How to View Activity History on Windows 11
Find out all about what took place on your PC within minutes
- Checking the history on a computer is a great way to monitor what your kids or employees do online.
- You may have also forgotten an important file or the location of your saved documents hence the need to access your computer's history.
- If you're wondering how to check the history on a Windows 11 computer, you'll be happy to know that it's fairly easy as we shall explore below.
If you’ve ever wondered how you can check your computer history on Windows 11, this article is a great place to start.
Windows 11 keeps a record of the websites you have visited and also the images, documents, and other files which you have downloaded. This helps you to access your favorite pages, sites, or apps easily.
There are many reasons to check your computer history, including recovering lost or accidentally deleted files and viewing the sites you’ve visited for business purposes.
In some cases, you may want to know if someone has gotten into your computer and has been using it without your knowledge.
The good news is that Windows makes it easy to check your computer history whenever you need to.
If you don’t fancy doing all the manual steps of clicking through various menus to check app history and recent activity on a laptop, you may find software for tracking your browsing history useful to make the process easier and faster.
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How do I check the recent activity history in Windows 11?
1. Use Event Viewer to view activity history
1. Hit the Windows key to open the Windows Search box.
2. Type Event Viewer in the search box, and then click Open on the first result.
3. Right-click on the Windows logs section to expand it.
4. You can now check whichever events want to see. For example, you can click on System.
5. You will now be able to see a current log of the number of times your computer has been on.
Users who want to view the recent activity history on their Windows 11 devices can use a built-in tool called Event Viewer.
This tool comes in very handy when it comes to checking what has been done on your PC. You can sort the events and browse those you are interested in.
2. Use Command Prompt to check the computer history
- Press the Windows key, type cmd in the search bar, and click Run as administrator.
- Type the following command and press Enter:
systeminfo
- That’s how simple it is to check computer history in Command Prompt. You will be able to see how many times your PC has been booted.
3. Check the Windows 11 computer’s history with the Run command
- Press the Windows + R keys simultaneously to open the Run command.
- Type recent in the dialog box and hit Enter.
- You will be directed to the recent folder location and see your computer history.
How to check the history on a Windows 11 computer when it has been deleted?
It is very easy to check your computer history on Windows 11. But sometimes you want to keep your activities private. In such cases, you may have to delete your computer history.
You can easily remove all stored search terms, websites, and apps from your computer with a few simple steps.
However, if small children or your employees are using your computer and you want to keep tabs on their activities, you have to check their history. But what happens if they delete their activity history? You can make use of software to track browsing history or do it manually as outlined below.
To check your computer history after it has been deleted, follow the steps below:
- Press the Windows key, type cmd in the search bar, and click Run as administrator.
- Type in the following command and press Enter:
ipconfig/displaydns
- You will now be able to see a list of all sites visited.
If you are using a shared computer and dealing with sensitive information, it goes without saying that you don’t want any information landing in the hands of unauthorized people.
We recommend you use one of our top recommended private browsers without tracking to mask your online activities.
Alternatively, you can use browsers with in-built VPNs that guarantee you privacy and enhanced security.
We hope this article was able to shed light on the different ways you can access your computer’s history with ease.
If you have any additional methods you have tried that worked out for you, we’d love to hear them. Share with us in the comment section below.
