How to enable DuckDuckGo’s Fire Button and what does it remove on iOS 17?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
DuckDuckGo’s Fire Button on iOS clears local browsing traces — cookies, website caches, favicons, open tabs, back‑button history, visited URLs and granted permissions — and can now optionally delete Duck.ai chat history (Duck.ai is the in‑app AI service) [1] [2]. The Fire Button will not remove bookmarks, downloaded files, or 1st‑party cookies/storage for “Fireproof” sites, and you can manage Fireproof sites and restart behavior in Settings [1].
1. What the Fire Button actually does — a one‑tap wipe
DuckDuckGo’s official help pages spell out the Fire Button as a local “kill switch” that erases traces of websites you’ve visited: cookies, website caches, favicons; browsing session information such as open tabs, back‑button history and visited URLs; and permissions you’ve granted to sites (geolocation, camera, microphone) [1]. Independent writeups from 2021 described the tool as wiping browsing data and closing open tabs, and reviewers often summarize its effect as erasing tabs and browsing data with one tap [3] [4].
2. What it does not remove — important exclusions
DuckDuckGo’s help page explicitly lists things the Fire Button does not clear: 1st‑party cookies and storage for sites you’ve marked as Fireproof, bookmarks, downloaded files, and DuckDuckGo Search settings and associated storage [1]. Some third‑party reporting and guides also note that Fireproof sites are exempted from being signed out when you “fire” the browser, preserving login cookies for those sites [5].
3. New optional behavior on iOS — Duck.ai chat deletion
Recent product updates say you now have the option to make the Fire Button also delete Duck.ai chat history — an opt‑in extension of the Fire Button’s scope for users of DuckDuckGo’s integrated AI/chat feature [2]. The App Store release notes likewise list “Added the ability to delete Duck.ai chats using the Fire Button,” indicating the option is present in the iOS app [4].
4. How to enable or customize the Fire Button on iOS — where to look
DuckDuckGo’s settings let you manage Fireproof sites and choose whether to automatically clear tabs and data on restart, and product pages reference Settings as the place to configure Fire Window and Fireproof behavior [1] [6]. The update note about the Duck.ai deletion option implies the Fire Button behavior for chat history is controlled from the app’s Settings, though available sources do not provide step‑by‑step menus for toggling the Duck.ai option on iOS [2] [4].
5. User experience and edge cases — tabs, fireproofing, and requests from users
Users have long requested finer controls — for example, clearing data but not closing tabs — and DuckDuckGo’s issue tracker shows such requests were considered but closed as “not planned,” indicating the default behavior remains to close open tabs when you fire [7]. Third‑party articles and reviews repeatedly note that the Fire Button closes open tabs and clears session data, and that Fireproofing preserves first‑party cookies for whitelisted sites so you remain signed in [3] [6] [5].
6. Competing perspectives and implicit product tradeoffs
DuckDuckGo positions the Fire Button as a privacy safeguard that “erases traces” locally and provides more aggressive default protections than most mainstream browsers [1]. Critics or cautious users worry about accidental loss of tabs or session data — evidenced by GitHub issue requests asking for a data‑only option — while proponents value the immediacy of a single‑tap kill switch [7] [3]. The company balances convenience and safety via Fireproof sites and Settings toggles, but the tradeoff is that the Fire Button’s default is still an all‑in clear that can close tabs and sign you out of non‑fireproofed sites [1] [7].
7. Practical steps you can take now (based on available reporting)
Open the DuckDuckGo iOS app and look in Settings for Fire Button / Fire Window and Fireproof site management to control auto‑clear on restart and which sites are exempt from wiping [1] [6]. To enable the new behavior that also clears Duck.ai chats, check the app’s release notes or the Fire Button section in Settings for the opt‑in toggle mentioned in DuckDuckGo’s updates and App Store notes [2] [4]. Available sources do not give an exact navigation path or screenshots for the Duck.ai toggle in iOS Settings [2].
Limitations and sourcing note: this briefing relies solely on DuckDuckGo’s help and update pages, App Store notes, media reviews and project issue threads supplied above; claims beyond those documents are not asserted. All factual points are cited to the sources provided [2] [4] [1] [7] [3] [6] [5] [8].