Clear your search history in Google

Google stores your searches in your account if you are signed in. To remove them, go to myactivity.google.com in any browser while logged into your Google account. You will see a timeline of your activity across Google services — searches, YouTube views, maps, and more.

On the left side, click Search to show only your searches. Then click the trash icon at the top of the page. Google will ask if you want to delete all searches or searches from a specific date range. Choose your option and confirm. The searches disappear when ready from your account.

If you want to stop Google from storing searches going forward, stay on myactivity.google.com and look for Web & App Activity in the left menu. Toggle it off. This prevents new searches from being saved, though you can turn it back on anytime.

Clear your search history in Bing

Bing stores search history if you are signed into a Microsoft account. Go to account.microsoft.com and sign in. Click Privacy on the left side, then Clear activity.

You will see options to clear searches from the last hour, day, week, month, or all time. Select the timeframe you want and click Clear. Bing removes those searches from your account when ready. To prevent future searches from being saved, toggle off Browsing history on the same page.

Clear search history in your web browser

Your browser also keeps a local record of searches you have typed into the address bar and search box, separate from what Google or Bing stores. This history lives on your device, not in the cloud.

In Chrome: Press Ctrl + H (Windows) or Command + Y (Mac) to open history. On the left, click Clear browsing data. Check the box next to Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files, set the time range to All time, and click Clear data.

In Firefox: Press Ctrl + H (Windows) or Command + Y (Mac). On the left, click Clear Recent History. Set the time range to Everything and click Clear Now.

In Safari: Click Safari in the top menu, then Clear History. Choose how far back you want to clear and click Clear History.

In Edge: Press Ctrl + H and click Clear browsing data on the left. Set the time range and click Clear now.

Key Takeaways

  • Google stores searches in your account at myactivity.google.com, and you can delete them by date range or all at once from that page.
  • Bing stores searches in your Microsoft account at account.microsoft.com under Privacy, where you can clear them by timeframe.
  • Your browser keeps a separate local history of searches typed into the address bar, which you clear through the browser's own history menu, not through Google or Bing.
  • Turning off search history storage in Google or Bing prevents new searches from being saved, but does not remove searches already stored.
  • Clearing browser history and clearing account search history are two different actions — you may need to do both to remove all traces of your searches.

Clearing search history on mobile devices

Mobile phones store search history in the same places as computers, but the steps are slightly different because of the smaller screen.

On Android: Open the Google app and tap your profile picture in the top right. Go to Manage your Google Account, then the Data & Privacy tab. Scroll down to Web & App Activity and tap it. Tap the trash icon at the bottom and choose your time range. For browser history, open Chrome, tap the three dots in the top right, go to History, and tap Clear browsing data.

On iPhone or iPad: Open Settings and scroll to find your browser (Safari, Chrome, or Firefox). Tap it and look for Clear History and Website Data or Clear Browsing Data. For Google account searches, open the Google app, tap your profile picture, go to Manage your Google Account, tap Data & Privacy, and follow the same steps as Android.

What clearing search history does and does not do

Clearing your search history removes the record from your account and device, but it does not erase the fact that you searched. Your internet service provider and the websites you visited may still have records. If you used a work computer or school network, the network administrator may have logs. Clearing history is about removing your own records, not about hiding your activity from all possible observers.

Clearing history also does not affect personalized ads or recommendations you have already seen. Search engines use your history to build a profile of your interests, and that profile may persist even after you delete the history itself. If you want to reduce personalization, you need to adjust your account settings separately — usually under Privacy or Ad Preferences.

Prevent search history from being stored in the first place

If you do not want searches stored at all, use your browser's private or incognito mode. In Chrome, press Ctrl + Shift + N (Windows) or Command + Shift + N (Mac). In Firefox, press Ctrl + Shift + P or Command + Shift + P. In Safari, click File and select New Private Window. In private mode, your browser does not save searches or browsing history on your device.

Private mode does not prevent your search engine account from storing searches if you are signed in. If you are logged into Google while using incognito mode, Google still records your searches. To prevent that, sign out of your account before searching, or disable Web & App Activity in your account settings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does clearing my search history delete my passwords and saved payment information?

No. Clearing browsing data usually gives you the option to keep passwords and payment information. When you clear history, uncheck the boxes for passwords and autofill data if you want to keep them. Google and Bing store passwords separately from search history.

If I clear my search history, will Google stop showing me personalized ads?

Clearing history removes the record, but Google may still use other signals — your location, the websites you visit, your YouTube activity — to personalize ads. To reduce personalization, go to your Google account settings and adjust your ad preferences or turn off personalization entirely.

Can I clear only certain searches instead of all of them?

Yes. In Google, go to myactivity.google.com, find the specific search you want to delete, and click the trash icon next to it. In Bing, you can delete individual searches from your activity page. In your browser, you can usually delete history from a specific date range rather than all time.

Will clearing my history speed up my computer or phone?

Clearing browser cache and cookies may free up a small amount of storage space, but it will not noticeably speed up your device. The main reason to clear history is privacy, not performance.

What if I forgot my password and cannot sign into my Google or Bing account to clear history?

You can still clear browser history without signing in — that removes the local copy on your device. To clear your account history, use the password recovery option on Google or Microsoft's login page to regain access to your account, then follow the steps above.