chrome.browsingData

Description

Use thechrome.browsingData API to remove browsing data from a user's local profile.

Permissions

browsingData

You must declare the"browsingData" permission in theextension manifest to use this API.

{"name":"My extension",..."permissions":["browsingData",],...}

Concepts and usage

The simplest use-case for this API is a a time-based mechanism for clearing a user's browsing data.Your code should provide a timestamp which indicates the historical date after which the user'sbrowsing data should be removed. This timestamp is formatted as the number of milliseconds since theUnix epoch (which can be retrieved from a JavaScriptDate object using thegetTime() method).

For example, to clear all of a user's browsing data from the last week, you might write code asfollows:

varcallback=function(){// Do something clever here once data has been removed.};varmillisecondsPerWeek=1000*60*60*24*7;varoneWeekAgo=(newDate()).getTime()-millisecondsPerWeek;chrome.browsingData.remove({"since":oneWeekAgo},{"appcache":true,"cache":true,"cacheStorage":true,"cookies":true,"downloads":true,"fileSystems":true,"formData":true,"history":true,"indexedDB":true,"localStorage":true,"passwords":true,"serviceWorkers":true,"webSQL":true},callback);

Thechrome.browsingData.remove() method lets you remove various types of browsing data with asingle call, and will be much faster than calling multiple more specific methods. If, however, youonly want to clear one specific type of browsing data (cookies, for example), the more granularmethods offer a readable alternative to a call filled with JSON.

varcallback=function(){// Do something clever here once data has been removed.};varmillisecondsPerWeek=1000*60*60*24*7;varoneWeekAgo=(newDate()).getTime()-millisecondsPerWeek;chrome.browsingData.removeCookies({"since":oneWeekAgo},callback);

If the user is syncing their data,chrome.browsingData.remove() may automatically rebuild the cookiefor the Sync account after clearing it. This is to ensure that Sync can continue working, so thatthe data can be eventually deleted on the server. However the more specificchrome.browsingData.removeCookies() can be used to clear the cookie for the Sync account, and Syncwill be paused in this case.

Important: Removing browsing data involves a good deal of heavylifting in the background, and can taketens of seconds to complete, depending on a user'sprofile. You should use either the returned promise or the callback to keep your users up to dateon the removal's status.

Specific origins

To remove data for a specific origin or to exclude a set of origins from deletion, you can use theRemovalOptions.origins andRemovalOptions.excludeOrigins parameters. They can only be applied tocookies, cache, and storage (CacheStorage, FileSystems, IndexedDB, LocalStorage, ServiceWorkers, andWebSQL).

chrome.browsingData.remove({"origins":["https://www.example.com"]},{"cacheStorage":true,"cookies":true,"fileSystems":true,"indexedDB":true,"localStorage":true,"serviceWorkers":true,"webSQL":true},callback);
Important: As cookies are scoped more broadly than other types of storage, deleting cookies foran origin will delete all cookies of the registrable domain. For example, deleting data forhttps://www.example.com will delete cookies with a domain of.example.com as well.

Origin types

Adding anoriginTypes property to the APIs options object lets you specify which types oforigins ought to be effected. Origins are divided into three categories:

We could adjust the previous example to remove only data from protected websites as follows:

varcallback=function(){// Do something clever here once data has been removed.};varmillisecondsPerWeek=1000*60*60*24*7;varoneWeekAgo=(newDate()).getTime()-millisecondsPerWeek;chrome.browsingData.remove({"since":oneWeekAgo,"originTypes":{"protectedWeb":true}},{"appcache":true,"cache":true,"cacheStorage":true,"cookies":true,"downloads":true,"fileSystems":true,"formData":true,"history":true,"indexedDB":true,"localStorage":true,"passwords":true,"serviceWorkers":true,"webSQL":true},callback);
Warning: Be careful with theprotectedWeb andextension origin types. These are destructive operations thatmay surprise your users if they're not well-informed about what to expect when yourextension removes data on their behalf.

Examples

To try this API, install thebrowsingData API example from thechrome-extension-samplesrepository.

Types

DataTypeSet

A set of data types. Missing data types are interpreted asfalse.

Properties

  • appcache

    boolean optional

    Websites' appcaches.

  • cache

    boolean optional

    The browser's cache.

  • cacheStorage

    boolean optional

    Chrome 72+

    Cache storage

  • cookies

    boolean optional

    The browser's cookies.

  • downloads

    boolean optional

    The browser's download list.

  • fileSystems

    boolean optional

    Websites' file systems.

  • formData

    boolean optional

    The browser's stored form data.

  • history

    boolean optional

    The browser's history.

  • indexedDB

    boolean optional

    Websites' IndexedDB data.

  • localStorage

    boolean optional

    Websites' local storage data.

  • passwords

    boolean optional

    Deprecated

    Support for password deletion through extensions has been removed. This data type will be ignored.

    Stored passwords.

  • pluginData

    boolean optional

    Deprecated since Chrome 88

    Support for Flash has been removed. This data type will be ignored.

    Plugins' data.

  • serverBoundCertificates

    boolean optional

    Deprecated since Chrome 76

    Support for server-bound certificates has been removed. This data type will be ignored.

    Server-bound certificates.

  • serviceWorkers

    boolean optional

    Service Workers.

  • webSQL

    boolean optional

    Websites' WebSQL data.

RemovalOptions

Options that determine exactly what data will be removed.

Properties

  • excludeOrigins

    string[] optional

    Chrome 74+

    When present, data for origins in this list is excluded from deletion. Can't be used together withorigins. Only supported for cookies, storage and cache. Cookies are excluded for the whole registrable domain.

  • originTypes

    object optional

    An object whose properties specify which origin types ought to be cleared. If this object isn't specified, it defaults to clearing only "unprotected" origins. Please ensure that youreally want to remove application data before adding 'protectedWeb' or 'extensions'.

    • extension

      boolean optional

      Extensions and packaged applications a user has installed (be _really_ careful!).

    • protectedWeb

      boolean optional

      Websites that have been installed as hosted applications (be careful!).

    • unprotectedWeb

      boolean optional

      Normal websites.

  • origins

    [string, ...string[]] optional

    Chrome 74+

    When present, only data for origins in this list is deleted. Only supported for cookies, storage and cache. Cookies are cleared for the whole registrable domain.

  • since

    number optional

    Remove data accumulated on or after this date, represented in milliseconds since the epoch (accessible via thegetTime method of the JavaScriptDate object). If absent, defaults to 0 (which would remove all browsing data).

Methods

remove()

chrome.browsingData.remove(
  options: RemovalOptions,
  dataToRemove: DataTypeSet,
): Promise<void>

Clears various types of browsing data stored in a user's profile.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeAppcache()

chrome.browsingData.removeAppcache(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears websites' appcache data.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeCache()

chrome.browsingData.removeCache(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears the browser's cache.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeCacheStorage()

Chrome 72+
chrome.browsingData.removeCacheStorage(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears websites' cache storage data.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeCookies()

chrome.browsingData.removeCookies(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears the browser's cookies and server-bound certificates modified within a particular timeframe.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeDownloads()

chrome.browsingData.removeDownloads(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears the browser's list of downloaded files (not the downloaded files themselves).

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeFileSystems()

chrome.browsingData.removeFileSystems(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears websites' file system data.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeFormData()

chrome.browsingData.removeFormData(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears the browser's stored form data (autofill).

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeHistory()

chrome.browsingData.removeHistory(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears the browser's history.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeIndexedDB()

chrome.browsingData.removeIndexedDB(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears websites' IndexedDB data.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeLocalStorage()

chrome.browsingData.removeLocalStorage(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears websites' local storage data.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removePasswords()

Deprecated
chrome.browsingData.removePasswords(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Support for password deletion through extensions has been removed. This function has no effect.

Clears the browser's stored passwords.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removePluginData()

Deprecated since Chrome 88
chrome.browsingData.removePluginData(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Support for Flash has been removed. This function has no effect.

Clears plugins' data.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeServiceWorkers()

Chrome 72+
chrome.browsingData.removeServiceWorkers(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears websites' service workers.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

removeWebSQL()

chrome.browsingData.removeWebSQL(
  options: RemovalOptions,
): Promise<void>

Clears websites' WebSQL data.

Parameters

Returns

  • Promise<void>

    Chrome 96+

settings()

chrome.browsingData.settings(): Promise<object>

Reports which types of data are currently selected in the 'Clear browsing data' settings UI. Note: some of the data types included in this API are not available in the settings UI, and some UI settings control more than one data type listed here.

Returns

  • Promise<object>

    Chrome 96+

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Last updated 2025-11-26 UTC.