[9 Methods] How to Fix “Clear Safari History Greyed Out”

Why is clear history greyed out in Safari?

After surfing Safari for a while, you may need to clear browsing history on iPhone. The clearing usually helps fix loading issues with certain websites. But there are times “clear Safari history greyed out” occurs, why does it happen?

When the button greyed out, probably because you have web content restrictions set up under Content & Privacy Restrictions in Screen Time.

Many users block access to some websites in Safari by enabling the “Restrictions” tab under “General” in the “Settings” app. The most likely option that may have been selected is the “Limit Adult Content” button within the “Restrictions”.

The option means to keep children from being able to gain access to certain sites when the content is not suitable. Why is clear history greyed out in Safari? This may be the main reason for the vast majority of iOS users.

Sometimes, there may be another reason cause clear history button greyed out in Safari on Mac and iOS devices, that’s Screen Time. Therefore, you must make sure that Screen Time isn’t preventing you from clearing your Safari history and web page data first.

What to do when iPhone/Mac clear Safari history greyed out?

For the said issue, we will give you some tips to tackle the problem. And you can choose the most suitable way according to your preference.

Turn Off Screen Time Restrictions

Screen Time is a feature on iOS and macOS that allows you to monitor and control your device usage habits. It also offers content restrictions that can keep from clearing the browser’s history.

How to disable screen time restrictions on iPhone/iPad/Mac when the button greyed out? Let’s read on!

Disable Screen Time Restrictions on iPhone & iPad

Step 1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone and tap Screen Time.

Step 2. Hit Content & Privacy Restrictions.

Step 3. Choose Content Restrictions.

Step 4. Key in your Screen Time passcode if your iPhone or iPad asks you for one.

Step 5. Select Web Content.

Step 6. Choose the Unrestricted option.

Disable Screen Time Restrictions on Mac

Step 1. Go to the Apple menu and select System Settings/System Preferences.

Step 2. Choose Screen Time and tap the Content & Privacy category.

Step 3. Select Content Restrictions.

Step 4. Enter the Screen Time passcode if your Mac asks. Then, open the pull-down menu next to Access to Web Content and choose Unrestricted Access.

Step 5. Select Done.

Then you can see whether the issue “clear Safari history greyed out” is fixed. If not, try to restart your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. That helps clear any temporary problems or glitches with the system software interfering with Safari’s ability to erase its history.

Restart your device

Restart Your iPhone or iPad

Step 1. Launch the Settings app and choose General.

Step 2. Scroll down and tap the option labeled Shutdown.

Step 3. Drag the Power icon to the right.

Step 4. Wait 30 seconds after the screen darkens.

Step 5. Press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo.

Restart Your Mac

Step 1. Go to the Apple Menu and choose Restart.

Step 2. Uncheck the box next to Reopen Windows when logging back in.

Step 3. Select Restart to confirm.

Stop syncing Safari over iCloud

If you still can’t delete your Safari history, then you can check your iCloud sync settings. If you use iCloud, it syncs your bookmarks, reading list, and browsing history across all your Apple devices. It won’t make any difference, but iCloud sync occasionally leads to items reappearing in your iPhone or iPad browsing history.

Disable iCloud Syncing for Safari on iPhone & iPad

Step 1. Go to Settings > Apple ID Profile > iCloud > Toggle Safari Off.

Step 2. If Safari has already been toggled off, then turn on > click merge > turn off again.

Step 3. Perform the same for all iCloud-connected devices.

Step 4. Now delete Safari history for all devices.

Disable iCloud Syncing for Safari on Mac

Step 1. Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings/System Preferences.

Step 2. Select iCloud.

Step 3. Turn off the button next to Safari.

Update your devices

Updating your iOS devices or Mac can also help resolve the said issue by fixing bugs or glitches that may have been creating the problem.

For example, early iterations of major iOS and macOS releases—like iOS 16.0 and macOS Ventura 13.0 — often have severe problems that affect how native apps run. And installing newer updates may be the solution to the problem. Also, it can solve other Safari errors, like fixing Safari cannot open the page on iPhone.

Update Your iPhone & iPad

Step 1. Open the Settings app.

Step 2. Choose General > Software Update.

Step 3. Click Download and Install next to pending updates.

Update Your Mac

Step 1. Hit the Apple menu and select System Settings.

Step 2. Go to General > Software Update.

Step 3. Click Update Now on the window’s top right if new updates are available.

Reset network settings (only for iOS devices)

Safari’s history-clearing issues can stem from network settings and configuration mistakes. Reset them to their defaults and check if that fixes the problem. Do the following steps:

Step 1. Go to Setting > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone/iPad.

Step 2. Tap Reset.

Step 3. Select Reset Network Settings.

Step 4. Enter your device passcode.

Step 5. Hit Reset Network Settings again to confirm.

If the resetting doesn’t help, try to reset your iPhone to factory settings. If you need to do that, repeat the previous steps but pick the Reset All Settings option and make sure to back up your iPhone/iPad.

 Clear Safari history with restrictions (only for iOS devices)

For iPhone/iPad users, you should launch the Settings app and go to General.

Step 1. Go to the second option and tap on Restrictions.

Step 2. Enter your Restrictions passcode.

Step 3. Under the Allowed Content option, scroll down to Websites and tap on that.

Step 4. Within the Websites section, you’ll find three tabs. You must deselect the option if you have chosen Limit Adult Content or Specific Websites and select All Websites as your current option.

Step 5. You can now open the Safari app under the Settings list, and you will see that the issue “iOS Safari clear history greyed out” has been settled.

If all fixes didn’t work on your computer, there are also some methods to clear your Safari data when clear history greyed out in Safari Mac devices.

Delete via Finder (only for Mac)

For Mac users, you can delete your Safari history manually through Finder. Here’s how:

Step 1. Quit Safari.

Step 2. Open Finder and select Go > Go to Folder on the menu bar.

Step 3. Key in the following path and press Return: ~/Library/Safari.

Step 4. Hold down the Command key and select the following files:

History.db

History.db-lock

History.db.shm

History.db.wal

Step 5. Control-click and select Move to Trash.

And according to your personal preference, you can either manually clear your browsing history on Mac or set up Safari browser to automatically clear your browsing history daily.

Automatically Clear History in Safari (only for Mac)

Follow the steps below to clear your entire Safari browsing history on Mac.

Step 1. Launch the Safari browser on your Mac.

Step 2. Click on the Safari tab in the top-menu bar and choose Preferences in the drop-down menu.

Step 3. On the Safari Preferences page, go to General tab > click on Remove History Items down-arrow and select the Daily option.

Step 4. On the same screen, click on Remove downloaded list items down arrow and select After one day.

Note:

This only removes the list of downloaded items and does not remove downloaded items from your Mac.

How to force delete Safari history easily

If you think all methods above are too difficult, here we would like to introduce a professional application “FoneTool” to erase data simply. It can help you erase much private data, including photos, messages, Safari history, etc. And it offers Deep Erase technology enabling you completely and permanently clear Safari history to avoid data recovery.

You can hit the download button and then follow the steps below to clear your Safari history.

Steps on how to clear Safari history:

Step 1. Run FoneTool on your PC > Connect your iPhone to the computer with a USB cable > Tap Trust on your iPhone.

Step 2. Go to Toolbox > Choose Erase private data > Click Get Started.

Step 3. Select Safari History and if you want to completely delete the history, check Enable Deep Erase Technology, then hit Start Erase.

Conclusion

Clearing your Safari browsing history is simple, but it can be frustrating when clear Safari history greyed out. And FoneTool is highly recommended to fix the issue. In addition to clearing private data, it can also help you to transfer contacts from iPhone to Pixel after setup quickly. Why not give the all-in-one iPhone data management tool a try?