What gets deleted when you clear Google history
When you delete your Google history, you remove the record Google keeps of your searches, websites you visited through Google, videos you watched on YouTube, and apps you used on Android devices — but only the records tied to your Google account. Clearing your browser history (like Chrome, Firefox, or Safari) is separate and removes what your device remembers locally. Google stores this information on its servers, and deleting it means Google no longer shows those activities in your account settings or uses them to personalize your search results and ads.
The deletion is permanent once you confirm it. Google cannot recover activity you have deleted, though the company may retain some data for legal or security reasons for a limited time. If you share a device with others, deleting your history does not affect theirs — each Google account keeps its own separate record.
Key Takeaways
- You can delete all your Google history at once or remove specific items one by one from your Google Account page.
- Deleting history from your Google Account does not delete the same history from your web browser — you may need to clear both.
- You can set Google to automatically delete your activity after a certain number of months so you do not have to do it manually.
- YouTube history, Google Maps history, and search history are stored separately, so you may need to delete them in different places.
Delete all your Google history at once
Go to myactivity.google.com in your web browser and sign in with your Google account if you are not already signed in. On the left side of the page, click Delete activity by. A menu will appear with options for what time period to delete — you can choose All time to remove everything, or pick a specific date range like the last hour, day, week, or month.
Below the date range, you will see a dropdown that says All products. This means Google will delete your activity across Search, YouTube, Maps, Chrome, and any other Google service linked to your account. Click the dropdown if you want to delete history from only one service instead — for example, just YouTube or just Google Search. Once you have chosen your settings, click the trash icon or Delete button. Google will ask you to confirm. Click Delete again, and your history is removed.
Remove specific items from your history
If you only want to delete certain searches or activities rather than everything, go to myactivity.google.com and sign in. You will see a list of your recent activity organized by date. Scroll through to find the item you want to remove — for example, a specific search or website visit. Click on the item, and a details panel will open on the right side showing what Google recorded.
At the top of that panel, click the trash icon. Google will remove that single item from your history. You can repeat this for as many individual items as you want. This method takes longer if you have months of history to go through, but it is useful if you want to keep most of your history and only hide a few searches or visits.
Set up automatic deletion of your activity
Instead of manually deleting your history, you can tell Google to automatically delete your activity after a set number of months. Go to myactivity.google.com and look for the three-line menu icon (hamburger menu) in the top left corner. Click it and select Settings. Under Auto-delete activity, you will see options to automatically delete activity older than 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months.
Choose the time period you prefer and click Next. Google will ask you to confirm. Once you turn this on, Google will delete your activity on a rolling basis — so if you choose 3 months, anything older than 3 months will be removed automatically. You can turn this off at any time by going back to Settings and clicking Turn off auto-delete.
Delete YouTube history separately
YouTube history is stored separately from your Google Search history, so you may need to delete it in a different place. Go to youtube.com and sign in. Click your profile picture in the top right corner and select History. On the left side, click Clear all watch history. YouTube will ask you to confirm. Click Clear watch history, and all the videos you have watched will be removed from your history.
If you want to remove only specific videos from your YouTube history, go to your History page and click the X next to each video you want to delete. You can also pause your YouTube history so Google stops recording what you watch. On the History page, click Pause watch history on the left side. When you pause it, YouTube will not record new videos you watch, but your old history will still be there until you delete it.
Clear Google Maps location history
Google Maps keeps a separate record of places you have visited and searched for. To delete this, go to maps.google.com and sign in. Click the three-line menu in the top left and select Your places. Click the Timeline tab. You will see a calendar showing the dates you used Maps. Click on any date to see where Google recorded you going that day.
To delete a specific location, click on it in the timeline and then click the trash icon. To delete all your location history at once, click the three-dot menu at the top right of the Timeline page and select Delete all location history. Google will ask you to confirm. You can also turn off location history entirely so Google stops recording where you go. In the same menu, click Settings and toggle Location History to off.
Delete history from your web browser
Clearing your Google Account history does not automatically clear your web browser's history. If you use Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge, you need to clear that separately. In Chrome, click the three-dot menu in the top right corner and select History, then Clear browsing data. A window will open. Make sure All time is selected at the top, check the boxes for Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files, and click Clear data.
In Firefox, click the three-line menu in the top right, select History, then Clear Recent History. Choose Everything from the dropdown and click Clear Now. In Safari on Mac, click Safari in the menu bar, select Clear History, choose how far back you want to clear, and click Clear History. In Edge, click the three-dot menu, select History, then Clear browsing data, and follow the same steps as Chrome.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does deleting my Google history delete it from Google's servers completely?
Google removes your activity from your account and stops using it to personalize your results, but the company may keep some data for legal, security, or backup purposes for a limited time. Once that retention period ends, Google deletes it permanently. You cannot recover deleted history once you confirm the deletion.
Will deleting my history affect my search suggestions or recommendations?
Yes. Google uses your history to suggest searches and show personalized results. After you delete your history, Google will have less information about your interests and will show more generic results. Over time, as you search again, Google will build a new history and personalization will return.
Can I delete history from just one device?
No. When you delete your Google Account history at myactivity.google.com, it deletes from all your devices at once because the history is stored on Google's servers, not on your device. If you want to delete only your browser history on one device, clear your browser's history instead of your Google Account history.
What if I share my Google account with someone else?
Do not share a Google account. Each person should have their own account. If you share an account, deleting history removes it for everyone using that account. If you need to share access to something like a calendar or photos, use Google's sharing features instead of sharing the account itself.
Can I delete my history without signing into my Google account?
No. You must sign into your Google account to access and delete your activity history. If you want to search without creating a history, use your browser's private or incognito mode, which does not save your searches to your account or device.