How to Clear Recently Closed Tabs on Google Chrome

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Simple instructions for Google Chrome on desktop and mobile devices

Co-authored by Luigi Oppido and Travis Boylls

Last Updated: April 14, 2025 Fact Checked

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Using a Computer

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Using a Smartphone or Tablet

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Video

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Q&A

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Tips

Google Chrome keeps a record of your browsing history for a variety of reasons. It speeds up load times for websites you've already visited and allows you to return to those you've already visited. It also allows you to reopen tabs you've recently closed. This is very useful if you accidentally close a tab you didn't mean to close. However, if you don't want Chrome to keep a record of your recently closed tabs, you can clear it by clearing your browser history. This wikiHow article teaches you how to clear your recently closed tabs by clearing your browser history.

Things You Should Know

To clear your recently closed history, you can clear your browsing history from the last 24 hours.
Click or tap the icon with three dots (⋮ or ⋯) > "History" > "History" > "Clear browsing data" > select "Last 24 Hours" as the time range and click "Clear data."
You can prevent Google Chrome from saving your recently closed tabs by using Incognito Mode.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using a Computer

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It's the icon with three dots in the upper-right corner. This displays the More menu.^{[1]
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It's in the More menu. This displays your recently closed tabs.^{[2]
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Click History. It's at the top of the History menu. This opens your entire browser history in a new tab.^{[3]
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- Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + H on PC or Command + H on Mac to open your History.
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Click Clear browsing data. It's at the bottom of the menu to the left. This displays options for clearing your browser data.^{[4]
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- Alternatively, if you want to clear a specific item in your recently closed data, click the icon with three dots next to that item and click Remove from History.
It's at the top of the menu in the pop-up window. This should be checked automatically, but check to make sure.
Use the drop-down menu at the top of the page to select a time frame. To clear your recently closed data, select "Last Hour" or "Last 24 Hours." If you need more time, you can select "Last 7 days," "Last 4 weeks," or "All Time."^{[5]
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It's the blue button in the lower-right corner of the pop-up window. This will clear all your browser history from within the time frame you selected. It will also clear your "Recently Closed" data.^{[6]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using a Smartphone or Tablet

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It has an icon that resembles a red, green, yellow, and blue wheel. Tap the Google Chrome icon on your Home screen or Apps menu.
It's the icon with three dots in the upper-right corner. This displays the More menu.^{[7]
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It's in the More menu. It has an icon that resembles a clock with an arrow pointing backward. This displays your recent browsing history.^{[8]
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On Android, it's at the top of your browsing history. On iPhone and iPad, it's at the bottom.^{[9]
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It's at the top of the menu in the pop-up window. This should be checked automatically, but check to make sure.
Use the drop-down menu at the top of the page to select a time frame. To clear your recently closed data, you can select "Last Hour" or "Last 24" hours. If you need more time, you can select "Last 7 days", "Last 4 weeks," or "All Time."
It's at the bottom of the menu. On Android, it's the blue button in the lower-right corner. On iPhone and iPad, it's the red text at the bottom of the screen. This clears your recent browsing data as well as your recently closed data.^{[10]
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Community Q&A

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Question

When I click on "History" to clear my history, my "recently closed" sites show underneath it. How do I delete those?

Community Answer

To clear browsing data from your settings, just open Google a bunch of times to get it out of your recently closed tabs. If you worry about your History on your computer, you can also try to use Chrome's "Incognito Mode". It is a separate window that does not save any browsing history. You can access it by hitting Ctrl+Shift+N, or by right-clicking on the Chrome icon and choosing the option "New Incognito Window".

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Question

How do I delete "recently closed" tabs from Google Chrome permanently?

Community Answer

Go to your Chrome history or simply just open new tab and press ctrl and H together, then select and close.

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If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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