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I'm trying to find a page I looked at months ago but it looks like it's disappeared off the face of the planet. I thought I would have better luck looking through my Google Chrome browsing history, but I can't see history past September. Can I force Google Chrome to display history further into the past? Can I retrieve the history manually from a directory? Is the history data gone?

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  • 8
    Google, that's idiotizm and degradation. I could do better in browser 20 years ago from scratch, without having to install millions of extensions. It's time to return to Firefox.
    – midenok
    May 26, 2021 at 6:41

11 Answers 11

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No, Chrome only stores the browsing history for the last 90 days.

Your History page shows the websites you've visited on Chrome in the last 90 days. It doesn’t store pages from secure websites, pages you've visited in Incognito mode, or pages you've already deleted from your browsing history.

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  • (regarding google chrome) Just freaking stupid - not even a fricking setting - seriously !'+!!?'#!! Sorry. *ucking sht !!..
    – LuckyLuke Skywalker
    Nov 24, 2023 at 23:00
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Chrome stores URLs in your history for 90 days. (https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95589)

To extend this, you can install the extension History Trends Unlimited (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/history-trends-unlimited/pnmchffiealhkdloeffcdnbgdnedheme)

This will use the Chrome API to pull your browsing history as you go and put it into a separate database controlled by the extension. After you install the extension, open it by clicking on the button installed in your toolbar. You can also configure it to create automatic backups in your Downloads directory.

From How long does Chrome keep history for? • r/chrome (https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/54bqso/how_long_does_chrome_keep_history_for/)

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I guess there should be a plugin for chrome that stores separately your history, so you will always preserve everything. The extension History Trends Unlimited is related:

Google Chrome - How to extend history? (original)

Google Chrome - How to extend history? (mirror)

You can view your search history by web:

https://history.google.com/history/

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  • 2
    We expect more out of answers than a link to a website considering explaining what you linked to in your own words
    – Ramhound
    Aug 27, 2014 at 21:04
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    In fact, your link is broken.
    – Ruslan
    Oct 20, 2022 at 20:27
  • @Ruslan thanks for reporting, Google removed the original site, added mirror of web capture.
    – Smeterlink
    Oct 22, 2022 at 19:38
  • Thanks, this is useful.
    – Kalamalka Kid
    Jun 1, 2023 at 5:52
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I developed a Chrome extension U History (available on chrome web store) to save your history to you Google Drive in months. It will automatically save once you authorized (If you want to make sure the history are saved you can do manually). Moreover you can read your saved history. If you run into any problems or find any bugs pls feel free to contact me.

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  • Please do not post the same answer to multiple questions. If the same information really answers both questions, then one question (usually the newer one) should be closed as a duplicate of the other. You can indicate this by voting to close it as a duplicate or, if you don't have enough reputation for that, raise a flag to indicate that it's a duplicate. Otherwise tailor your answer to this question and don't just paste the same answer in multiple places.
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Jan 6, 2018 at 7:10
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Actually there is an "Archived History" file which contains the old (probably the whole, but not sure about that) history of browsing. It can be viewed with an SQL database viewer. Also, it only contains visits. http://www.forensicswiki.org/wiki/Google_Chrome#History

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  • More or less, yes. I suspect that what happened was that because the User Data folder was growing out of control, they changed it so that instead of retaining all of the history indefinitely, they remove the History* files which store the contents of all of the pages you visited, and use the Archived History page to store just the visits and times. You can indeed see the raw visits with SQLite or something (I exported mine to a text file).
    – Synetech
    Aug 13, 2013 at 20:01
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    I can't see Archived History file. Did they remove it with recent updates?
    – Saren Tasciyan
    Jul 6, 2015 at 11:53
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    Archived History file is gone.
    – Pacerier
    Oct 12, 2015 at 6:36
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Chrome only stores history for the last 90 days. Some extensions can store the history in the Chrome’s local database. So, it will keep all history since the 1st day you start using them. Even better, those extension provide import and export functionalities for backup, transferring between computers. Here are two extensions you might find useful:

History+ (Link)

  • Manage your history by category
  • Quick filtering
  • Pin your pages
  • Import and export. I like it because it support importing History Trends Unlimited backups
  • Autobackup

History Trends Unlimited (link)

  • Import and export.
  • Autobackup
  • Visiting trends analysis
  • Advanced search
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I was able to go back two years. Windows 7, Make sure google chrome is closed.

I first went to C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\

You must put your which is different for everyone. Then right click on the folder "Chrome" then in the drop down menu select restore previous version, wait for it to search and then scroll down to the oldest version, or select a time you are interested in. Then click restore, windows pops up "are you sure" then "restore.

Don't open google chrome because it will wipe out what you just changed. Then download and run http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/chromehistoryview.zip

Run the program, click "edit" Select all, then "file" Save selected items.

name the file to save and as htm or html (experiment). Click "save".

Now go to the location or folder where you just saved the above and look for the name of the file you saved. Double click to open ( i opened in firefox)

It shows a list of you old history links and you can click on any link to open.

There were lots of restore points in my computer, it had a new one for every week, I counted 54 restore points. I restored the oldest one and it had links from 2013 October and it is July 2015 now.

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    "restore previous version" only works if you have System Protection turned on.
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Jul 6, 2015 at 7:08
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If you were signed in to your Google account in Chrome, you can search the history under "My Activity" in your account.

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if you go to https://myactivity.google.com you can see all the websites you have visited. Hope this works for you and I hope this helps!

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Yes the history will have gone by now, the only way to get it would be restoring from a backup if you have one from back then?

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Yes, Google is required by national security laws to retain your historical records, all of them, for a period of no less than 6 years. As of September 2021 I was able to access the last ~365 days of history. Google retains at least 25,185 entries. It is highly likely they retain the entirety of your historical record with google and it's affiliates.

Tronix Surveillance Systems

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    I'd consider deleting this answer. Firstly "national security laws" depend entirely on the nation. That makes the answer as it's currently written invalid, so it's likely to get deleted. I'd suggest reading through what the Help section says about answering questions.
    – Peregrino69
    Sep 27, 2021 at 13:54

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