How do I clear my search history in Firefox?

Why do all these different browsers have to make it so difficult? How hard would it be to have a "clear private data" icon on the toolbar so one click would take you to the clear private data dialog box? Instead, the programmers make you jump through hoops, to try to find some obscure tutorial, that usually doesn't tell you what you need, to do something as necessary as clearing search history. Are they just a bunch of sadistic people who deliberately wreak as much havoc as humanly possible on us mortals?

"How hard would it be to have a "clear private data" icon on the toolbar so one click would take you to the clear private data dialog box?"

Mainly because you would have lot more complaints from people who did not want to remove all their personal history but just some. By making the job a something you have to explictly do you can at least make sure that it wasn't a matter of "I thought I was removing history but I need those cookies back."

Mr Ullman - That's why I specifically said, "...so one click would take you to the... dialog box", which is where people would decide what they wanted to remove. They'd see exactly what was scheduled to be removed and make changes accordingly. Seems that would be safer than clicking on Clear Private Data by mistake and not remembering (or knowing) what was selected for deletion.

I am using Netscape browser version 8.0.3.4 (based on the FireFox Engine) and am unable to erase all previous searches in engines Google, Alta Vista, etc. I have followed all of your instructions from previous reader's questions on this topic to no avail. I can clear I.E. per your suggestions, just not the Netscape browser searches. Any other suggestions would be appreciated?

In what folder is FireFox private data kept? Temporary Internet Files is in ie so there must be an equivalent folder in FireFox but i can't find it!
Cheers and Beers

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In firefox go to:

about:cache

and that'll tell you.

Leo
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in newer versions of firefox, you can clear the search bar i.e google/yahoo etc by right clicking on the search bar itself and choosing clear search history.

The clear private data option doesn't clear this search bars history.

I just wanted to add that one does not need to delete the entire search history in Google. If there are only certain items that you want to delete, but others you'd like to keep:

Go to google search box, start to type in the word or phrase (do this both in Firefox and at Google.com)

Once a few letters have been typed, the drop down list from prior searches will appear.

Move your mouse over the item on the drop down list you want to Delete (DO NOT CLICK on the word or phrase, just hover mouse over to highlight it)

While word or phrase is highlighted, hit "Delete" button on keyboard.

That will remove the search word/phrase from the drop down menu, but leave remaining search history intact.

I wanted to draw your attention to WebMynd - a Firefox extension that records a visual history so that you can find stuff again.

We've included a privacy feature which automatically clears private data for you if you want to go into stealth mode. This is actually better than clearing private data yourself, since it only removes the information for the time you are in stealth mode - so you don't lose all your browser history and cookies for other times.

Would love your view on whether this is useful.

to erase search history you have to click "saved form and search history