync or certain personalized experiences are enabled. Deleting history in the dashboard does not delete copies that remain on a device, so a complete cleanup may require both places.

Choose exactly what to remove

Each checkbox has a different consequence. Select the smallest set that addresses your problem rather than checking every category automatically.

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Edge category What it contains What happens when you clear it Use it when
Browsing history Visited URLs and the dates and times of visits. The entries disappear from Edge’s local history for the selected range. You want to remove a record of pages you opened.
Download history The list of files Edge downloaded. The list is removed; the downloaded files themselves stay on the device. You want to tidy the Downloads list without deleting files.
Cookies and other site data Data websites store for preferences, sign-in state, location-related behavior, and media licenses. Sites may lose their stored state. Clearing all sites’ cookies signs you out of most websites. A site has stale login or session data, or you need to remove stored site data.
Cached images and files Local copies of page content and media kept to speed up later visits. Edge downloads fresh copies next time. The first reload can be slower. A page is displaying an old, broken, or incomplete version.
Passwords Passwords saved by Edge. Saved credentials in the selected scope are removed. Only when you deliberately want to erase stored passwords; export or otherwise secure credentials first if you still need them.
Autofill form data Information entered into forms, such as email addresses, card details, and shipping information. Saved form suggestions are removed. You are cleaning personal form data from a shared computer.
Site permissions Per-site controls managed by Edge, including examples such as location, cookies, pop-ups, and media autoplay. The clearing dialog lists this category, but Microsoft’s overview does not define exactly which permission settings are reset by selecting it. For a deliberate permission change, use the dedicated Site permissions page described below instead of assuming a broad reset.

Before you select Clear now

A short pre-deletion check prevents most unpleasant surprises. Confirm the active Edge profile, because a shared computer can contain more than one profile with different history, passwords, and permissions. Then verify the time range: choosing all time is much broader than removing the last hour or day. Finally, scan every checked category. Cookies can sign you out of most websites; passwords and autofill can remove information you may not be able to reconstruct; and download history concerns only the list, not the downloaded files.

If the goal is troubleshooting, start with the least disruptive category. Cached images and files are often enough for stale or damaged page content. If the issue is a single account or website, delete that site’s cookies and data instead of every site’s cookies. Use a global cookie deletion only when you intentionally want a broad sign-out and reset of stored site state.

Clear cookies and data for one website

When one website is malfunctioning, deleting every site’s cookies is unnecessarily disruptive. Edge lets you target a single site’s stored data.

  1. Open Settings and more (…) > Settings > Privacy, search, and services.
  2. Find the Cookies section and select See all cookies and site data.
  3. Use the search box to find the site’s domain or name.
  4. Expand the matching entry so its stored items are visible.
  5. Select the delete control for that entry and confirm if Edge asks.
  6. Close and reopen the affected tab, then sign in again if the site requires it.

This removes data for the selected site without clearing cookies for unrelated sites. If you instead delete all cookies and other site data for a time range, Microsoft says you will be signed out of most websites.

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Change a site’s permissions without clearing its data

Cookies and permissions solve different problems. A cookie stores site data; a permission controls whether a site may request or use a browser capability.

  1. Go to Settings and more (…) > Settings > Privacy, search, and services.
  2. Open Site permissions.
  3. Review the list of permissions or choose the particular site you need to adjust.
  4. Select the permission or site entry and set the available option, such as allowing, blocking, or asking each time.

Microsoft’s overview names location, cookies, pop-ups, and media autoplay as examples of settings available through this area. Use the dedicated page when you need a predictable, per-site change. Do not assume that checking Site permissions in a general clearing dialog resets every permission, because Microsoft’s documentation does not specify that scope.

When a permission prompt keeps returning

Open the site’s entry in Site permissions and inspect the current rule rather than repeatedly clearing cache. A blocked location or autoplay rule, for example, can continue to prevent a feature even after all cached files have been removed.

Permissions versus cookies

Resetting a site’s cookies may remove a remembered choice or session, but it is not a substitute for checking a permission rule. Conversely, changing a location, pop-up, cookie, or autoplay rule does not inherently erase that site’s history or cached files. Treat the two controls separately: use site-data deletion to remove stored state and Site permissions to change what the browser allows.

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Compare the available cleanup methods

Use this table to match the remedy to the problem. It separates the data’s scope from the browser effect.

Method Scope Data affected Likely effect
Clear selected categories in Choose what to clear Current Edge profile, or synced devices if sync is enabled. Any checked category within the chosen time range. Can remove history, cache, cookies, passwords, autofill, or other checked data.
Delete one entry in See all cookies and site data One website on the profile. That site’s cookies and stored site data. Targets a site-specific login or state problem while leaving other sites’ cookies alone.
Change Site permissions One site or one permission type. Rules such as location, pop-ups, cookies, or media autoplay. Changes what the site may request or do; it does not inherently erase browsing history.
Microsoft privacy dashboard History associated with the signed-in Microsoft account. Account-associated browsing history shown there. Does not remove copies stored locally on a device.
Automatic clearing at browser close The Edge profile each time all browser windows close. Categories you enable in the close-time clearing settings. Provides recurring cleanup instead of a one-time deletion.
InPrivate window The InPrivate session after all its windows close. Edge removes specified local session data when the session ends. Limits local records but does not make activity invisible to networks or organizations.

Set Edge to delete cookies whenever you close it

If you do not want cookies to persist between sessions, configure recurring deletion rather than remembering to run the manual dialog.

  1. Open Settings and more (…) > Settings > Privacy, search, and services.
  2. Under the clear-data controls, select Choose what to clear every time you close the browser.
  3. Enable Cookies and other site data, along with any other categories you intentionally want removed at every close.

Because cookies hold sign-in and preference state, this setting changes how websites behave on every new session. Microsoft also warns that blocking cookies can make some pages display incorrectly or repeatedly ask you to allow cookies.

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Temporary cookie and site-data allowances

Microsoft says a temporary allowance for a site’s cookies and site data expires automatically after 30 days from the time it is first allowed. You can remove it sooner through Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies > See all cookies and site data. The allowance may let a requesting site access its own cookies and site data while you are on the site that triggered the prompt.

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Use InPrivate for a session that cleans up locally

When all InPrivate windows close, Edge deletes the local browsing history, download history, cookies and other site data, cached files, passwords, autofill form data, site permissions, and hosted app data associated with that InPrivate session, according to Microsoft.

InPrivate is not network anonymity. A school, employer, or internet provider may still be able to access browsing activity. Use it to limit what remains in the browser on the device, not to conceal traffic from the network carrying it.

Fix common problems after clearing data

A page still looks wrong

Clearing cached images and files can resolve a page that shows stale or broken content, but it is only one possible cause. Reload the page after clearing, verify that the site is not blocked by a permission rule, and check whether the problem affects other sites. Microsoft’s troubleshooting guidance for display problems includes clearing history and cache among its recommended steps while noting that other causes may remain.

You were signed out unexpectedly

That is the expected result when cookies and other site data were cleared. Sign in again, and avoid selecting the cookie category during future cleanups if preserving sessions matters.

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Downloaded files disappeared from the list

Clearing Download history removes the browser’s list, not the files saved in the Downloads folder or another location. Use your operating system’s file manager to verify or manage those files.

A site still cannot use location, pop-ups, or autoplay

Open Site permissions, select the site, and inspect the specific rule. Clearing cache does not automatically change a blocked permission, and the general clearing dialog does not document a precise permission-reset scope.

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Other devices changed after a cleanup

Sync was likely enabled while you were signed in. If the intended scope was one computer, turn sync off before the next cleanup and confirm which categories are synchronized in your profile settings.

Account history remains after local deletion

Local Edge data and Microsoft account-associated history are separate. Review the privacy dashboard for the account history and clear the local profile independently when both copies must be removed.

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Verify the result without over-clearing

After the operation, test the specific problem instead of immediately running another broad deletion. A page that now loads normally indicates that fresh cached content helped; a sign-in prompt confirms that cookies were removed; and a missing download-list entry is expected when download history was selected. If nothing changed, inspect permissions and sync scope before trying a wider time range. Repeating a global wipe can create more sign-outs without addressing a blocked permission or an account-side issue.

A safe cleanup checklist

  • Identify whether the problem concerns one site, this device, synced devices, or account history.
  • Turn off sync first when the deletion must remain device-only.
  • Choose the narrowest time range that solves the problem.
  • Leave passwords and autofill unchecked unless their removal is intentional.
  • Use one-site cookie deletion instead of a global cookie wipe for a site-specific fault.
  • Use Site permissions for location, pop-up, cookie, and autoplay rules.
  • Remember that clearing download history does not delete downloaded files.
  • Expect cookie deletion to sign you out of most sites.
  • Use InPrivate for reduced local traces, not as protection from network monitoring.
  • Check the Microsoft privacy dashboard separately when account-associated history is involved.

Which option should you use?

For a broken page, start with cached files. For one site’s login or corrupted state, delete that site’s cookies and data. For a privacy cleanup across a profile, use the selected-category dialog after checking the sync setting. For a permission problem, edit the specific site in Site permissions. For recurring local cleanup, configure deletion at browser close; for a temporary session, use InPrivate and close every InPrivate window when finished.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest way to open Edge’s clear-data screen?

Press Ctrl+Shift+Delete on Windows, or navigate to Settings and more (…) > Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Choose what to clear.

Will clearing Edge cookies sign me out?

Usually. Microsoft says deleting all cookies and other site data signs you out of most websites. Delete only one site’s data when you want to preserve other logins.

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Does clearing download history delete my downloaded files?

No. It removes the list shown in Edge; the files remain in the Downloads folder or wherever you saved them.

How do I clear cookies for only one website?

Open Privacy, search, and services > Cookies > See all cookies and site data, search for the site, expand its entry, and delete it.

Where do I change location or pop-up access for a site?

Go to Settings and more (…) > Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Site permissions, then select the site or permission and change its rule.

How can I clear data on this computer without affecting other synced devices?

Turn sync off before clearing. Microsoft says that clearing while signed in with sync enabled can remove synced items across synced devices.

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Why does history remain in my Microsoft account after I clear Edge?

The privacy dashboard’s account-associated history is separate from local browser data. Review and delete the account history there, and clear the local Edge profile separately if needed.

Does InPrivate hide my browsing from my employer or internet provider?

No. InPrivate removes specified local data after all InPrivate windows close, but Microsoft says schools, workplaces, and internet providers may still access browsing activity.

How long does a temporary cookie allowance last?

Microsoft says the temporary allowance expires automatically after 30 days from when it was first allowed. You can remove it sooner in See all cookies and site data.

The Bottom Line

Use Choose what to clear for deliberate, category-by-category cleanup; target one site’s cookies when the problem is isolated; and use Site permissions for location, pop-up, cookie, or autoplay rules. Check sync before deleting, expect broad cookie removal to sign you out, and remember that local Edge data, synced data, and Microsoft account history are separate.

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