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How to delete selective history ?

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

regs
regs
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I'm not sure how many of them do it but I don't tend to delete my entire browser history but usually delete history based on the keywords.

For instance, I search for the term - "gmail" and delete all history entries on the list, similarly for "spam", "trash", "sports" & so forth.

Now coming to the point, usually when I used to do mass delete for some of the terms, I used to get Unresponsive script error message after deleting around 110-180 entries, when selected to continue - it would continue to delete, with unresponsive msgs .. Yeah its irritating & head ache but I got used to it.

I haven't tried clearing history for large entries recently but when I tried to delete the entries for the term "inbox" it had over 18k entries - instead of the earlier 100x+ error msg, now I get this unresponsive error msg after every 7 entries. I'm a simple human being, I can't keep on deleting like a robot for 24 hours on a trot.

I would like to know if there's any easier way to delete the history based on keywords with out my browser hanging so often.

I'm not sure how many of them do it but I don't tend to delete my entire browser history but usually delete history based on the keywords. For instance, I search for the term - "gmail" and delete all history entries on the list, similarly for "spam", "trash", "sports" & so forth. Now coming to the point, usually when I used to do mass delete for some of the terms, I used to get Unresponsive script error message after deleting around 110-180 entries, when selected to continue - it would continue to delete, with unresponsive msgs .. Yeah its irritating & head ache but I got used to it. I haven't tried clearing history for large entries recently but when I tried to delete the entries for the term "inbox" it had over 18k entries - instead of the earlier 100x+ error msg, now I get this unresponsive error msg after every 7 entries. I'm a simple human being, I can't keep on deleting like a robot for 24 hours on a trot. I would like to know if there's any easier way to delete the history based on keywords with out my browser hanging so often.

All Replies (2)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Every 7 messages sounds really extreme; the Places database that stores bookmarks and history may be very fragmented. If there's no add-on that resolves this issue, try using the "Verify Integrity" function to clean up the database. You can find that on the Troubleshooting Information page. Either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

You can use Find (Ctrl+f) to search for integrity to get to the Places database section. Note that this function takes a long time to run.

If the database is corrupted, this may cause a new database to be generated with only your bookmarks, no history.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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If "Verify Integrity" on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page cannot repair places.sqlite then remove all places.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder. Firefox will rebuild places.sqlite and restore the bookmarks from a recent JSON backup in the bookmarkbackups folder.

You can use the button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page.