How to Clear Your Google Search History

/ By

Searching on Google has become a daily habit for most internet users. We search for recipes, business listings, current events, sports scores and more. Without even thinking about it, you’re creating a history of all your Google searches that is accessible by logging into your Google account.

While search history can provide convenience by allowing Google to provide personalized results and recommendations, many users want to know how to clear their Google search history for privacy reasons. Clearing your search history is easy to do, and this comprehensive guide will walk you through the steps.

Why You Might Want to Clear Your Google Search History

There are a few key reasons why internet users want to clear their Google search history logs:

  1. Protect Privacy: Your Google search history contains a trove of personal information about your interests, habits, location and more. Even innocent search queries could be embarrassing if seen by others. Clearing your search history helps protect your privacy.
  2. Manage Your Digital Footprint: In today’s digital age, your online activities create a footprint that makes up your digital identity. The records of what you search for on Google can paint an unintended picture of you. Clearing search history allows you to curate your digital footprint.
  3. Reduce Personalized Search Results: Google uses your past searches to deliver personalized and relevant results tailored just for you. Sometimes those results become a bit too hyper-personalized or are influenced by previous searches you’d rather forget. Wiping your search history gives you a fresh start.
  4. Free Up Storage Space: Google collects and stores search history and other activity to sync across devices. For users low on storage space, deleting search history archives can free up a bit of room.
  5. Improve Google Search Experience: If your search history has become cluttered with irrelevant, distracting or erroneous results, clearing it completely resets Google’s algorithms to deliver high quality results fitting your current needs.
  6. Remove Sensitive Searches: Sometimes users end up searching terms they later regret or that contain sensitive personal information. Deleting entire search histories ensures those search terms are wiped from records.

How to Clear Google Search History Across Devices

The easiest way to delete your Google search history is to use Google’s privacy settings dashboard. From here, you can clear search history entirely or selectively remove specific terms. Instructions below:

Step 1. Sign into your Google Account

  • Visit Google.com and sign in to your Gmail account. Make sure you are signed into the account whose search history you want to manage.

Step 2. Go to your Google Account Privacy Settings

  • Click on the profile icon at the top right corner of the screen next to the search bar.
  • In the dropdown menu, choose “Manage your Google Account”.
  • On the left side panel, click “Privacy”.
  • Click “Activity controls”.

Step 3. Select “Search history”

  • On the Activity Controls page, scroll down to the “Search history” option and click on it.

Step 4. Click “Delete” to wipe your search history

  • At the top, click the three vertical dots beside “Search History”.
  • Select “Delete”.
  • Confirm that you want to delete search history by date or all history.
  • Click “Delete” to confirm.

Once you complete these steps, your Google search history will be fully cleared from records across any device you’re logged into with that Google account.

How to Delete Specific Searches from History

If you just want to selectively remove certain searches from your history without wiping it completely, follow these instructions:

Step 1. Open your search history page

  • Follow Steps 1-3 above to access your search history.
  • At the top, click the three vertical dots.
  • Select “View and manage activity”.

Step 2. Review search terms and delete unwanted entries

On this page you will see your full search history in chronological order.

  • Scan the list and look for specific search terms you want permanently deleted.
  • Click the three dot icon beside each term and choose “Delete”.
  • Repeat for all searches you want removed.

Step 3. Confirm deletions

  • After selecting which searches to delete, click “Delete” at the bottom of the page to confirm. Only those individual searches will be wiped from your records.

How to Turn Off Google Search History Tracking

If you want to prevent Google from saving your search history and stop tracking your searches entirely, you can fully disable this feature:

Step 1. Access search history settings

  • Follow Steps 1-3 in the first section above.
  • Click the three vertical dots and choose “Settings”.

Step 2. Toggle off search history

  • Under “Web & App Activity,” uncheck the box next to “Include Chrome browsing history and activity from sites, apps, and devices.”
  • Click “Pause” to confirm.

With search history tracking disabled, your searches will no longer appear in your account history or influence results and recommendations.

How to Delete Google Search History

Here are the steps to delete your Google search history:

  1. Go to google.com and sign into your Google Account.
  2. Click on the profile icon in the top right corner and select “Manage your Google Account”.
  3. On the left sidebar, click on “Privacy”.
  4. Click on “Activity Controls”.
  5. Under “Web & App Activity”, click on “Search history”.
  6. Click on the three vertical dots next to “Search History” and select “Delete”.
  7. Confirm that you want to delete your search history by selecting a date range or deleting all history.
  8. Click “Delete” to confirm.

Your Google search history will now be cleared across any device you’re signed into with that Google Account.

To stop Google from saving your search history going forward, you can pause search history tracking under “Activity Controls”. You can also use Incognito mode when searching to avoid searches being saved to your history.

How to Delete Google Search History on Phone

Here are the steps to delete your Google search history on your phone:

  1. Open the Google app on your phone.
  2. Tap on your profile picture in the top right corner.
  3. Tap on “Manage your Google Account”.
  4. Tap on “Personal info & privacy”.
  5. Tap on “Activity controls”.
  6. Under “Web & App Activity”, tap on “Search history”.
  7. Tap on the three vertical dots in the top right corner.
  8. Tap on “Delete”.
  9. Select whether you want to delete search history from a certain date range or all time.
  10. Tap “Delete” to confirm.

This will clear your entire Google search history from your phone as well as any other device you’re logged into with the same Google account.

  • For Android phones, you can also go to Settings > Google > Manage your Google account > Data & privacy to access and delete search history.
  • On an iPhone, go to Settings > Google > Tap on your email > Search history and then tap “Delete search history” to remove it.

Going forward, you can pause search history tracking in your Google account settings to prevent searches from being saved.

How to Clear Google Search History on iPhone

Here are the steps to clear your Google search history on an iPhone:

  1. Open the Google app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap your profile picture in the top right corner.
  3. Scroll down and tap “Settings”.
  4. Tap “History settings”.
  5. Under “Web & App Activity”, tap “Manage activity”.
  6. Tap “Search history”.
  7. Tap the trash icon in the top right corner to delete your full history.
  8. Confirm deletion.

This will erase your entire Google search history from your iPhone as well as any other device signed into your Google account.

Alternatively, you can:

  1. Go to your iPhone Settings.
  2. Tap your Google account name.
  3. Tap “Search history”
  4. Tap “Clear search history” to delete it.

To stop saving search history on your iPhone going forward, turn off “Web & App Activity” in your Google account or pause search history in the Google app settings.

Let me know if you need any other help deleting your Google search history on your iPhone!

How to Clear Google Maps Search History

Here are the steps to clear your Google Maps search history:

  1. Open the Google Maps app on your phone.
  2. Tap on your profile picture in the top right corner.
  3. Scroll down and tap on “Settings”.
  4. Tap on “Maps history”.
  5. Tap on “Clear history”.
  6. Confirm that you want to delete all location history by tapping “Clear”.

This will erase your entire Google Maps search and location history from the app and your Google account.

Additionally, you can take these steps:

  1. Go to google.com on your browser.
  2. Sign into your Google account and go to “Manage your Google Account”.
  3. Click on “Privacy” on the left sidebar.
  4. Click on “Activity controls”.
  5. Under “Location History”, click “Manage activity”.
  6. Click the trash icon to clear your entire Google Maps history.

To stop Google Maps from saving your location history in the future, you can turn the setting off in your Google account or in the Google Maps app settings.

How to See Google Search History

Here are a few ways to see your Google search history:

On your computer:

  1. Go to google.com and ensure you are signed into your Google account.
  2. Click on the profile icon in the top right corner.
  3. Click on “Manage your Google Account”.
  4. On the left sidebar, click on “Privacy”.
  5. Click on “Activity controls”.
  6. Under “Web & App Activity”, click on “Search history”.
  7. You will now see your full search history in chronological order.

On your Android phone:

  1. Open the Google app.
  2. Tap your profile icon.
  3. Tap “Manage your Google Account”.
  4. Tap “Personal info & privacy”.
  5. Tap “Activity controls”.
  6. Tap “Search history” to see your full history.

On your iPhone:

  1. Open the Google app.
  2. Tap your profile icon.
  3. Scroll down and tap “Settings”.
  4. Tap “History settings”.
  5. Tap “Web & App Activity” to view your search history.

You can also see search history by going directly to myactivity.google.com while signed into your Google account in any browser.

Your Google search history is saved across any devices logged into your Google account. Review it anytime to see your past search queries.

How to Show Me My Browsing History

Here are a few ways to see your browsing history:

On Chrome desktop:

  1. Open the Chrome browser.
  2. Click on the 3 vertical dots in the top right corner.
  3. Hover over “History” and click on “History”.
  4. You will see your full browsing history.

On Chrome Android:

  1. Open the Chrome app.
  2. Tap on the 3 vertical dots in the top right corner.
  3. Tap on “History”.
  4. Tap on the tab that says “All” to see your full browsing history.

On Chrome iOS:

  1. Open the Chrome app.
  2. Tap on the 3 horizontal lines in the bottom right.
  3. Tap on “History”.
  4. Tap on “All” to see your full browsing history.

On Firefox desktop:

  1. Click on the Library icon next to the address bar.
  2. Select “History” > “Show All History”

On Firefox iOS/Android:

  1. Tap the 3 lines menu icon.
  2. Tap on “History” to see your browsing history.

On Safari iOS:

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap on “Safari”.
  3. Scroll down to “History” and tap on it.

You can also view browsing history on any browser by going to your Google Account and looking under “Activity Controls”.

Your browsing history is saved by your browser to help enhance your web surfing experience. Review it occasionally to manage privacy.

How to Delete All History of Google

Here are the steps to delete all history from your Google account:

  1. Go to google.com on your browser and sign into your Google account.
  2. Click on the profile icon in the top right and click “Manage your Google Account”.
  3. On the left sidebar, click “Privacy”.
  4. Click “Activity controls”.
  5. Scroll down and click “Delete activity by” and select “All time”.
  6. Deselect any activities you want to keep, like YouTube Watch History.
  7. Click “Delete” at the bottom.

This will delete your entire Google search history, browsing history, location history, YouTube history and any other Google account activity.

Additionally:

  • To delete Chrome browser history: Click the 3-dot menu > History > Clear browsing data.
  • To delete Maps timeline: Tap your profile icon > Settings > Maps history > Clear history.
  • To delete Play Store activity: Settings > General > Delete Play activity.

Make sure to do this on all devices logged into your Google account. Going forward, you can pause tracking in your Google account settings.

How to Clear Cookies Chrome

Here are the steps to clear cookies on Google Chrome:

On Desktop:

  1. Open Google Chrome.
  2. Click on the 3 vertical dots in the top right corner.
  3. Hover over “Settings” and click on “Privacy and security”.
  4. Under “Clear browsing data”, click on “Choose what to clear”.
  5. Select “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files”.
  6. Change the time range to “All time”.
  7. Click “Clear data”.

On Android:

  1. Open the Chrome app.
  2. Tap on the 3 vertical dots in the top right corner.
  3. Tap Settings.
  4. Tap Privacy.
  5. Tap Clear browsing data.
  6. Select Cookies, cache and other site data.
  7. Tap Clear data.

On iPhone/iPad:

  1. Open the Chrome app.
  2. Tap the 3 dots in the bottom right.
  3. Tap Settings.
  4. Tap Privacy.
  5. Tap Clear browsing data.
  6. Select Cookies and cached images/files.
  7. Tap Clear browsing data.

This will clear all cookies and cache from Chrome and reset your browsing data. Make sure to do this on all devices you use Chrome on.

How to Clear Search History on Google

Here are the steps to clear your search history on Google:

On your computer:

  1. Go to google.com and make sure you are signed in to your Google Account.
  2. Click on the profile icon in the top right and select “Manage your Google Account”.
  3. On the left sidebar, click on “Data & personalization”.
  4. Under “Activity controls”, click on “Web & App Activity”.
  5. Click on “Manage activity”.
  6. Click on “Search history”.
  7. Click the trash can icon to clear your entire search history.

On mobile:

  1. Open the Google app.
  2. Tap on your profile picture.
  3. Tap “Manage your Google Account”.
  4. Tap “Data & privacy”.
  5. Tap “Web & App Activity”.
  6. Tap “Manage activity”
  7. Tap “Search history” and then tap the trash can icon.

This will delete your entire Google search history across any device logged into your Google Account.

You can also pause Web & App Activity to prevent Google from saving your search history going forward.

How to Clear Google Search History on Android

Here are the steps to clear your Google search history on an Android phone:

  1. Open the Google app on your Android.
  2. Tap on your profile picture in the top right.
  3. Tap “Manage your Google Account”.
  4. Tap “Data & privacy”.
  5. Tap “Web & App Activity”.
  6. Tap “Manage activity”.
  7. Tap “Search history”.
  8. Tap the trash can icon to delete your entire search history.
  9. Confirm that you want to delete your search history.

This will erase your full Google search history from your Android phone and any other device signed into your Google account.

Alternatively:

  1. Go to your Android Settings.
  2. Tap Accounts > Google.
  3. Tap Manage your Google Account.
  4. Tap Data & Privacy > Web & App Activity.
  5. Tap Search History and then the trash can icon.

To disable search history moving forward, you can turn off Web & App Activity tracking in your Google account settings.

How to Clear Search History on Your Google Account

How to delete your Google search history that is saved to your Google account. You can delete your entire search history or selective parts of it.

To delete your full search history:

  • Go to your Search history page in My Activity.
  • Click “Delete” and then “Delete all time”.

To delete a custom date range:

  • Go to your Search history page in My Activity.
  • Click “Delete” and “Delete custom range”.

To delete a specific day:

  • Go to your Search history page.
  • Next to the day, click “Delete all activity from [day]”.

To delete a specific search activity:

  • Go to your Search history page.
  • Next to the search, click “Delete activity item”.

This will permanently delete the selected search history from your Google account. It emphasizes you cannot recover deleted search history.

How to Set up Auto-Delete to Clear Google Search History

Here are the steps to set up auto-delete for your Google search history:

  1. Go to your Google Account page and click on “Data & Privacy”.
  2. Under “Activity Controls”, click on “Web & App Activity”.
  3. Click on “Manage Activity”.
  4. Click on “Auto-delete activity”.
  5. Select the auto-delete time frame you want – every 3 months, every 18 months, or every 36 months.
  6. Make sure “Web & App Activity” and “YouTube History” are selected.
  7. Click “Confirm” to save the auto-delete settings.

This will now automatically delete your Google search history, along with YouTube history, after the selected time period.

You can choose shorter or longer time frames depending on your preference. The more frequent, the less search history Google will accumulate over time.

I’d recommend setting auto-delete for every 3 months as a good privacy practice if you want to minimize retained search history.

How to Delete Individual Search Items

Here are the steps to delete individual search items from your Google search history:

  1. Go to myactivity.google.com and sign into your Google account.
  2. On the left side, click on “Search”.
  3. Your search history will be displayed in chronological order. Locate the specific search item you want to delete.
  4. To the right of the search item, click on the 3-dot menu.
  5. Click on “Delete activity item”.
  6. Confirm the deletion in the pop-up box.

This will permanently delete that individual search query from your search history.

Repeat these steps to delete any other specific searches you want removed from your records. Leaving the other search queries intact.

You can also delete multiple search items at once by checking the boxes next to them before clicking the trash can icon at the top.

How to Clear Your Search History from Your Web Browser

Here are the steps to clear your search history from your web browser:

Chrome:

  1. Click on the 3 vertical dots in the top right corner.
  2. Click on “History”.
  3. Click on “Clear browsing data”.
  4. Select the time range for deletion.
  5. Check the box for “Browsing history”.
  6. Click “Clear data”.

Firefox:

  1. Click on the “Library” icon next to the address bar.
  2. Select “History” > “Clear Recent History”.
  3. Choose the time range to clear.
  4. Select “Browsing & Download History”.
  5. Click “Clear Now”.

Safari:

  1. Click on “History” in the top menu.
  2. Select “Clear History…”
  3. Choose the time range.
  4. Click “Clear History”.

Microsoft Edge:

  1. Click on the 3-dotted icon.
  2. Select “Settings”.
  3. Click on “Choose what to clear” under Clear Browsing Data.
  4. Check “Browsing history” and select time range.
  5. Click “Clear now”.

Clearing your browser history will erase searches made directly from the browser’s address bar. Make sure to do this on all devices you use for searching.

Why Clear My Google Browsing and Search History

Here are some of the main reasons you may want to clear your Google browsing and search history:

  • Privacy – To protect your personal information from being seen or tracked by others. Web history contains details about your interests, location, habits, and more.
  • Security – Clearing history removes traces of potentially sensitive information you may have typed into forms or search bars.
  • Remove clutter – Over time, browsing history can become bloated with irrelevant or old entries that clutter up your records.
  • Improve Google results – A fresh start resets Google’s personalization so you get higher quality search results not biased by old searches.
  • Manage digital footprint – Your search and browse history comprises your digital footprint. Clearing it allows you to curate what this reveals about you.
  • Free up space – Browser history and Google account data takes up storage space on devices. Deleting clears out unneeded artifacts.
  • Fix issues – Sometimes clearing history fixes browser bugs or connection issues related to overloaded caches.
  • Remove dead ends – Clearing broken links, defunct sites, and 404 errors in your history cleans up search.
  • Reduce recommendations – Clearing history also resets advertising and recommendation algorithms tailored to your past.

Keeping browsing and search history private, optimized, and clutter-free are the main motivations for periodically clearing this data.

Why Can’t I Clear My Google Search History

Here are some common reasons you may be unable to clear your Google search history and solutions:

  1. You’re not signed in to the correct Google account. Make sure you are signed in to the account whose search history you want to delete.
  2. You don’t have permissions. Some accounts like managed G-Suite accounts may not allow you to delete history. Contact your admin for help.
  3. Sync issues. History may fail to clear if there are pending syncs across devices. Try again later.
  4. Browser caching. Try clearing cache and cookies in your browser then attempt deleting history again.
  5. Google is down. Google services may be temporarily unavailable. Check Google’s status page and try again later.
  6. You’re viewing history, not deleting. Make sure you are on the deletion page and not just viewing your history timeline.
  7. Timeframe is incorrect. If deleting a date range, make sure the dates are set correctly.
  8. Page didn’t fully load. Refresh the page and allow time for everything to load then try deleting again.
  9. Auto-delete is on. Check if auto-delete is enabled under Activity Controls. This automatically clears history after set intervals.
  10. Device sync issues. Make sure you clear history directly on any mobile devices as well as the web.
  11. You’re using dateless searches. Searches without dates may not properly clear. Delete your full history.

Let me know if you are still having issues so we can troubleshoot further!

How I Clear Google Search History

Here are the steps to clear your Google search history:

  1. Go to google.com on any browser and ensure you are signed into your Google account.
  2. Click on the profile icon in the top right corner and click on “Manage your Google Account”.
  3. On the left sidebar, click on “Privacy”.
  4. Click on “Activity controls”.
  5. Under “Web & App Activity”, click on “Search history”.
  6. Click on the three vertical dots next to “Search History”.
  7. Click on “Delete”.
  8. Select whether you want to delete search history from a specific date range or all time.
  9. Click “Delete” to confirm.

This will delete your entire Google search history from your account across all devices.

Alternatively, you can pause “Web & App Activity” in your Google account settings to stop search history from being saved in the future.

You can also use Google’s privacy dashboard at myaccount.google.com/privacy to review and delete search history.

Tips for Managing Google Search History

Here are some additional tips to help you protect your privacy through search history management:

  • Periodically delete search history – Make it a habit to regularly clear your search history, such as monthly.
  • Use Incognito Mode for sensitive searches – Searches in Incognito windows don’t get recorded in your history.
  • Check other connected apps – Clearing Google history won’t delete searches from the Chrome browser or Google Maps app, for example. These need to be cleared separately.
  • Limit search history tracking – Disable tracking features entirely for a set period of time or permanently. You can always re-enable it later.
  • Review account permissions – Google allows you to see which apps have access to your data and revoke account permissions as desired.
  • Leverage additional privacy settings – Google provides granular controls over location history, ad personalization, YouTube history and more.
  • Use alternate search engines – Search engines like DuckDuckGo and Ecosia do not collect personal search history data.

The Takeaway on Clearing Google Search History

Searching online leaves a trail of your digital footprint via Google search history tracking. For privacy and a clean slate, it’s important to know how to clear this sensitive data. With Google’s privacy dashboard, you can selectively or permanently delete search history with just a few clicks. Disabling tracking prevents future searches from being logged.

While Google search has become an integral part of our online lives, you remain in control over how much personal data is stored. Follow the steps in this guide for a fresh start, and incorporate search history management into your regular digital hygiene habits.

Don’t Miss Out:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I delete my Google search history?

  • Go to your Google Account, click on Data & Privacy > Web & App Activity > Manage Activity > Search history > Delete

How do I see my Google search history?

  • Go to google.com > Account > Data & Privacy > Web & App Activity > Manage Activity > Search history

Does deleting search history delete emails?

  • No, deleting search history only deletes searches logged to your Google account. Emails are not affected.

Can anyone else see my Google search history?

  • No, your Google search history is private and only visible to you while logged into your Google account. It is not visible to anyone else.

How far back does Google search history go?

  • Google stores search history for up to 18 months. You can delete any or all of your search history within that period.

How do I turn off Google search history?

  • Go to Data & Privacy > Web & App Activity > Turn off “Include Chrome browsing history and activity from sites, apps, and devices”

Will deleting search history delete Android history?

  • No, you’ll also need to clear your search history within the Google app on your Android device.

Is search history the same as web history?

  • Search history refers specifically to searches made on Google. Web history includes Chrome browsing history, logged Google searches, location history and other activity.

How frequently should I delete search history?

  • It’s best practice to delete search history at least every few months for privacy. You can set auto-delete intervals as well.

Does Incognito mode save history?

  • No, Incognito browsing does not save any history or leave traces of your Google search activity while in that mode.