Manage & delete your Search history - Computer (2024)

When you search on Google with Web & App Activity turned on, Google saves activity like your Search history to your Google Account. Web & App Activity saves data about the things you do across Google services, including associated info like locations, in your account to make your experience more personalized. We use your saved activity to give you more personalized experiences, like app and content recommendations.

In My Activity, you can:

  • Delete Search historysaved to your Google Account.
  • Manage Search settings like what activity Google saves and when Google auto-deletes your history.

Your Search history can also be saved to your device, like when you use the Google app while signed out of your Google Account. Learn how to manage your on-device Search history.

Manage & delete Search history

Manage Search history saved to your Google Account

Delete Search history

Important: If you delete Search history that’s saved to your Google Account, you can’t get it back.

You can delete a specific activity, or delete your Search history from a specific day, a custom date range, or all time.

  1. On your computer, go to your Search history in My Activity.
  2. Choose the Search history you want to delete. You can choose:
    • All your Search history: Above your history, click Delete Manage & delete your Search history - Computer (1) Manage & delete your Search history - Computer (2) Delete all time.
    • A specific time period: Above your history, click Delete Manage & delete your Search history - Computer (3) Manage & delete your Search history - Computer (4) Delete custom range.
    • A specific day: Next to the day, click Delete all activity from [day] Manage & delete your Search history - Computer (5).
    • A specific activity: Next to the activity, click Delete activity item Manage & delete your Search history - Computer (6).

Control your Search history

Tip: To add more security, you can require an extra verification step to view your full history.

Delete your Search history automatically

Important: If you set your Search history to auto-delete, you can still manually delete your history at any time.

  1. On your computer, go to your Search history in My Activity.
  2. On the left or at the top, click Controls.
  3. On the "Web & App Activity" card, click Auto-delete (Off).
    • If you find “Auto-delete (On),Google automatically deletes your Web & App Activity, which includes your Search history, after a specific time period. To change the time period or turn it off, click Auto-delete (On).
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Pause saving your Search history

Tip: Your Search history isn’t savedto your Google Account when you search and browse the web privately.

To pause saving your history:

  1. On your computer, go to your Search history in My Activity.
  2. On the left or at the top, click Controls.
  3. Under "Web & App Activity," click Turn off.
  4. Click Turn off or Turn off and delete activity.
  5. If you choose “Turn off and delete activity,” to select and confirm what activity you want to delete, follow the additional steps.

Manage Search history saved on your device

Delete browser history

Even if your Search history isn’t saved to your Google Account, or you delete it from My Activity, your browser might still store it.

You can delete your browser history:

  • In Chrome: Learn how to delete browsing history and other browsing data.
  • In other browsers: Check your browser’s instructions.

Turn off Search customization while signed out of your Google Account

If you’re signed out from your Google Account when you search on Google, you may find recommendations related to your recent search. If you don’t want to get these, turn off Search customization.

  1. On your computer, go to google.com.
  2. At the bottom, tap Settings Manage & delete your Search history - Computer (7) Search settings Manage & delete your Search history - Computer (8) Search customization.
  3. Turn off Search customization.

How Google deletes your history in your Google Account

When you choose to delete activity manually or activity is deleted automatically based on your auto-delete setting, we immediately start the process of removing it from the product and our systems.

First, we aim to immediately remove it from view and the data may no longer be used to personalize your Google experience.

We then begin a process designed to safely and completely delete the data from our storage systems.

For limited purposes, like business or legal requirements, Google mayretain certain types of data for an extended period of time.

Related articles

  • Delete your activity
  • Change your Google app settings
  • How Search works with your activity

Was this helpful?

How can we improve it?

Need more help?

Try these next steps:

Post to the help community Get answers from community members
Manage & delete your Search history - Computer (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Zonia Mosciski DO

Last Updated:

Views: 5407

Rating: 4 / 5 (51 voted)

Reviews: 90% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Zonia Mosciski DO

Birthday: 1996-05-16

Address: Suite 228 919 Deana Ford, Lake Meridithberg, NE 60017-4257

Phone: +2613987384138

Job: Chief Retail Officer

Hobby: Tai chi, Dowsing, Poi, Letterboxing, Watching movies, Video gaming, Singing

Introduction: My name is Zonia Mosciski DO, I am a enchanting, joyous, lovely, successful, hilarious, tender, outstanding person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.