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Can You Really Delete ChatGPT and Edge History Completely? Here’s What You Need to Know
Microsoft Edge users often face a strange problem: deleting browsing history doesn’t always work on the first try. A reader named Thomas B. noticed this in mid-October 2025 and shared his experience through email. He explained that after clearing his history several times in Edge, the same entries reappeared moments later.
This situation raises questions about how data synchronization works between Microsoft Edge and its connected cloud services — and whether deleted items are truly removed from all linked systems.
What might be happening
- Automatic cloud sync: Edge syncs user data (like bookmarks, browsing history, and passwords) across devices. When history is deleted locally, a synced version might still exist in the cloud and resync back to the device.
- Delay in server updates: Microsoft’s servers might take time to update or refresh deletion requests.
- Linked services: If a Microsoft account is used in multiple apps (for example, Edge and Bing), it’s possible that shared history data is stored in several locations.
Practical steps to try
- Turn off sync before deleting history. Go to Settings → Profiles → Sync → Turn off.
- Clear history manually: Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Clear browsing data → Choose “All time.”
- Delete cloud data: Visit your Microsoft Privacy Dashboard and erase saved browsing data directly from there.
- Restart the browser before turning sync back on.
- For ChatGPT, log out, delete the chat history, clear browser cache, and refresh your session token before logging in again.
Why users are concerned
Thomas also mentioned that ChatGPT’s deleted session history sometimes reappears later, suggesting similar synchronization behavior. This raises privacy questions because users may feel their data isn’t being fully erased. Some believe Microsoft or OpenAI may retain anonymized usage data for analysis, though both companies state that user privacy is a priority.
If users want to keep activities private, it’s best to:
- Use Guest Mode or InPrivate Mode in Microsoft Edge.
- Avoid signing in when browsing casually.
- Regularly check and delete stored data via privacy dashboards.
Transparency about how deletion and synchronization work would help reassure users. Until then, disabling sync before clearing history seems the most effective approach.