index.md

---

title: downloads.erase()
slug: Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/API/downloads/erase
page-type: webextension-api-function
tags:
  - API
  - Add-ons
  - Extensions
  - Method
  - Non-standard
  - Reference
  - WebExtensions
  - downloads
  - erase
browser-compat: webextensions.api.downloads.erase

---

{{AddonSidebar()}}

The erase() function of the {{WebExtAPIRef("downloads")}} API erases matching {{WebExtAPIRef("downloads.DownloadItem", "DownloadItems")}} from the browser's download history, without deleting the downloaded files from disk.

To remove the files from disk, you need to use {{WebExtAPIRef("downloads.removeFile()")}}.

This is an asynchronous function that returns a Promise.

Note: If you want to remove a downloaded file from disk and erase it from history, you have to call {{WebExtAPIRef("downloads.removeFile()")}} before you call erase(). If you try it the other way around you'll get an error when calling {{WebExtAPIRef("downloads.removeFile()")}}, because it no longer exists according to the browser.

Syntax

let erasing = browser.downloads.erase(
  query                    // DownloadQuery
)

Parameters

• query

  • : A {{WebExtAPIRef('downloads.DownloadQuery')}} object.

Return value

A Promise. If the call was successful, the promise will be fulfilled with an array of integers representing the ids of the erased {{WebExtAPIRef("downloads.DownloadItem", "DownloadItems")}}. If no items matching the query parameter could be found, the array will be empty. If the call failed, the promise will be rejected with an error message.

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

Examples

Erase the most recent download:

function onErased(ids) {
  console.log(`Erased: ${ids}`);
}

function onError(error) {
  console.log(`Error erasing item: ${error}`);
}

let erasing = browser.downloads.erase({
  limit: 1,
  orderBy: ["-startTime"]
});

erasing.then(onErased, onError);

Erase everything:

function onErased(ids) {
  console.log(`Erased: ${ids}`);
}

function onError(error) {
  console.log(`Error erasing item: ${error}`);
}

let erasing = browser.downloads.erase({});
erasing.then(onErased, onError);

{{WebExtExamples}}

Note: This API is based on Chromium's chrome.downloads API.