Prevent Users from Deleting Browsing History and Clearing Cookies

Hello everyone,

I wanted to know if anyone can tell me how I can prevent users from deleting the browsing history or accessing it all together. Even if it required password access to deleting history, that would be fine as long as only I can have access to deletion.
I am using Windows vista Operating System.

Thanks in Advance.

First, click on the Start button and type in GPEDIT.MSC in the Instant Search box.

Now on the left hand side, you can either expand Computer Configuration or User Configuration. Choose the former if you want to apply the settings for all users that use the computer and the latter if you only want these settings for the currently logged in user.

Now expand Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Internet Explorer and choose Delete Browsing History.

Note that you may not have a Delete Browsing History option and if not, then all of the settings will be under Internet Explorer, like shown above. Now you want to find each one of these settings and configure them as Enabled.

Disable “Configuring History”

Prevent the deletion of temporary Internet files and cookies

Turn off “Delete Browsing History” functionality

Turn off “Delete Forms” functionality

Turn off “Delete Passwords” functionality

Disable changing Temporary Internet files settings

Disable changing Advanced page settings

Once you enable all of those settings in Group Policy, make sure to restart the computer. In order to enable an option, you have to double-click on it and choose Enabled.

Now when someone browses the Internet on that computer using Internet Explorer, then they will not be able to delete their browsing history, temporary Internet files, cookies, filled-in forms, or passwords.

Note that this will only work for Internet Explorer! If someone decides to use Firefox or Google Chrome, etc, then they can delete the history for those browsers, regardless of what the group policy settings are.

If you don’t want users to be able to delete their browsing history, form data, or passwords, you can enable the following group policy settings located in both Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Internet Explorer\ and User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Internet Explorer\:

• Turn off “Delete Browsing History” Functionality
• Turn off “Delete Forms” Functionality
• Turn off “Delete Passwords” Functionality

For windows xp users,

There is a "Turn off "Delete Browsing History" functionality" setting in the group policy for XP (run gpedit.msc under User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer) that can be set to disable this functionality.