In antiquity the city was known by the ancient Greek name of Onchesmos or Anchiasmos and was inhabited by the Greek tribe of the Chaonians. Onchesmos flourished as the port of the Chaonian capital Phoenice (modern-day Finiq). In AD 552, it experienced repeated attacks from the Goths.
In 1878, a Greek rebellion broke out, with revolutionaries taking control of Sarandë and Delvinë. This was suppressed by the Ottoman troops, who burned twenty villages in the region. The town was included in the newly formed Albanian state in 1913 under the terms of the Protocol of Florence.
It was occupied twice by Greece in 1913 and from 1914 to 1916, the second time by Greek insurgents from the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus. It was then occupied by Italy between 1916 and 1920 as part of the Italian Protectorate on southern Albania. Sarandë was again occupied by Italian forces in 1939 and was a strategic port during the Italian invasion of Greece. During this occupation, it was called "Porto Edda" in honor of the eldest daughter of Benito Mussolini.
As part of Northern Epirus, the city came under Greek rule on 6 December 1940 until the German invasion in Greece in April 1941. On October 9, 1944 the town was captured by a group of British commandos under Brigadier Tom Churchill and local partisans of LANÇunder Islam Radovicka. The involvement of the British troops was considered problematic by LANÇ as they considered that they would use the town as their base and installs their allies from Greece in the area as British documents indicate that EDES forces also joined the operation. However, the British troops soon withdrew from the region, leaving the region to the Albanian communist forces
