How to Reset Internet Explorer
Web browsers today are extremely customisable, allowing a high degree of personalisation, and most internet users spend considerable time setting theirs up exactly how they like it - in terms of favourites, shortcuts, viewing preferences, default behaviour and the choice of browser itself.
Sometimes it is desirable to reset the browser to its original state, either for privacy reasons, or to troubleshoot any problems that are occurring during operation.
To this end, Internet Explorer comes with its own reset button, which will not affect your favourites or RSS feeds (for a full list of the settings that are affected by Internet Explorer’s Reset feature, refer to the section after the main guide).
Read on to discover how to restore Internet Explorer to the default “factory” state.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- 1
After launching Internet Explorer, click Tools and then choose Internet Options. Select the Advanced tab.
- 2
The Reset button is located at the bottom of the Advanced tab. Click the button to continue.
- 3
If you wish to additionally delete personal data as well as your settings (including history, temporary internet cache, cookies, web form data, passwords, and typed URL info), then click the Delete Personal Settings checkbox.
- 4
Click Reset to complete the action (alternatively, to cancel, click Cancel), then Close Internet Explorer.
All settings and data (if specified) is completely removed from your system and you will notice the changes the next time you open the browser.
Tips & Advice
- The following settings will not be erased when you activate the Reset mechanism in Internet Explorer:
- Favourites
- RSS Feeds and Web Slices
- Active X controls on the Microsoft approved list
- Cache file path settings
- Content Advisor settings
- Internet default program associations (email, IM etc)
- Internet connection, proxy and VPN settings
- Default web browser
