Almost all of them use the Google search engine. With each search, Google keeps track of what you were looking for and uses that information to influence future search results. The ability to predict future outcomes helped make them popular. However, if you don't want Google to keep track of your every search, this article shows you how to easily delete your Google search history.
Delete the Google search history from the browser
- You need to go to the page and log into your Google account.
- When you're on the page, look at the top left next to "My Activities" and click on the hamburger or three-line menu. Works on both desktop and mobile page on Safari, Chrome, etc. Using the same link as above.
- In the menu options under “My Activities”, locate the “Delete Activity For” option and click on it with your desktop or tap on your mobile.
- You will now see a pop-up that will allow you to choose how much of your search history to delete.
The options include:
- Last hour
- Last day
- Everlasting
- Custom range
For the latter two (Always and Custom Interval), you have an additional set of options. If you choose "Always", you will be asked to specify which Google service you want to include. There are 15 in total, including Play Store, Gmail, Google Apps, Drive, Maps, Image Search, and YouTube.
- If you want to delete everything, leave everything selected, click "Next" and you will have successfully deleted your entire Google search history. However, you can deselect anything you want to leave intact and just delete YouTube or image search, for example.
Choosing from a custom interval allows you to specify a time period that you want to remove. It could be the last month, the last six months, or the last six years. There are no time restrictions, so how long or short you want to select is entirely up to you.
Quick deletion of Google search history on iOS
Although you have the custom interval option above, what if you want something shorter than a day of search history? Google has added a dedicated extension feature called "Quick Delete". This is as simple as it sounds, with Google allowing users to delete the last 15 minutes of their search history.
- Start by opening the Google app. Follow the same steps as above and tap on your profile picture in the top right corner.
- Once the pop-up appears, you will immediately see "Delete last 15 minutes" directly under the "Search history" banner. This is the same general area in the menu where you located the “My Activities” section from the previous steps.
- Tap “Delete last 15 minutes” and the app will immediately perform the action. In case you accidentally hit it or have immediate regrets, you can undo the action, but only for a few seconds. Otherwise, the last 15 minutes of your search history are gone forever.
Delete Google search history on Android phone
- On your Android phone, open the Google app. Tap your photo icon and select "Your data in search".
- Scroll down the page to find “All Search Activities”.
- Scroll down the page again to find the "Delete" button. Tapping it will bring up a drop-down menu where you can choose “Delete today”, “Delete custom range”, “Always delete” or “Delete automatically”.
- Select the option you want to use to delete your Google search history.
- If you choose the “Auto-delete” option, you can allow Google to automatically delete your previous search history at a predefined time interval. The shortest period is three months.
