Delete searches from your Google account right now
You can remove individual searches or your entire search history from Google in about two minutes. The fastest way is to go to myactivity.google.com, sign in with the Google account you use for searching, and you will see every search you have made. Click the trash icon next to any search to delete it, or use the delete button at the top to remove everything at once.
If you want to delete searches from your phone or tablet, the steps are the same — open a browser, go to that same website, and delete from there. You cannot delete searches directly from the Google app itself, but the website works on any device.
Deleting a search from your history removes it from your account. Google will no longer show you suggestions based on that search, and the search will not appear if someone else uses your device and looks at your Google account. However, your internet service provider and the websites you visited may still have records of your activity.
Key Takeaways
- Visit myactivity.google.com and sign in to see and delete individual searches or your entire search history.
- Deleting searches from your Google account removes them from your suggestions and search history, but does not erase records kept by your internet service provider or the websites themselves.
- You can delete searches one at a time or all at once, and the process takes the same amount of time on phones, tablets, and computers.
- Turning on auto-delete in your Google account settings will automatically remove searches older than a set number of months.
Delete all searches at once
If you want to remove your entire search history rather than individual searches, Google offers a bulk delete option. Go to myactivity.google.com, sign in, and look for the three-line menu icon in the top left corner. Click it and select "Delete activity by." You will see options to delete by date range — you can choose the last hour, the last day, the last week, the last month, or all time.
Select "All time" if you want to erase everything, then click "Delete." Google will ask you to confirm. After you confirm, your entire search history is removed from your account. This action cannot be undone, so make sure you want to delete everything before you proceed.
Deleting all your searches at once does not affect your Gmail, your Google Drive files, or any other Google services. It only removes the record of what you have searched for.
Set up automatic deletion of old searches
Instead of manually deleting searches, you can tell Google to automatically remove searches older than a certain amount of time. This way, your search history never builds up beyond what you choose to keep. Go to myactivity.google.com, click the three-line menu, and select "Auto-delete activity."
You will see three options: delete searches older than 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months. Pick the timeframe that works for you. Once you turn this on, Google will automatically delete searches that fall outside that window. You can turn it off at any time by going back to the same menu and clicking "Turn off auto-delete."
Auto-delete only applies to searches going forward. It does not delete your existing search history. If you want to remove old searches, you still need to use the bulk delete option first.
Clear searches on your phone or tablet
Clearing searches on a mobile device works the same way as on a computer because you are using the same Google account. Open any browser on your phone or tablet, go to myactivity.google.com, and sign in. You will see your search history and can delete individual searches or use the bulk delete option.
If you use the Google app on your phone, you can also clear your search suggestions directly from the app. Open the Google app, tap your profile picture in the top right, go to "Search history," and you will see a list of recent searches. Tap the X next to any search to remove it from your suggestions. However, this only clears suggestions — to fully delete searches from your account, you still need to use myactivity.google.com.
Clearing suggestions from the Google app does not delete the search from your account history. Other devices signed into your Google account will still see that search in their suggestions.
Understand what deletion actually removes
When you delete a search from your Google account, Google stops using it to personalize your results and suggestions. The search will not appear in your search history, and if someone borrows your device and signs into your Google account, they will not see that search. This is what most people mean when they say they want to delete their search history.
However, deletion does not erase records kept by other organizations. Your internet service provider can still see what websites you visited, even though they cannot see what you searched for on Google. The websites you visited can see that you came from a Google search, but not what you searched for. If you used a work computer or school computer, your employer or school may have records of your activity.
If you want to prevent your internet service provider from seeing your activity, you would need to use a VPN (virtual private network). If you want to prevent Google from collecting searches in the first place, you can use private browsing mode or turn off Web & App Activity in your Google account settings.
Delete searches from specific dates or websites
Google's activity page lets you narrow down what you delete. Instead of deleting everything or searching through your entire history, you can delete searches from a specific date range or from a particular website. Go to myactivity.google.com, click the three-line menu, and select "Delete activity by."
You can choose to delete searches from the last hour, last day, last week, last month, or a custom date range. You can also filter by product — if you only want to delete Google Search activity and not YouTube or Gmail, you can select that. This is useful if you want to keep most of your history but remove searches from a specific time period.
To delete searches from a specific website, go to myactivity.google.com and use the search bar at the top to find the website name. For example, if you searched for something on Wikipedia, type "wikipedia.com" in the search bar. Google will show you all the searches that led to that website, and you can delete them individually or all at once.
What happens if you do not delete your searches
If you leave your search history in your Google account, Google uses it to personalize your search results and suggestions. Over time, your search history builds a profile of your interests, which Google uses to show you ads tailored to those interests. The longer you keep your history, the more detailed that profile becomes.
Your search history is also visible to anyone who has access to your Google account. If you share your device with family members or coworkers, they can see your searches if they sign into your account. If someone gains unauthorized access to your account, they can see your search history as well.
Keeping your search history also means Google stores that data on its servers. If you are concerned about your privacy or straightforward do not want Google to maintain a record of your searches, deleting your history regularly or turning on auto-delete is the most straightforward way to reduce what Google keeps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does deleting my search history from Google delete it from my browser too?
No, these are two separate things. Deleting your search history from myactivity.google.com removes it from your Google account. To delete searches from your browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge), you need to clear your browser history separately. Both are worth doing if you want to remove all traces of your searches.
Can I delete searches without signing into my Google account?
No, you must sign into your Google account to see and delete your search history. Google uses your account to store and organize your searches, so you need to be logged in to access them. If you do not remember your password, you can reset it through the Google account recovery page.
If I delete a search, will Google stop showing me ads about that topic?
Deleting individual searches may take time to affect your ads, because Google uses your entire history to build your advertising profile, not just recent searches. Turning off Web & App Activity in your Google account settings will stop Google from collecting new searches and may reduce personalized ads more quickly than deleting old searches.
Does private browsing mode prevent Google from storing my searches?
Private browsing mode prevents your browser from storing searches locally on your device, but Google still records searches made while in private mode if you are signed into your Google account. To prevent Google from recording searches, you need to turn off Web & App Activity in your Google account settings, regardless of whether you use private browsing.
What if I accidentally delete a search I wanted to keep?
Once you delete a search from your Google account, you cannot recover it. Google does not have an undo option for deleted searches. If you regularly delete searches, consider using auto-delete with a longer timeframe (like 36 months) instead, so you have more time to recover something before it is automatically removed.