When clearing out entries in older versions of Internet Explorer (pre IE7) I was surprised to see that the entries in the address bar drop down box were retained. I couldn’t find where these entries were stored until I turned to the registry.

I was looking round the registry (as you do!) and noticed this entry under Internet Explorer: 

My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\TypedURLs

Below it are all a number of URL’s that have been manually typed in to Internet Explorer and these matched those in the drop down box. Clearing these entries removed them from the drop down address bar – however remember that making changes to the Registry should be made very carefully as damage to the Registry can stop your computer working!

Searching on the Internet I located a script by the Scripting Guy in an article called “How Can I Clear the List of URLs That Appear in the Internet Explorer Address Bar?“.

More information on this entry can be obtained from the following web links:

• Deleting history entries from the drop-down list box of typed URLs
• TypedURLs mystery (W2K)
• How to clear the History entries in Internet Explorer

Update (14th March 2008): According to an article called “Delete Browsing History” on IE Vista using the “Delete forms” button on the Delete Browsing History will also remove the TypedURLs entry (however it also removes all form data so use with care).

Related

• Tools for cleaning up the Windows registry
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 is out on release
• Tip: Quickly rename a bunch of files in Windows Explorer
• Event 400 Powershell
• Quick tip: Alt + Backspace restores field entry