browsingData
Enables extensions to clear the data that is accumulated while the user is browsing.
In the browsingData
API, browsing data is divided into types:
- browser cache
- cookies
- downloads
- history
- local storage
- plugin data
- saved form data
- saved passwords
You can use the browsingData.remove()
function to remove any combination of these types. There are also dedicated functions to remove each particular type of data, such as removePasswords()
, removeHistory()
and so on.
All the browsingData.remove[X]()
functions take a browsingData.RemovalOptions
object, which you can use to control two further aspects of data removal:
- how far back in time to remove data
- whether to remove data only from normal web pages, or also from hosted web apps and add-ons. Note that this option is not yet supported in Firefox.
Finally, this API gives you a browsingData.settings()
function that gives you the current value of the settings for the browser's built-in "Clear History" feature.
To use this API you must have the "browsingData" API permission.
Types
browsingData.DataTypeSet
-
Object used to specify the type of data to remove: for example, history, downloads, passwords, and so on.
browsingData.RemovalOptions
-
Object used to specify how far back in time to remove data, and whether to remove data added through normal web browsing, by hosted apps, or by add-ons.
Methods
browsingData.remove()
-
Removes browsing data for the data types specified.
browsingData.removeCache()
-
Clears the browser's cache.
-
Removes cookies.
browsingData.removeDownloads()
-
Removes the list of downloaded files.
browsingData.removeFormData()
-
Clears saved form data.
browsingData.removeHistory()
-
Clears the browser's history.
browsingData.removeLocalStorage()
-
Clears any local storage created by websites.
browsingData.removePasswords()
-
Clears saved passwords.
browsingData.removePluginData()
-
Clears data associated with plugins.
browsingData.settings()
-
Gets the current value of settings in the browser's "Clear History" feature.
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
Example extensions
Note: This API is based on Chromium's chrome.browsingData
API.
Microsoft Edge compatibility data is supplied by Microsoft Corporation and is included here under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.