How Do You Check the History on Your Windows Computer? Internet and File History Guide

Last Updated: December 20, 2022

If you want to see which websites you've visited on your Windows 10 PC, checking your web browsing history is as easy as pressing the Control and H keys together on your keyboard. But your browsing history isn't the only activity that's logged in Windows—you can also see a list of recently-opened files by typing "Recent" into the Run dialog box, or go to Settings > Privacy > Activity History > Manage my Microsoft account activity data to see all activity connected to your account. We'll show you how to see which websites, files, and account options have been accessed on your Windows PC.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Checking Your Browser History

1
Open a web browser. This might not be the default web browser on your computer, so look for Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla, or other web browsers.
2
Click the menu icon. The appearance of this menu icon is different between browsers. For example, Chrome has ⋮, Firefox has ☰, and Microsoft Edge has an icon that looks like a star with three lines coming out of it.

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3
Click History. In Firefox, you'll need to hover your mouse over Library to see this option.
4
Review your browsing history. If you're using Firefox, click Show All History. The pages visited and the searches initiated should be separated by date.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Seeing Recent Files

1
Open the Run app. Press the Windows key and type "Run" to search for the program.
- Click the app from the search results to open it.
2
Type "Recent" and press Enter. A File Explorer window will open to show you a list of recent files that have been edited.
3
Review the list. You'll see categories like the file's name, date modified, type, and size.^{[1]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Checking Windows Activity History

1
Press ⊞ Win+I. Pressed together, the Windows and uppercase "i" keys open the Settings menu.
2
Click Privacy. It's next to an icon of a padlock.
3
Click Activity history. You'll find this in the panel on the left side of the window.
4
Click Manage my Microsoft account activity data. You may need to scroll down to find this at the very bottom of the window.
- Your Microsoft account activity history will open in a new browser window or tab. Enter your password to continue.
5
Click a menu to learn more about that history. There are menus for location, speech, browsing, and search histories.
- You can click Clear all history in each menu, but to quickly clear everything, go to Settings > Privacy > Activity History > Clear Activity History > Clear.