So picture it. You’re browsing CompletelyNotSexySite.com, and you hear footsteps coming down the hallway. Oh, no! You don’t want your mom/spouse/teacher/hedgehog to know what you’re looking at! Crap crap CRAP where’s that “Clear History” command?!
I’m here for you, dear readers, even with your weird Internet habits. We’re going to configure a keyboard shortcut to clear your browsing history, and it’s gonna be awesome. So to begin, visit System Preferences> Keyboard…
…and click on the “Shortcuts” tab. From the left-hand list, choose “App Shortcuts,” and then you’ll click the plus button to add a new one.
On the pop-up that appears, fill it in as below. Note that you must include the ellipsis after the “Clear History” command, or this won’t work (though it doesn’t matter if it’s an actual ellipsis character or three periods).
And of course, once you reach that “Keyboard Shortcut” field, you can press any one you’d like to use. I’ve used Control-Option-H, but you do whatever feels good to you.
Afterward, click “Add,” and then go to Safari and test it out. When you do, you should see a box with a warning pop up, which you’ll need to agree to.
The lucky part about this, though, is that “Clear” on that warning box is already highlighted, so you can confirm that option by pressing Return after the box appears. So whenever you hear that special someone coming down the hall, just press your new keyboard shortcut followed by Return, and your history will be deleted. You’ll be in the clear. You’ll be good to go.
Unless that special someone eventually asks you why nothing is in your history at all. In that case, you’re on your own.