How to Check History on iPad After Deleted (2024)

Have you ever accidentally deleted your browsing history on your iPad and later realized you needed to access a site you previously visited? Or perhaps you want to check a website you visited months ago but can't remember the URL?

Recovering deleted Safari history on an iPad is possible if you act quickly and use the right methods. This guide will provide step-by-step instructions on how to check and restore your lost browsing history using different recovery options.

Why Recover Deleted Safari History on Your iPad?

Here are some common reasons you may want to retrieve your deleted Safari history:

1. Revisit a website you forgot to bookmark.
2. Regain access to pages you frequently visit.
3. Restore important research or information you browsed.
4. Recover sites you visited for legal/investigation purposes.
5. Troubleshoot an issue by checking your past browsing activity.
6. Fix a problem caused by accidentally clearing your history.

Recovering lost history gives you access to valuable data, saves you time re-finding sites, and provides a browsing record.

How iPad Stores Safari Browsing History

Before we discuss recovery, let's look at how the iPad saves your browsing history normally:

1. Safari on iPad stores the last 25 days of browsing history by default.
2. History includes all sites, web pages, searches, downloads, articles, and media.
3. The iPad syncs browsing history to iCloud, so it is available on all your devices.
4. Safari history is saved even when you close the tab or browser.
5. iPad only permanently deletes history after 25 days or if you manually clear it.
6. You can change the number of days of history iPad stores in Settings.

Knowing how iPad manages your Safari history helps understand how you can recover it when deleted.

Common Scenarios That Lead to Deleted Safari History

There are a few common situations that may result in your Safari history being deleted from your iPad:

1. You manually cleared the history in Settings or within the Safari app.
2. An iPad software update wiped the Safari history due to a bug or glitch.
3. Restoring your iPad erased the browsing history data.
4. Your iPad crashed, was damaged, or suffered water exposure, losing data.
5. The Safari app malfunctioned or became unresponsive, forcing you to reinstall it.
6. Your iPad storage was full, so older history was automatically deleted.
7. You accidentally tapped “Clear History” in the Safari menu.
8. A misbehaving app or iOS issue resulted in the corruption of Safari history files.
9. You performed a factory reset of your iPad, wiping all user data.

Being aware of what causes browsing history to be deleted allows you to prevent or recover from these scenarios.

Checking Deleted Safari History from iPad Backup

Before using data recovery software, first try to restore your lost iPad Safari history from an existing backup:

Restore from iTunesBackup!

1. Connect your iPad to the computer you normally sync with and open iTunes.
2. In iTunes, select your iPad under the playback controls.
3. Navigate to the Backups section and select “This Computer”.
4. Find the most recent backup of your iPad and click “Restore Backup”.
5. Allow the restore process to complete, then check Safari for your browsing history.

Restore from iCloudBackup.

1. On your iPad, open the Settings app and tap your Apple ID banner.
2. Select “iCloud” > “Manage Storage” > “Backups”.
3. Choose your iPad's backup file and tap “Restore” to initiate the restore process.
4. Once finished, your Safari history from the backup will be restored.

If you don't have an iTunes or iCloud backup containing the deleted history, you will need to use data recovery software.

Using Data Recovery Software to Restore Deleted iPad History

If the backup restore fails, specialized iOS data recovery software provides an alternative way to restore lost Safari history on your iPad.

Here is how data recovery software works:

1. Download, install, and launch the data recovery program on your computer.
2. Connect your iPad to your computer using the USB cable.
3. Select the option to scan your device for deleted data.
4. The software will thoroughly scan your iPad and find any recoverable Safari history.
5. You can preview found history items before choosing to recover them.
6. Finally, select the histories to restore and recover them to your computer or back to your iPad.

The top iPad data recovery software programs make it easy to get back deleted iPad browsing history. Just ensure you use a reliable program from a reputable provider.

Viewing Limited History on iPad via Settings App

The Settings app provides a way to view some recently deleted history on your iPad, with some downsides:

1. In Settings, go to Safari > Advanced > Website Data.
2. This shows websites you visited in the last 30 days but won't display the full history.
3. You cannot restore the history or see the date/time visited.
4. Bookmarked sites do not appear, only direct URL entries.

So, the Settings approach lets you view some deleted history but has limitations for data recovery purposes.

Best Practices for Successful iPad History Recovery

Follow these tips to ensure you can successfully recover deleted Safari browsing history from your iPad:

1. Don't continue using your iPad after deleting history, as this may overwrite data making recovery harder.
2. Have regular iPad backups via iTunes or iCloud, providing restore points to retrieve lost history.
3. Use reliable, well-reviewed data recovery software designed for iOS devices. Avoid scams.
4. Carefully follow all instructions provided by the recovery software for optimum results.
5. If possible, recover lost data soon after deletion, before it gets permanently overwritten.
6. Research and understand how iPad stores Safari history to aid in recovery.

Adhering to these best practices will maximize your chances of restoring deleted iPad browsing history when needed.

What If I Can't Recover Deleted Safari History on my iPad?

If you have exhausted all options and still cannot recover deleted Safari history on your iPad, here are some fallback approaches:

1. View browser history on any other previously synced devices to find lost sites.
2. Check emails for links you may have tapped to find lost web pages.
3. Use search engine keywords in Google to rediscover important websites you visited.
4. Consult your ISP or cell provider for browsing history records if necessary.
5. Enable more extensive history logging within Safari's settings for future reference.
6. Consider backing up your browsing data more frequently.

While frustrating, with some persistence, you may still be able to find lost web pages through these alternative methods.