Hi all, the browser is not working properly since this afternoon. PC (Win11) was shut down normally. But it kept saying “Brave didn’t shut down correctly” (which is solved [Brave didn't shut down correctly - #3 by CerealLover]). However, I found that the browser history stop updating since afternoon; also both history, caches and cookies cant be deleted in settings. Could someone please help? Thanks a lot
My usual boilerplate - hit it with a hammer - suggestions:
Sometimes, the following two steps, are sufficient to get Brave Browser running properly.
With BB not running, delete the ‘Caches’ folder, and delete the ‘Cookies’ file.
Caches (folder):
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Cache\
Cookies (file):
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Cookies
Clear cookies, cache, history, etc.
In a Brave Browser New Window, go to:
brave://settings/clearBrowserData
Select the Advanced tab
Set Time range to “All time”
ENABLE everything except:
- Passwords and other sign-in data
(Myself, I would NOT make that exception)
(because I would have a backup prepared.)
(In other words, be prepared.)
Click on the “Clear data” button
Change the path within the Brave Browser shortcut on your computer’s Desktop, to include switches that are intended to:
- Start up Brave Browser, showing a New Private Window
- Disable all experiments at
brave://flags - Disable extensions
- Disable GPU ie disable Hardware Acceleration
- Enable leak detection and if that failure occurs, then crash the browser (–enable-leak-detection --crash-on-failure are a combo)
- Produce error/log output to a file named ‘brave_console_out.txt’ on the Windows OS Desktop
The Brave Browser executable, brave.exe, is located in one of:
64 architecture
"C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe"
x86 architecture
"C:\Program Files(x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe""
Changed Paths:
64 architecture (change the path to):
"C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe" --incognito --no-experiments --disable-extensions --disable-gpu --enable-leak-detection --crash-on-failure 2> %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\brave_console_out.txt
x86 architecture (note the switches to add):
"C:\Program Files(x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe" --incognito --no-experiments --disable-extensions --disable-gpu --enable-leak-detection --crash-on-failure 2> %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\brave_console_out.txt
Notice that the existing path, BEFORE the additions, is enclosed by double-quote marks. And, everything added to the existing path, is located after the existing path.
Next, with Brave Browser running, test your issue.
When you think appropriate, restore the Brave Browser shortcut . . .
64 architecture
"C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe"
x86 architecture
"C:\Program Files(x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe"
Apologizes for confusion. Im looking for methods to keep the history up-to-date as it stops now rather than deleting these. Or are these steps do the same? Thanks
Huh . . . well, when you need to delete the browsing history, cache, etc., you know how to “hit it with a hammer.”
That aside . . . I read somewhere, that BB browsing history is not saved back in time, more than 90 days. So, you would have to manually do the work of recording - keeping a bookmarks diary in effect, or making notes for the long term.
Anyway, the location of your BB browsing history, is in your Brave Browser Profile folder. See the following for where your Brave Browser Profiles will be:
Example of where your initial BB Profile is - in the Default folder, and the BB browsing history database file is within that Default folder:
C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\History
With BB not running, you might accomplish your goal, by deleting both Caches (folder) and Cookies (file):
C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Caches
C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Cookies
and for now, moving to some other location, the following 2 BB browsing history files:
C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\History
C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\History-journal
Then restart your Windows OS machine, and see how Brave Browser behaves. Upon that subsequent launch of Brave Browser, it will create new Caches, Cookies, and History.
Other than using Brave Browser to view the BB browsing history collection:
brave://history
You could use DB Browser for SQLite or some other method (search online) for editing and viewing.