What is autocomplete?

When you type in Web page addresses into the address bar. It will give you a drop down list of addresses that you have previously visited that start with the same letters. The auto-complete feature will store words that you have previously put into search boxes and forms at Web sites such as search strings, names, email addresses, Website passwords and even credit card numbers. The autocomplete feature can also save the list of programs you started from the Run dialog (Start -> Run) and the search queries you performed offline while searching for documents on your computer (Start -> Search).

Why should I want to clean or disable autocomplete?

While the auto-complete feature may be helpful for some things, it can also seriously compromise your security and privacy, because anyone who uses your computer can see the web sites you visited and the information you entered on web pages. Alos various malicous software can use auto-complete data to steal your personal information such as e-mail addresses or credit card numbers. If a hacker were to break into your PC, he or she can easily retrieve web site passwords stored as autocomplete data.

How do I disable autocomplete?

Sometimes it can make sense to disable the autocomplete at all if you want maximum security and privacy. There are several ways to do this, depending on the web browser you use:

Internet Explorer 5 and higher:

  1. From Internet Explorer, choose "Tools" then "Internet Options";
  2. From the "Internet Options" multi-tabbed dialog box that appears, select the "Content" tab;
  3. Click the "AutoComplete" button;
  4. Uncheck everything;
  5. Click the "Clear Forms" button;
  6. Click the "Clear Passwords" button;
  7. Press "OK" to close the dialog boxes.
In Netscape 6:
  1. From the "Edit" menu, select "Preferences";
  2. Select and expand the "Privacy & Security" category;
  3. Under "Privacy & Security", select "Web Passwords";
  4. Remove the check beside "Remember passwords for sites that require me to log in" by clicking on the check box;
  5. Select the "View Stored Passwords" button;
  6. From the list of passwords, select the web site needed;
  7. Select "Remove" and click "OK";
  8. Click on "OK" to return to your browser.
In Netscape 7:
  1. From the "Edit" menu, select "Preferences";
  2. Select and expand the "Privacy & Security" category;
  3. Under "Privacy & Security", select "Passwords";
  4. Remove the check beside "Remember passwords" by clicking on the check box;
  5. Select the "Manage Stored Passwords" button;
  6. From the list of passwords, select the web site needed;
  7. Select "Remove" and click "OK";
  8. Click on "OK" to return to your browser.
In Mozilla Firefox:
  1. From the "Tools" menu, select "Options";
  2. Select the "Privacy" category;
  3. Expand the "Saved Form Information" section;
  4. Remove the check by clicking on the check box;
  5. Expand the "Saved Passwords" section;
  6. Remove the check by clicking on the check box. You can customize your browser to disallow storage of passwords for some of the pages you visit. To do this press the "View Saved Passwords" button;
  7. Select "Remove" and click "OK";
  8. Click on "OK" to return to your browser.
In AOL 5 or 6:
  1. Go to "My AOL"(v.5) or "Settings" (v.6) depending on the version of AOL that you are using;
  2. Select "Preferences";
  3. Click on "WWW" to open the window similar to Internet Explorer 5;
  4. Go to the "content" tab and click on "Clear passwords" to clean out the preset passwords.
Also for Internet Explorer:
  1. Load up regedit (Start -> Run -> Regedit then press Ok);
  2. Follow this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Explorer -> AutoCopmlete;
  3. From there find the Append Completion String value and change its string value to "yes";
  4. Restart IE.
  5. If you decide to turn the Auto Complete on, simply change the value back to "no".

How do I clean up autocomplete?

We offer a free program called IE Privacy Keeper that can automatically erase all autocomplete data stored on your computer: typed URLs, web search queries, local search queries, opened/saved documents, run auto complete list, etc.

IE Privacy Keeper is absolutely free! Click here to find out more about IE Privacy Keeper.

See also about auto complete: