You don’t need to be a pro to check your router’s history. It is an easy process, all you need to do is follow some simple steps. This post will give you detailed information about how to view your WiFi router history and how to delete it. Moreover, you will also know how to protect your web browsing data and how to reset your router in this article.
Find Your IP address
If you want to check to browse the history of the WiFi router first you need to have the IP address of your router. The IP address is written on the WiFi router’s manual or you can see the back of your WiFi router. However, if you have lost the router’s manual or you don’t have physical access to your WiFi router, don’t need to worry. Below are the steps you can follow to get the IP address.
For Windows
These are the following steps to find your Wi-Fi router address using windows
- Right-click on the windows icon which is on the bottom left of your screen. Then click on “Command Prompt.”
- Type “IPCONFIG” in the Command Prompt window and press Enter.
- In the “Default Gateway” section you will see a number listed which is your router’s IP address.
For Mac
Below are the following steps to find your router’s IP address by using a Mac
- On the top left of your screen, you will see an apple icon, click that icon and press “System Preferences.”
- Now select “Network.”
- A list will appear on the left side of the window, now choose your WiFi network and then press the “Advanced” option at the bottom right of the window.
Login to Router Settings
Step 1: After finding your IP address now you can either copy-paste it or type it into your web browser.
Step 2: After entering your router’s address in your browser press enter, and you will be redirected to your router’s dashboard. Here you need to log in by using your Wi-Fi router’s credentials. (You can find them on the router’s manual or check the back of the router)
step 3: In case you don’t have physical access to both, You can connect to the router’s hotline to ask customer service
View your browsing history
step 1: Now, as you have successfully logged into the router’s dashboard you are allowed to access the Wi-Fi history viewer.
step 2:You need to browse the devices that are connected to the WiFi router, you can find the device you are looking to check for browsing history.
step 3:You can see many important things in the log which includes the date and time when a website was browsed. You can also see the IP address or website visited by the user.
How to clear Wi-Fi history?
Clear log
Once you have finished checking your WiFi router’s history you can now clear the history. All you need to do is, go to the logs. Keep in mind that logs can be also called Administrator Logs, event logs, system logs or other terms depending on the brand. You can find this option in the system tools settings, it may also be called administrator tools or advanced in different router brands.
In some routers, you will be given the option to choose from which logs you want to delete. Here you just need to right-tick the boxes you want to erase that are provided next to the logs.
If you want to delete everything click on the clear all log option. If you have ticked all the boxes then “Clear Log”.
Wifi Router Reset
There is an alternative way to clear your WiFi history which might not be the best option for everyone is resetting the router. It is probably the easiest and quickest way to do it. However, it is possible if you physically access the WiFi router.
Use Reset button
- You can see a reset button at the back of the WiFi router.
- If you don’t want to lose your username and passwords you can make a soft reset by quickly pressing the reset button
- Or if you are looking for a hard reset, then press and hold the reset switch for 10 to 20 seconds. It is a useful way for clearing the WiFi router history and restoring factory settings.
What are the things your WiFi provider can monitor
You may not know that but your WiFi owner can monitor various things along with your browsing history.
Your WiFi owner can see many more things including
- The exact timings when you get connected with the internet
- The time that you have spent on the internet
- The time you spent browsing a particular website
- All the unencrypted HTTP website data
- Destination and source IP addresses
- Specific URLs you visited on any website
3 Ways to protect your web browsing data
Your WiFi owner has access to view your browsing history by using a WiFi history viewer if your device is connected to his network. If you are looking to hide or protect your browser history you can use the following ways.
Use HTTPS Browser Extension
We use two types of websites regularly for browsing. One of them uses HTTPS protocol that follows encryption to store data and your activities on that website. Thus, other people won’t understand your web activities. And the other type uses HTTP protocol that allows third parties to log your browsing activities. Therefore, you can start using ‘HTTPS Everywhere’or another browser extension to encrypt your browsing data.
Use VPN (Virtual Private Network) Service
You can use a virtual private network service or VPN service to protect your web activities from logging and spying activities. This service will hide your IP address therefore the WiFi owner won’t track your browsing history. To get the best benefits you can get a paid VPN service that helps keep online privacy intact.
Switch to a Different ISP
If you want to restrict your ISP from logging all your web browsing activities you should try switching to a different ISP. Make sure to choose an ISP that respects its customer’s online privacy. A good ISP will only store minimal web activities just for future reference and won’t sell them to third parties.
How to Clear Your Browser History on Chrome?
- You can easily delete your google chrome history in just four easy steps, let’s start
- Firstly, you need to press the three dots in the upper right corner. Now click on more tools and select the “clear browsing data” option
- Here, you can choose which data you want to delete and then press clear data
- You will see a time range dropdown that allows you to change the period to delete your history. You can choose from the past 4 hours, past 24 hours or past 7 days and all time.
- Along with that, you can choose whether you only want to delete your browsing history or also want to clear site data, cookies and cached images.
How to delete Browser History on your Microsoft Edge
Deleting your browsing history on Microsoft Edge is less easy compared to chrome. However, these simple steps will make it easier for you to do it.
- Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select “settings”
- Now press “privacy search & services” in the settings options and click the ” Choose what to clear ” Option on the main page.
- Here also you will see the time range to delete your history from various periods including the past hour, 24 hours ago, past 7 days and all time
- Click “clear now” After selecting what you want to delete from the history
- You can also delete Cookies, download history along with removing the browsing history
Delete Browsing History in Firefox
- Deleting Firefox browsing history is very simple and easy. The easiest way to clear firefox history is,
- Click on the hamburger menu and then press “history”
- Now select the “clear recent history” option
- Choose the time range and select from which period you want to delete history and then press “OK”
- Firefox will delete your browsing history in no time…
- You can also click the hamburger menu, then select history and click on manage history to delete the pages to clear the browsing data.
The process to delete the opera browser history
Similar to the edge, clearing the opera browsing history is quite tricky,
- Press the settings bars from the top right corner and click go to the “full browser settings “option.
- Now select the “clear browsing data”
- Then select what you want to delete and the time range and press “clear data”
Wrap up
Hope this article covered all your doubts and helped you to know how you can view your WiFi router history and delete it. All you need to do is follow the simple steps mentioned above to do it. However, if you are using this feature as parental control then there is nothing wrong, but don’t use this feature to view others’ WiFi history such as your guests and neighbors.
