How to Clear Your Google Search Browsing History in 3 Easy Steps
One bad search result in your history can leave a lasting impact on your personal and professional life. That’s why you’ll need to take control of your browsing history on Google. Clearing your Google search history is an important step to take in order to protect your digital footprint online.
By doing so, you not only control the information that others can find about you, but you can also prevent targeted ads and improve the security of your personal data. We’ll walk you through the steps to delete your search history in Google below.
Step-by-Step Guide to Deleting Your Google Search History on Desktop
Google collects and uses your search history to provide personalized experiences, such as relevant search results and tailored advertising. The information stored in your browsing history includes your search queries, visited websites, and even your location data.
While this may enhance your user experience, it may also pose risks to your privacy. Protecting your digital privacy starts with clearing your Google search history. This is a fairly simple process that you can follow from a PC, Mac, Chromebook, or other web-capable device.
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Sign in to your Google account
Head over to the Google website and sign in with your Google account credentials by pressing the Sign in button in the top-right.
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Access your search history
Once you’ve signed in, select Settings in the bottom-right corner.
Select Search History from the pop-up.
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Delete your search history
From the Search history page, you can delete individual searches from your history, wipe specific time ranges, or clear your entire search history in one go. Here’s how:
- How to delete individual searches: Find the search item you want to clear and click the adjacent “X” icon to delete it.
- How to delete results from specific time ranges: Click the Filter button above your history.
Choose an end date in the pop-up (the results will show everything before that date).
Press Apply.
Once the results are filtered, press Delete these results.
Confirm by pressing Delete in the pop-up box.
- How to delete all of your search history: Above your history, click the Delete button.
Select Delete all time from the menu to remove everything.
- How to turn off search history tracking: To turn off search history tracking, you’ll need to disable web and app activity for your Google account. On the search history page, press Saving to Web & App Activity at the top.
Next, press Turn off.
In the pop-up, press Turn off or Turn off and delete activity, depending on whether you want to remove your previous history or not.
Google will confirm that your history has stopped—press OK to confirm and exit the menu.
Clearing Google Search History on Mobile Devices
You can also clear your Google search history using your Android, iPhone, or iPad devices. The steps are the same on each platform. Follow these steps to complete the process:
- Open the Google app.
- Tap your profile picture or initials in the top-right.
- Choose Search History from the menu.
- Tap the delete (X) icon next to any individual results to remove that result from your history.
- Otherwise, tap Delete at the top.
- From the drop-down menu, select Delete all time to clear your history entirely.
With these steps, you’ve taken a significant step in safeguarding your digital footprint. Happy browsing!
Best Practices for Managing Your Browsing History
You shouldn’t just clear your Google search history once—that’s not enough to stay in control of your data. There are other steps you can (and should) take to help you manage your Google history and avoid giving up too much of your personal data.
To help you, here are some best practices you can follow for regularly managing your search history on Google. This’ll help you to maintain privacy and control over your digital footprint.
1. Regularly clearing your search history
It’s a fairly obvious one, but you should make a habit of frequently deleting your Google search history. This can help prevent your online activities from being easily accessed by others. It’s also a good idea to check your settings manually from time to time, just to make sure Google isn’t recording your data automatically.
To do this, follow these steps:
- Go to your Google My Activity page and select Delete activity by in the top-left.
- Choose a time range from the Delete activity pop-up menu—the results will be deleted automatically once you select it.
2. Using incognito mode for private browsing
When you need to conduct sensitive searches or visit websites privately, use incognito mode. This prevents your activity from being saved to the search history in your Google account.
To open an incognito window in various browsers, follow the steps:
- Google Chrome: To use incognito mode in Google Chrome, press the menu icon > New Incognito window.
Alternatively, press Ctrl + Shift + N (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + N (Mac).
- Microsoft Edge: Press the menu icon > New InPrivate window.
Alternatively, press Ctrl + Shift + N (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + N (Mac).
- Firefox: Press the menu icon > New private window.
Alternatively, press Ctrl + Shift + P (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + P (Mac).
Your browser isn’t listed? Don’t worry—the steps are the same (or similar) on most common web browsers.
3. Adjusting your search settings for privacy
You can enhance your privacy further by adjusting your Google search settings to stop all of your search results from being recorded.
To do this, follow these steps.
- Sign in to your Google account and select Data and privacy.
- Scroll to the History settings section and select Web & App Activity.
- Press Turn off to disable all web activity for your account.
- Alternatively, press Choose an auto-delete option and set a maximum retention period for your search results to be recorded.
4. Reviewing and managing your Google activity controls
Regularly review and manage your Google activity controls to ensure your privacy settings are up-to-date across the board—not just in your search results.
To check these settings:
- Open your Google Activity controls page and scroll to various settings such as Location History or YouTube History.
- Press any of the Subsettings checkboxes to enable or disable certain functionality.
- Click Turn off to stop Google from recording any information about those features.
- Otherwise, press Choose an auto-delete option to set a new retention period for those features.
5. Using alternative search engines for additional privacy
If you’re really paranoid about your data, you could consider using privacy-focused search engines that don’t track your activity.
Some potential options include:
By following these best practices, you can better manage your Google search history and protect your online privacy. You may also want to consider using a virtual private network (or VPN) to hide your identity online for additional privacy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Feeling confused? We’ll address some common questions related to clearing your Google search history and its impact on your digital footprint below.
Is clearing your search history enough to protect your privacy?
Clearing your search history is a good first step in protecting your privacy, but it’s not enough by itself. Don’t forget to take additional measures, such as deleting your browser search history (including cookies), using an incognito browser, and reviewing your account settings to ensure your data remains secure.
Can your search history still be accessed after you clear it?
Once you’ve successfully cleared your search history from Google, it should no longer be accessible to you or anyone using your device. However, Internet service providers, network administrators, or law enforcement agencies might still be able to access your search history under specific circumstances.
How long does Google keep your search history?
Google usually keeps your search history data for as long as you allow it—or until you manually delete it. To automatically delete your search history, you can set up an auto-delete feature in your Google activity controls, choosing retention periods of 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months.
What happens when you turn off search history tracking?
When you turn off search history tracking in your Google account, the search engine will stop saving your queries. However, keep in mind that Google might still collect some information about your searches in an anonymized form for analysis and improvements. You may also need to clear your browser history to remove any trace of previous searches from the browser itself.
Will clearing your search history affect personalized search results?
Yes, clearing your search history may lead to less personalized search results, as Google uses your search history to tailor its suggestions to your interests. However, for some users, a less personalized search experience may be a trade-off they’re willing to make for enhanced privacy.
