How do I get Internet Explorer to stop automatically filling in user n

How do I get Internet Explorer to stop automatically filling in user names and passwords on sites that I have already visited? I don’t want other users to be able to access my personal web sites!
- Jan

This question was answered on September 9, 2002. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

The “AutoComplete” feature that is built into versions 5 and 6 of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is one possible cause of the auto fill that you are experiencing It is also what causes a list of possible web sites to appear when you start typing in the address bar.

Some users find it very handy, while others find it very irritating If you access your bank account, personal e-mail or any other personal sites at your place of work, this “AutoComplete” feature can create some real security issues for you.

To make changes to the AutoComplete settings, open Internet Explorer, then click on the ‘Tools’ menu and select ‘Internet Options’ When the Internet Options window opens, click on the ‘Content’ tab (generally in the middle), then click on the ‘AutoComplete’ button.

In the AutoComplete Settings window, there will be three options for the feature; Web Addresses, Forms and User names and passwords on forms Simply remove the checkmark from whichever area that you wish to discontinue using it.

If you don’t want to permanently turn off the feature, but want to get rid of information that is being stored, click on one or both of the buttons (Forms and Passwords) in the ‘Clear AutoComplete History’ section.

If you want to clear the history of which web sites have been visited, go back to the ‘General’ tab and look towards the bottom of the box for the ‘Clear History’ button.

Another possible cause for your username and password to automatically appear on certain sites is from a ‘cookie’ (a small file that serves as a unique identifier, much like a grocery stores frequent buyer card) that you allowed to be put on your computer.

Sites that use cookies to retrieve this information generally ask if you want the site to remember your ID or password, so be sure to pay attention to the login screen of these sites On most sites, clicking on the ‘Sign Off’ or ‘Log Off’ button/link will generally get you back to the initial ‘Sign On’ screen, which is where you can turn off the ‘remember’ option.

You can also quickly clear away all the cookies that have accumulated on your computer’s hard drive by going to the ‘Tools’ menu, then on ‘Internet Options’ and clicking on the ‘Delete Cookies’ button.

If you do like the AutoComplete feature, you can use it by either double-clicking on any part of a form or login screen or pressing the up or down arrow once the cursor is in a box or form.

If you have the older 4.x version of Internet Explorer, you can access the AutoComplete settings by clicking on the ‘View’ menu then on ‘Options’ or ‘Internet Options’, the on the Advanced tab at the far right Scroll down to the ‘Browsing’ section and remove the checkmark from the ‘Use AutoComplete’ entry.