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Clearing History and Website Data in Safari in Settings

I click on Clear History and Website Data in Safari (in Settings), confirm with the second click and Clear History and Website Data is no longer highlighted.


I exit Safari (in Settings) and immediately re-enter Safari (in Settings) doing absolutely nothing else and Clear History and Website Data is again highlighted (indicating that there is something there again that can be cleared).


Is this normal?


Thanks.

Posted on Jan 28, 2022 10:26 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 29, 2022 12:51 AM

Hi there,

The button should still do what it's supposed to. You can verify that it works by going to Website Data under the Advanced tab.

(Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data)

If nothing shows up under Website Data, then the button does what it's supposed to. You can also check your history to make sure it works, but you can only currently do that from the Safari app itself, not Settings.


I have my own explanation below for interested minds, but my short answer to the question is yes, it seems normal. I can't actually remember a time where I haven't seen this behaviour, and I've been using iOS for many years.


As for why it gets highlighted again, I assume the software logic that Settings uses to grey out the button doesn't actually check if data can be cleared, only that the button has been pressed. So the button turning blue again doesn't indicate something can be cleared, it just turns grey the first time to let you know you've pressed it. I've tested this by reopening the Safari Settings page in airplane mode (because websites can't load offline), re-entered the settings page, and it still turned blue. It seems like this is a bug, as Apple's documentation states "When there's no history or website data to clear, the setting turns gray" (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201265). But it's such a minor thing, that as long as my history and website data get cleared, seems good enough.


If you want to report this as a bug, you can do that here (https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone/). But given how minor this issue is, and the experience I have with Apple's bug reporting, I don't see this getting addressed any time soon, if at all.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 29, 2022 12:51 AM in response to JohniPhoneSE2

Hi there,

The button should still do what it's supposed to. You can verify that it works by going to Website Data under the Advanced tab.

(Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data)

If nothing shows up under Website Data, then the button does what it's supposed to. You can also check your history to make sure it works, but you can only currently do that from the Safari app itself, not Settings.


I have my own explanation below for interested minds, but my short answer to the question is yes, it seems normal. I can't actually remember a time where I haven't seen this behaviour, and I've been using iOS for many years.


As for why it gets highlighted again, I assume the software logic that Settings uses to grey out the button doesn't actually check if data can be cleared, only that the button has been pressed. So the button turning blue again doesn't indicate something can be cleared, it just turns grey the first time to let you know you've pressed it. I've tested this by reopening the Safari Settings page in airplane mode (because websites can't load offline), re-entered the settings page, and it still turned blue. It seems like this is a bug, as Apple's documentation states "When there's no history or website data to clear, the setting turns gray" (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201265). But it's such a minor thing, that as long as my history and website data get cleared, seems good enough.


If you want to report this as a bug, you can do that here (https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone/). But given how minor this issue is, and the experience I have with Apple's bug reporting, I don't see this getting addressed any time soon, if at all.

Feb 26, 2022 9:51 AM in response to FireFingers21

On my iPad Pro, I try, repeatedly, to clear Safari website data using the Advanced Settings tab, then push Delete all button but that doesn’t clear all. One site “uscourts.gov” remains no matter what I do. It occupies 0 Bytes, if that matters. And, yes, I’ve tried restarting afterward but to no avail. (I visited uscourts.gov when using Apple NEWS app if that matters.)

This issue showed up right after I updated to 15.3.2. Coincidence?. Why is this happening please? Is it another coincidence that it’s a government site that’s shadowing me? What exactly does 0 Bytes mean, less than a kB?

Also, why does Facebook or Twitter (plus dozens more) show up in the list when all I did is go to Amazon? I don’t have Facebook or Twitter apps on my iPad nor even a Twitter account. I don’t understand this stuff. I’d be pleased for someone to have pity on my ignorance and very briefly explain how unrelated websites get on the websites data list if I’ve had nothing to do with them.

Clearing History and Website Data in Safari in Settings

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