Frequently asked questions
How LinkSweepr behaves, what it touches, and what it leaves alone.
Does LinkSweepr delete my whole browsing history?
No. It only removes visits to the domains you put on your list. Everything else in your history is left untouched. If your list is empty, LinkSweepr removes nothing.
Do the sites still work if I filter them?
Yes. LinkSweepr removes only the history record of a visit. It does not block, break, or slow the site, and it does not touch cookies or sessions. Pages load normally and you stay signed in, exactly as before.
Will filtering a site log me out or clear my cookies?
No. LinkSweepr never touches cookies, local site data, or sessions. It removes the history entry and nothing else, so your logins are unaffected.
Is this the same as incognito mode or clearing my history?
It is different from both. Incognito forgets an entire private session once you close it. Clearing history is a manual, all-or-nothing wipe. LinkSweepr is automatic and selective: it keeps only the domains you choose out of your normal history, continuously, while everything else is recorded as usual.
What does blocking a domain actually cover?
The domain, all of its subdomains, and every page beneath it. Blocking example.com also covers mail.example.com, app.example.com, and any path such as example.com/account.
Does it catch single-page apps that never reload?
Yes. Many modern web apps change the page without a full reload. LinkSweepr watches for those in-app navigations and removes a matching visit the moment it is recorded, not just on a full page load.
Does it slow down my browser?
No noticeable impact. The work is small and local: a quick check against your list when a page is recorded, plus an occasional sweep of existing history. There are no network requests to wait on.
Is anything sent to a server?
No. LinkSweepr makes no network requests, has no analytics, and runs no remote code. Your list and your history stay on your device. See the privacy policy for the full detail.
How do I stop filtering a site?
Open the options page and delete that domain's line from the list. Changes save automatically. From that point on, visits to the site are recorded in history normally again. Removing a domain does not restore visits that were already swept.
How do I back up my list or move it to another computer?
The options page can export your list to a plain text file and import one back. Export on one machine, then import the file on another to copy your setup. The file is just your domains, one per line.
Does it work in both Edge and Chrome?
Yes. LinkSweepr is one Manifest V3 extension that runs on Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome from the same code, with no per-browser setup.
Is it free and open source?
Yes. LinkSweepr is free and MIT licensed. You can read every line of the source on GitHub.
Still stuck? Open an issue or read the tutorial.