Samsung Internet browser app - how to clear cache, cookies & history

Samsung internet displayed on phone

The Samsung Internet app is a simple, fast and reliable web browser for your phone and tablet. Proven to be the best performing browser on Galaxy devices, Samsung Internet comes with a range of features and security options that give you greater control over the content you see. From downloading ad blockers, browsing privately and having your details complete automatically on sites, Samsung Internet makes browsing better.

When you open the Samsung Internet app you will be taken to the last page that you were viewing. The toolbars at the top and bottom of the app give you various options such as adding a bookmark, opening a new tab and returning to your homepage.

Basic navigation of the Samsung Internet app

Please note: If you can't see the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, tap an empty space or scroll upwards to bring it up

1 Bookmark: add the web page that you are viewing to your bookmarks
2 Address bar: this shows you what web page you are on. Tap here to enter or search for a different website
3 Reload: this will reload the page that you are currently on
4 Back: this will take you to the last web page you visited
5 Forward: if you've used the back button, this will take you back to the web page that you were on
6 Home: go to your homepage
7 Bookmark list: see a list of all the web pages that you've bookmarked
8 Tabs: view all the tabs that you have open
9 Menu: view additional options and settings

Your homepage is the website that loads when you first open Samsung Internet or open a new tab. 

1 Open the Samsung Internet app and tap the menu icon
Samsung internet app menu selected
2 Tap Settings
Tap Settings
3 Tap Homepage
Tap Homepage
4 You will be given a number of options:
  • Tap Default to make your phone’s default webpage your homepage
  • Tap Quick access to make your homepage a selection of quick access links to various websites
  • Tap Current page to set the page you are currently looking at as your homepage
  • Tap Custom page to enter the address of the website you want as your homepage
Homepage options menu displayed

You can save a web page to your bookmarks so that you can easily come back to it later. If you use bookmarks regularly, it could be a good idea to create some folders to organise your saved sites.

Creating a bookmark

1 Open the web page that you want to save to your bookmarks and tap the bookmark button. The bookmark button will turn yellow once the page has been bookmarked
Bookmark menu selected
2 Tap the bookmark button to see all of your saved web pages
Tap the bookmark button

Rename your bookmarks

1 Tap the bookmark list button
Tap the bookark list button
2 Tap the options icon (three dots)
Tap the options icon
3 Tap Edit
Tap Edit
4 Tap the bookmark that you want to rename and tap the edit icon
Edit icon selected
5 Enter a new name for your bookmark and tap Save to confirm
Enter a new name for your bookmark and tap save

Creating folders for your bookmarks

1 Tap the bookmark list icon
Tap the bookmark list button
2 Tap the options icon (three dots)
Tap the options icon
3 Tap Create folder
Create folder selected
4 Give your folder a name, then tap Create
Name the folder then tap create
5 Once your folder has been created you can add bookmarks to it by tapping the options icon (three dots)
Tap the options icon
6 Tap Edit
Tap edit
7 Select the bookmarks that you want to move into your new folder and tap Move
Select the bookmarks you want to move and tap move
8 Tap the folder you want to move the bookmarks into and tap Select to confirm
Select selected

Tabs are a convenient way to have multiple web pages open at the same time. You can have over 50 open tabs at the same time, making it easy to keep track of the websites you love.


Creating and switching tabs

1 Tap the tabs icon
Tab the tabs icon
2 Tap New tab, and a new tab will open
New tab displayed

Please note: In some older versions, the Samsung Internet app supports a maximum of 50 tabs. If you already have 50 tabs and open another, it will close your oldest tab automatically.

3 To view all your open tabs, tap the tabs icon again and all of your open tabs will be displayed. To open a tab, tap on it
Tab selected

Closing and reopening tabs

1 Tap the tabs icon
Tap the tabs icon
2 Tap the close icon to shut a specific tab
Tap the close icon to close a specific tab
3 To close all your tabs, tap the options icon
Tap options
4 Tap Close all tabs
Tap Close all tabs
4 If you've accidentally closed a tab you want to view again, tap the options icon and tap Reopen closed tab, to open the last tab that was closed
To reopen a closed tab tap the options icon

Changing how you view tabs

1 Tap the tabs icon
Tap the tabs icon
2 Tap the options icon
Tap options
3 Tap View as
Tap view as
4 Tap the view you wish to select and (List, Stack or Grid) and tap OK
Select the view you want and tap OK

By browsing the internet in secret mode you can view websites and enter searches without any of the data being saved. 

1 Tap the tabs icon
Tap the tabs icon
2 Tap Turn on Secret mode
Tap Turn on Secret Mode
3 You can Lock secret mode with a password or Start without
Choose whether to have a password for Secret mode
4 A new tab will open in Secret mode. You can easily identify that Secret mode is active as the top and bottom of the Samsung Internet app will turn grey

Please note: It is not possible take screenshots in secret mode

5 Once you've finished browsing privately, tap the tabs icon
6 Tap Turn off Secret mode

When you visit a web page, certain information about it will be saved to make loading it again quicker. If a website isn't loading or working properly, it can sometimes help to clear your history, cache and cookies.

Please note: After clearing your data you may have to log into some websites again. Make sure that you know your login information before clearing your data

1 Tap the menu icon in the bottom right of the screen
Tap the menu icon
2 Tap Settings
Tap Settings
3 Tap Personal browsing data
Tap Personal browsing data
4 Tap Delete browsing data
Tap Delete browsing data
5 Select which parts of your browsing data you wish to delete and select Delete data
Select which parts of your browsing data you want to delete

You can use autofill forms to remember important details such as your name, address and card details so that you don't have to type them into every website you visit. 

1 Tap the menu icon
Tap the menu icon
2 Tap Settings
Tap Settings
3 Tap Personal browsing data
Tap Personal browsing data
4 Tap Autofill forms
Tap Autofill Forms
5 Tap Profiles or Credit and debit cards and follow the steps to add and delete details. Profiles save details such as where you live and your phone number while Credit and debit cards will remember details such as your card number. In this example we are adding a profile

Please note: To save card details you will need to register additional security information such as your fingerprint

Autofill forms page displayed

Ad blockers prevent ads and pop-ups from appearing on the websites that you are visiting, giving you uninterrupted browsing and minimising the risks of malicious content. Removing ads from websites may change how they appear in your browser.

1 Tap the menu icon
Tap the menu icon
2 Tap Ad blockers
Tap Ad blockers
3 If you haven't already downloaded an ad blocker, you will need to do so. Tap the download icon next to your preferred ad blocker
Tap the download icon
4 You can now tap the switch to turn your ad blocker on or off
Tap the switch to turn the ad blocker on or off
6 Open menu again, to check how many ads are being blocked. It will be the small number next to Ad blockers
You can see how many ads are being blocked in the menu

If you're experiencing unusual behaviour on Samsung mobiles, tablets or wearables, you can send us an error report or ask us a question in the Samsung Members app.

This allows us to take a closer look at what is happening. The data is anonymised and only held for the duration of the investigation. Find out more about sending an error report through the Samsung Members app.

 

Thank you for your feedback!