What clearing your search history does
When you clear your Twitter search history, you remove the list of terms you have searched for on Twitter — the dropdown menu that appears when you tap the search box. This does not delete tweets you have posted, change who can see your account, or remove you from anyone's followers. It only erases the record of what you have searched for, so those terms stop appearing in your search suggestions.
Twitter stores this history on your device and in your account settings. Clearing it from one place does not automatically clear it from the other, so you may need to do both to fully remove your search terms from appearing as suggestions.
Key Takeaways
- Clearing search history removes only the dropdown suggestions when you search — it does not delete your tweets or change your privacy settings.
- You can clear history from your device by deleting individual searches or clearing the entire list at once in your Twitter settings.
- On the web version of Twitter, you clear history through your account settings under Privacy and Safety.
- On the mobile app, the option to clear search history is in Settings and Privacy, then Privacy and Safety.
- Clearing history from your device does not automatically clear it from Twitter's servers, so check both locations if you want a complete removal.
How to clear search history on the Twitter mobile app
Open the Twitter app and tap the search icon at the bottom of your screen. Tap the search box at the top. You will see a list of your recent searches appear as a dropdown. To delete individual searches, swipe left on any search term and tap the trash icon that appears. To clear all searches at once, tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner of the search box and select "Clear all".
This clears the history stored on your phone. To also clear the history Twitter stores on its servers, go to your profile icon in the top left, tap Settings and Privacy, then Settings. Scroll down and tap Privacy and Safety. Look for the option labeled "Search history" and toggle it off, or select "Clear search history" if that option appears. The exact wording changes between app versions, but the setting is always in this Privacy and Safety section.
How to clear search history on Twitter's web version
Go to Twitter.com and log in. Click the search box at the top of the page. Your recent searches will appear in a dropdown below the box. To delete a single search, hover over it and click the X that appears on the right side. To clear all searches at once, look for a "Clear all" button or link at the bottom of the dropdown menu.
To clear the history Twitter stores in your account settings, click your profile icon in the top right corner and select Settings and Privacy. Click Settings. On the left side menu, click Privacy and Safety. Scroll down until you find Search history or Search settings. You can toggle search history off entirely, which prevents Twitter from storing future searches, or select an option to clear your current history. Save your changes.
The difference between clearing local and account history
Your search history exists in two places: on your device (phone or computer) and on Twitter's servers tied to your account. When you clear searches from the dropdown menu, you are only clearing the local copy on that device. If you log into Twitter on a different phone or computer, you will still see your old searches there, because they are stored in your account settings, not on the first device.
To remove searches from appearing on all your devices, you must also go into your account settings and turn off search history storage or clear it there. After you do this, the searches will stop appearing as suggestions no matter which device you use to access Twitter. However, Twitter may retain some data about your searches for analytics purposes — clearing your search history removes it from your visible suggestions, but does not may provide Twitter has deleted all internal records.
What happens if you turn off search history storage
If you toggle off the option to store search history in your Privacy and Safety settings, Twitter will stop saving your future searches to your account. This means new searches will not appear as suggestions when you use the search box on any device. However, searches you made before turning this off will remain stored unless you also clear them manually.
Turning off search history storage does not affect your ability to search Twitter — you can still search for anything you want. It only prevents those searches from being saved and suggested to you later. If you turn the setting back on, Twitter will begin storing searches again from that point forward.
Why you might want to clear your search history
You may want to clear your search history if you have searched for sensitive topics and do not want those terms appearing as suggestions if someone else uses your device. You might also clear it for privacy reasons — to keep a record of your interests from being stored in your account. Some people clear their history regularly as part of managing their digital footprint.
Clearing search history is different from clearing your tweets or changing your follower list. It only affects the suggestions that appear when you search, not what you have posted or who can see your account. If you want to remove tweets you have posted or change who can see your profile, those are separate settings in your Privacy and Safety menu.
Troubleshooting: search history still appears after clearing
If your searches still appear as suggestions after you cleared them, you likely cleared history on only one device or in only one location. Check that you cleared history both in the search dropdown and in your account settings under Privacy and Safety. If you use Twitter on multiple devices, you need to clear history on each one separately.
Another reason searches may reappear is if you have search history storage turned back on in your settings. Go to Privacy and Safety and check whether the search history toggle is on or off. If it is on, Twitter will continue to save new searches. You can turn it off to stop this, but you will need to manually clear existing searches first. If you have done all of this and searches still appear, try logging out completely and logging back in, which sometimes refreshes your settings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does clearing search history delete my tweets?
No. Clearing search history only removes the list of terms you have searched for. Your posted tweets remain on your account and visible to whoever can see your profile. To delete tweets, you must go to each tweet individually and select delete, or use Twitter's archive read feature to remove multiple tweets at once.
Can other people see my search history?
No. Your search history is private to your account. Other people cannot see what you have searched for on Twitter, even if they follow you or have access to your device. Only you and Twitter can see your search history.
If I clear search history, will Twitter stop recommending tweets to me?
No. Clearing your search history does not change Twitter's recommendation algorithm or the tweets that appear in your feed. Twitter uses many signals beyond search history to recommend content. Clearing search history only removes the dropdown suggestions when you click the search box.
Do I need to clear search history on both the app and the website?
You should clear it in both places if you want to be thorough. The app and website store separate local copies of your search history on each device. However, both pull from the same account settings on Twitter's servers, so clearing history in your Privacy and Safety settings will remove it from both the app and website once that change syncs.
What if I want to keep some searches but delete others?
On both the app and website, you can delete individual searches by swiping left (on mobile) or hovering and clicking the X (on web). You do not have to clear your entire history at once. You can delete specific searches one at a time and keep the rest.