Clear Wi-Fi History removes Wi-Fi connection history from your computer to protect your privacy. Wi-Fi network names (SSIDs) and MAC addresses can be used to track your physical location and movement history by correlating them with public Wi-Fi databases.

Important: Your currently connected Wi-Fi network is preserved. You will stay connected.

How to enable it

1. Open Windscribe Preferences
   

   
   
   

2. Go to Connection
   

   

3. Scroll down to Clear Wi-Fi History and click the arrow
   

   

4. Then click “Clear Wi-Fi History”.
   

   

What gets removed

Windows

1) Windows Event Logs

• WLAN-AutoConfig event log: contains Wi-Fi connection and disconnection events.

• NetworkProfile event log: records when you connect to different networks.

• NCSI event log: network connectivity detection events.

Location: Event Viewer → Applications and Services Logs
How to check: Open Event Viewer and compare these logs before and after clearing.

2) Network Profiles (Registry)

• All saved network connection information.

• Network names, types, and metadata.

Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles
How to check: Open Registry Editor (regedit) and navigate to this path.

3) Network Signatures (Registry)

• Unique identifiers for each network you have connected to.

• Both managed and unmanaged network signatures.

Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Signatures
How to check: Check both Unmanaged and Managed subkeys in Registry Editor.

4) NLA Cache (Registry)

• Network Location Awareness cache.

• Stores detailed network metadata and timestamps.

Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Nla
How to check: Look for Cache and Wireless subkeys in Registry Editor.

5) Wi-Fi profile files

• All saved Wi-Fi networks and their passwords.

• Except your currently connected network.

How to check: Open Command Prompt and run:

• Before: netsh wlan show profiles

• After: netsh wlan show profiles (should only show the current network)

 

macOS

1) Wi-Fi preferred networks

• All saved Wi-Fi networks in system preferences.

• Network names (SSIDs) and connection priorities.

• Except your currently connected network.

How to check: System Settings / System Preferences → Network → Wi-Fi → Advanced

• Before clearing: you will see a list of known networks.

• After clearing: only the current network (if connected) should remain.
  
  

2) Wi-Fi passwords from Keychain

• Saved passwords for all Wi-Fi networks.

• Stored in the macOS System Keychain.

• Except the password for the currently connected network.

Known limitation: Passwords stored in the Local Items keychain cannot be removed programmatically. These passwords are protected by iCloud Keychain and require manual deletion.

How to check: Open Keychain Access

• Search for AirPort network password in the System keychain.

• Before clearing: multiple Wi-Fi password entries.

• After clearing: only the current network password (if connected).

Note: Check Local Items separately. Passwords there require manual removal.

3) Wi-Fi diagnostic logs

• System logs containing Wi-Fi connection history.

• Connection timestamps and network changes.

Locations cleaned:

• /var/log/Wi-Fi.log*

• /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Wi-Fi*

• /private/var/log/Wi-Fi-*
  
  

How to check: Open Terminal and run:
ls -la /var/log/Wi-Fi* 2>/dev/null

4) Network configuration files

• SystemConfiguration preferences.

• Cached network information.

How to check: Compare the Wi-Fi network list before and after in System Settings / System Preferences.

Linux

1) NetworkManager Wi-Fi connections

• All saved Wi-Fi network configurations.

• Network names, passwords, and security settings.

• Except your currently connected network.

Location: /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/
How to check:

• nmcli connection show

• or sudo ls -la /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/

• Before: multiple Wi-Fi connection files.

•  After: only current connection (if any).

2) NetworkManager state files

• Connection timestamps.

• Recently seen Wi-Fi access points (BSSIDs).

• Internal configuration cache.

Locations:

• /var/lib/NetworkManager/timestamps

• /var/lib/NetworkManager/seen-bssids

• /var/lib/NetworkManager/NetworkManager-intern.conf

How to check: sudo ls -la /var/lib/NetworkManager/

3) wpa_supplicant configuration

• Wi-Fi configurations when using wpa_supplicant directly.

• Network credentials and security settings.

• Except currently connected network.

Location: /etc/wpa_supplicant/*.conf
How to check: sudo ls -la /etc/wpa_supplicant/

Note: Files are either removed completely (if no active connection) or updated to keep only the current network.

4) iwd (iNet Wireless Daemon) profiles

• Network profiles if using iwd instead of NetworkManager.

• Files named SSID.psk, SSID.open, or SSID.8021x.

• Except currently connected network.

Location: /var/lib/iwd/
How to check: sudo ls -la /var/lib/iwd/

5) systemd journal logs

• Service logs for NetworkManager, wpa_supplicant, and iwd.

• Connection and disconnection events.

How to check:

• Before: journalctl -u NetworkManager

• After: journalctl -u NetworkManager (should be minimal)

6) NetworkManager reload

• After clearing files, NetworkManager is restarted.

• This ensures changes take effect and clears the memory cache.

How to verify: systemctl status NetworkManager