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Clear API
Contents
Clear API
Use the chrome.experimental.clear module to remove browsing data
from a user's local profile. This module is still experimental. For more
information regarding the usage of experimental APIs, see the
chrome.experimental.* APIs page.
Manifest
You must declare the "clear" permission in the extension manifest to use this API. As the API is still experimental, you must declare the "experimental" permisson as well.
{
"name": "My extension",
...
"permissions": [
"clear",
"experimental"
],
...
}
Usage
This API provides a time-based mechanism for clearing a user's browsing data.
Your code should provide a timestamp which indicates the historical date after
which the user's browsing data should be removed. This timestamp is formatted
as the number of milliseconds since the Unix epoch (which can be retrieved
from a JavaScript Date object via the getTime
method).
For example, to clear all of a user's browsing data from the last week, you might write code as follows:
var callback = function () {
// Do something clever here once data has been removed.
};
var millisecondsPerWeek = 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * 7;
var oneWeekAgo = (new Date()).getTime() - millisecondsPerWeek;
chrome.experimental.clear.browsingData(oneWeekAgo, {
"appcache": true,
"cache": true,
"cookies": true,
"downloads": true,
"fileSystems": true,
"formData": true,
"history": true,
"indexedDB": true,
"localStorage": true,
"pluginData": true,
"passwords": true,
"webSQL": true
}, callback);
The chrome.experimental.clear.browsingData method allows you to
remove various types of browsing data with a single call, and will be much
faster than calling multiple more specific methods. If, however, you only
want to clear one specific type of browsing data (cookies, for example), the
more granular methods offer a readable alternative to a call filled with JSON.
var callback = function () {
// Do something clever here once data has been removed.
};
var millisecondsPerWeek = 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * 7;
var oneWeekAgo = (new Date()).getTime() - millisecondsPerWeek;
chrome.experimental.clear.cookies(oneWeekAgo, callback);
Important: Removing browsing data involves a good deal of heavy lifting in the background, and can take tens of seconds to complete, depending on a user's profile. You should use the callback mechanism to keep your users up to date on the removal's status.
Examples
Samples for the clear API are available
on the samples page.
API reference: chrome.experimental.clear
Methods
appcache
chrome.experimental.clear.appcache(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears websites' appcache data.
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when websites' appcache data has been cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
browsingData
chrome.experimental.clear.browsingData(RemovalRange
since, object
dataToRemove, function
callback)
Clears various types of browsing data stored in a user's profile.
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
dataToRemove
( object )
- An object whose properties specify which browsing data types ought to be cleared. You may set as many or as few as you like in a single call, each is optional (defaulting to
false). -
-
appcache
( optional boolean )
- Should websites' appcaches be cleared?
-
cache
( optional boolean )
- Should the browser's cache be cleared? Note: this clears the entire cache: it is not limited to the range you specify.
-
cookies
( optional boolean )
- Should the browser's cookies be cleared?
-
downloads
( optional boolean )
- Should the browser's download list be cleared?
-
fileSystems
( optional boolean )
- Should websites' file systems be cleared?
-
formData
( optional boolean )
- Should the browser's stored form data be cleared?
-
history
( optional boolean )
- Should the browser's history be cleared?
-
indexedDB
( optional boolean )
- Should websites' IndexedDB data be cleared?
-
localStorage
( optional boolean )
- Should websites' local storage data be cleared?
-
pluginData
( optional boolean )
- Should plugins' data be cleared?
-
passwords
( optional boolean )
- Should the stored passwords be cleared?
-
webSQL
( optional boolean )
- Should websites' WebSQL data be cleared?
-
appcache
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when deletion has completed.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
cache
chrome.experimental.clear.cache(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears the browser's cache.
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when the browser's cache has been cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
cookies
chrome.experimental.clear.cookies(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears the browser's cookies modified within a particular timeframe.
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when the browser's cookies have been cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
downloads
chrome.experimental.clear.downloads(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears the browser's list of downloaded files (not the downloaded files themselves).
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when the browser's list of downloaded files has been cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
fileSystems
chrome.experimental.clear.fileSystems(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears websites' file system data.
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when websites' file systems have been cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
formData
chrome.experimental.clear.formData(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears the browser's stored form data (autofill).
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when the browser's form data has been cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
history
chrome.experimental.clear.history(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears the browser's history.
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when the browser's history has cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
indexedDB
chrome.experimental.clear.indexedDB(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears websites' IndexedDB data.
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when websites' IndexedDB data has been cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
localStorage
chrome.experimental.clear.localStorage(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears websites' local storage data.
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when websites' local storage has been cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
passwords
chrome.experimental.clear.passwords(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears the browser's stored passwords.
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when the browser's passwords have been cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
pluginData
chrome.experimental.clear.pluginData(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears plugins' data.
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when plugins' data has been cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};
webSQL
chrome.experimental.clear.webSQL(RemovalRange
since, function
callback)
Clears websites' WebSQL data.
Parameters
-
since
( RemovalRange )
- Undocumented.
-
callback
( optional function )
- Called when websites' WebSQL databases have been cleared.
Returns
Callback function
If you specify the callback parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this:
function() {...};