As a rule, internet browsers will save certain information as you surf the internet. This includes images from websites visited, information entered into search engines and a trail (‘history’) that reveals the sites you have visited. If you are worried about somebody finding out you have visited this website, follow the instructions below to minimise them finding out.

If you know what browser you are using, then skip to the relevant instructions below. If you do not know the type of browser you are using, click on Help on the toolbar at the top of the browser screen. A drop down menu will appear, the last entry will say About Internet Explorer, About Mozilla Firefox, or something similar. The entry refers to which browser type you are using – you should then refer to the relevant instructions below.

Pressing the ‘leave site’ button in the top right hand corner of the Report and Support webpage will instantly hide the page by taking you to the BBC weather webpage but you will still need to delete your history to fully cover your tracks.

Many other support organisations will have an easily visible and accessible button on their website which will perform the same function. It will usually say ‘leave site’, ‘hide site’ or ‘exit site’.

All leading web browsers have a “private browsing” mode that, once enabled, stores nothing about your activity on your computer in that browsing window. This won’t stop online services from seeing what you get up to, but it won’t leave any traces of your activity on your computer (no history, web cache or anything else) and so it’s always a useful first step to take.

Internet Explorer: Go to Safety – Tools – “In Private Browsing”.

Firefox: Click the Menu button with three horizontal lines – “New Private Window”.

Chrome: Click the Menu button with three horizontal lines and select “New Incognito Window”.

Similar options can be found in Opera and Safari.

It is also best to double check that nothing has been stored by following the steps below.

Click on the Tools menu and select Internet Options. On the General page, under Temporary Internet Files, click on Delete Cookies and then OK. Click on Delete Files, put a tick in the box labelled Delete all offline content and click OK. Under History, click on Clear History and then OK. Now look at the top of the window and click on the Content tab, select AutoComplete and finally, Clear Forms.

Click on Tools and then Options, then click on Privacy. Click on the Clear button next to Cache and Saved Form Information.

Internet browsers also keep a record of all the web pages you visit. This is known as a ‘history’. To delete history for Internet Explorer and Firefox hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard, then press the H key (Ctrl, Alt and H for Opera). Find any entries that contain the website(s) that you don’t want to be seen (e.g. www.reportandsupport.york.ac.uk), right click and choose Delete.

If somebody sends you threatening or harassing email messages, they may be printed and saved as evidence of their behaviour. Any email you have previously sent will be stored in Sent Items. If you started an email but didn’t finish it, it might be in your Drafts folder. If you reply to any email, the original message will probably be in the body of the message – print and delete the email if you don’t want anyone to see your original message.

When you delete an item in any email program (Outlook Express, Outlook, etc.) it does not really delete the item – it moves the item to a folder called Deleted Items. You have to delete the items in deleted items separately. Right click on items within the Deleted Items folder to delete individual items.

Toolbars such as Google, AOL and Yahoo keep a record of the search words you have typed into the toolbar search box. In order to erase all the search words you have typed in, you will need to check the individual instructions for each type of toolbar. For example, for the Google toolbar all you need to do is click on the Google icon, and choose “Clear Search History”.

If you do not use a password to log on to your computer, someone else may be able to access your email and/or track your internet usage. 

Please be aware that even carrying out all of the above steps still may not completely hide your tracks. Many browser types have features that display recently visited sites. The safest way to find information on the internet therefore, would be to do so at the library, another university building, a friend’s house or at work.