Earlier we saw how to clear the last browsing session history in Internet Explorer 8 using CCleaner. There is a new GPO added which lets you disable the Reopen Last Browsing Session option. If you enable this policy setting, users will not be able to use the Reopen Last Browsing Session option from the Tools menu.
Method 1: Using the Registry Editor
1. Launch Regedit.exe and go to the following branch:
Note: The Recovery key does not exist by default. You need to create one manually.
2. Create a new DWORD value named NoReopenLastSession
3. Double-click NoReopenLastSession and set its value data to 1
4. Exit the Registry Editor.
Registry Fix
To automate the above, download noreopenlastsession.zip. Unzip and run the file noreopenlastsession.reg.
Method 2: Using the Group Policy Editor
1. Launch the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) and go to:
2. Set Turn off Reopen Last Browsing Session to Enabled.
3. Exit the Group Policy Editor.
Editor’s Note: Note that enabling this Policy only disables the Reopen Last Browsing Session option in the Tools menu in Internet Explorer. However, Internet Explorer 8 still saves the last browsing session history (in two .dat files) regardless of this Policy setting.
Related Posts
- How to Clear IE8 Last Browsing Session History Using CCleaner
- How to Enable InPrivate Filtering by Default in Internet Explorer 8
- How to Remove the “Download Windows Search” Prompt in Internet Explorer 8 Address Bar
- Register Internet Explorer (InPrivate) With Default Programs in Windows 7 and Vista
- How to Enable or Disable Aero in Windows Vista
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Thanks for the link to automate — no reopen last session. This was very annoying. I have added your website to my favorites page.
Once again, it show MS did not know what they are doing. sometime people do want to restore the las browsed sessions – accidentally closed the browser with multiple tabs. Chrome.exe has the command line to –restore-last-session
to let users create a short cut to reopen the previous sessions. Why is this so hard for them to understand.
I am using Vista 64-bit with IE8. I needed to add a QWORD (64-bit) Value instead of a DWORD (32-bit) Value in order for this to work. Hope this helps.