How to Clear Google Search History

Google knows a lot about you based on your search history. That’s the point of Google Search, to learn about people and serve them relevant advertising. Fortunately, Google offers tools to allow you to remove that knowledge at your leisure.

How to Delete Google Search History From Your Account

Search history from your Google account can be deleted from any web browser at myactivity.google.com. That’s where you can see all of the data Google has on you.

From the “My Google Activity” page, select “Activity Controls.”

Under “Web & App Activity,” click “Manage All Web & App Activity.”

You’ll see all of the items you searched for, and if you use Android and Chrome with the account you’re signed into, all of the apps and websites you visited as well. Delete these individually with the “X” icon in the upper-right corner of each.

To delete items in bulk, first use the filter in the top left to specify which type of content you want to see.

Now tap the “Delete” button and choose a time range for how far back you’d like to erase. You can choose from the last hour, last day, all time, or select a custom range.

That’s all there is to it! This is a useful feature, but it can be cumbersome to do manually. Check out the section below to learn how to automate the process.

How to Clear Google Search History on iPhone

You can delete search history on an iPhone or iPad from the Google app. First, open the app and tap your profile icon in the top right.

Now select “Search History” from the menu. You can also quickly delete the last 15 minutes of history from here.

Tap the “Delete” drop-down menu toward the top half of the screen.

The menu gives you a few shortcuts to “Delete Today,” “Delete Custom Range,” or “Delete All Time.” The “Auto-Delete” option can be used to automatically delete your activity on a schedule.

If you select “Delete Custom Range,” you’ll be able to choose a before and after date for the span of history you’d like to remove.

It’s that easy! You don’t need to login to the browser to delete your Google Search history on an iPhone. This removes the history from searches made on all devices signed in with your Google account, not just those made on the iPhone or iPad.

How to Delete Google Search History on Android Phone

Google Search history on your Android device can be deleted from the Google app. Open the app and tap your profile icon in the top right corner.

Next, select “Search History” from the menu. If you’d like, you can quickly delete the last 15 minutes of history from here as well.

Tap the “Delete” drop-down menu toward the top half of the screen.

You have a few time-range options to choose from. You can “Delete Today,” “Delete Custom Range,” or “Delete All Time.” The “Auto-Delete” option can be used to automatically delete your activity on a schedule.

Select “Delete Custom Range” to specify before and after dates for the range of history you’d like to remove.

Simple as that! It’s nice to be able to delete your Google Search history directly from your Android device. This removes the history from all searches made on all devices signed in with your Google account, not just those made on the Android device.

How to Delete Individual Search Items

Individual Google searches can be removed from your Google account from the myactivity.google.com webpage. Once you’re there, select “Activity Controls.”

Scroll down a bit and click “Manage All Web & App Activity.”

Now you can see a list of all of the items you searched for, including all of the apps and websites you visited from your Android device. To delete an item, simply click the “X” icon in the upper-right corner of it.

Pretty easy, right? Another good option for removing just a few items is to delete the last 15 minutes of Google Search history.

How to Automatically Clear Search History on Google

Google allows you to automatically delete your search history on a recurring cycle from the “Activity Controls” dashboard on myactivity.google.com. If your Google account was created after June 2020, web and app activity—which includes Search—is automatically deleted after 18 months.

First, go to myactivity.google.com and select “Activity Controls.”

Next, click “Auto-Delete” at the bottom of the “Web & App Activity” card.

Enable “Auto-delete activity older than” and select when you want to delete data—3 months, 18 months, or 36 months.

Click “Next” to continue.

The following screen will give you the option to set up auto-delete for location history and YouTube history as well.

This is an essential Google feature that everyone should use. In most cases, there’s really no reason to have a lifetime log of your Google Search history just sitting in your account for anyone to find.

Clear Your Browser History, Too

The above options will delete the search history stored by Google’s servers along with your Google account. If you’re concerned about other people with access to your computer, phone, or tablet accessing your search history, be sure to also clear your web browser history. Your browser stores the addresses of the Google search pages you access along with the addresses of the other pages you access in your browser history.

RELATED: How to Clear Your History in Any Browser

Keep in mind that Google uses Search information and all its other services to personalize your search results, among other things. So, if you’re systematically clearing out all of the historical data from your Google account, you may notice a less “personalized” experience.