Once you find that, your deleted internet history had some important websites you had forgot to note down, you will be embarrassed. You may try several methods to find it out. But, failed. The first thing I have to say is that. Don’t restart your computer if you lost the history in this session of computer usage. If you are restarted, the chances of getting it back will be reduced considerably. But don’t think it is impossible to recover internet history. We have the answer to your question How to recover deleted internet history. So, let’s check it out.
Recover deleted internet history by System Restore
System restore is the easiest method to recover deleted internet history. If your internet history was deleted recently and you haven’t browsed a lot after clearing the history, you might be able to get them with the system restore process. You can do the simple recovery within minutes and if the files are available, they might be restored in your browser. When selecting the restore point, be sure to choose the date before the history was cleared. If you choose a different date, it will only restore internet history after that specific date.
See lost internet history through Desktop search applications
Desktop search applications can get you the internet history that was recently cleared from your PC. Even you have a nicely organized structure of folders in your computer, the desktop search applications can help you to very easily find out what you are looking for. All the operating system has a built-in search feature. But the desktop search applications provide a better one with some more features added. Alfred, Everything, Quicksilver, Launchy are some examples of good desktop applications. You can select one according to the OS you are using.
Use Cookies to recover deleted internet history
Cookies are another great way to find out the internet history stored in your computer. They are the hidden searchers who may have seen the internet history which is still hidden from you. They are storing the user information upon a website visit. They remembering your browsing history to give a better user experience on the visited websites. So, there is a big chance to find the history inside them. Some of you may assume that the cookies are only some spying tools. But, the fact is little different from that. The cookies are used to improve the user experience by providing an easy access to the websites by remembering the access information and the history. They help you to resume the browsing session from where you left off. But, some of the stealers are using them in a wrong way to steal the user information. The modern browsers can defend them to a great extent. So, don’t worry about that.
We wrote an article How to View Cookies in your Computer. Check it out to know more information about the cookies and how to find them.
Access deleted browsing history with log files
All computers running on windows has a file where all the history of websites you visited are bieng stored. It’s a file namely Index.dat which is hidden in your ‘C‘ drive. To find those files, you must adjust the windows settings to show the hidden files. After changing the settings to view the hidden files, search for the index.dat file using the system search box. You might find multiple index files in the search results. To read the file, you must have some software which help you to open such files. Here is a complete list some of the best index dat viewer softwares. After downloading the reader, you can open the files using the reader software thus, can access the internet history.
Use DNS Cache to View Deleted Browsing History
DNS cache is a fast method to access the deleted internet history. But this method is not that much reliable. DNS stores all information regarding your browsing sessions app usages and many more. So, it consists of not only the internet history. Even you deleted the internet history from the browser, it will be stored in your DNS cache till the next restart. So, you can access only the recently deleted history. To do this follow the steps given below:
- Open Run by pressing Win+R keys together.
- Type cmd in the run box.
- Press Enter.
- Type ipconfig /displaydns to the CMD window.
- Press Enter.
- Now you will be given a list of websites you recently visited as you can see on the picture below.
Only the address of the websites will be displayed. The subpages will not be available in this method. If you want to delete all DNS cache without waiting for a computer restart, just type ipconfig /flushdns in the CMD window and press Enter.
Use a Recovery Software to Recover Browsing History Files
As any other files in your computer, the internet history also can be restored using the recovery softwares. You can use some good recovery tools like Recuva, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, Wise Data Recovery to recover your files. Use the following directories to recover your files according to your files.
Google Chrome: C:\Users\(your username)\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\local storage
Mozilla Firefox: C:\Users\(your username)\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile folder>
Internet Explorer: C:\Users\(your username)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History
Sometimes you might need to set the folder options to view the hidden files to view the restored internet history.
Recover Deleted History Using Google History
Google History is a very quick and reliable way to find the browsing history. All browsing session, while you browsed as logged in to your account, will be stored in the google history. You can access the by following the steps given below.
- Go to Google history.
- Sign in with your account details.
- Now, you will be provided by a list of browsing sessions and history which can be selected using a calendar shown at the top of the window.
You can manage the history from this window. You can remove the history completely from the google history if you no longer need them. You can also pause the history recording to not record the browsing history in upcoming sessions.
Using Router Logs
Some routers support logs which can be used to find out the internet history. To access the router logs, login to your router administration panel by typing 192.168.1.1 (most probably) to the browser address bar. Then type the username and password if prompted. Generally, there are some common variations of the username and password. they are given below.
- Username: admin, Password: admin
- Username: admin, Password: password
- Username: admin, Password: blank
Try any one of them. If they are not working, just google it with your router manufacturer name. After you logged in, find out the Log section and click on the View Log button. You will be given a list of logs saved in your router.
Note: You can find logs in most of the routers. If you can’t find it, your router may not have this option.