How to quickly delete your Google search history

Keep your browsing habits a secret

If you use an Android phone, you probably know your device knows a lot about you based on your location and browsing history. It’s easy to keep unusual or embarrassing searches private by going incognito. However, if you’re logged in to your Google account, all searches you run from your browser or the Google app are saved in your search history. It’s easy to erase it from your phone and computer with a few clicks.

Deleting your search history from your Android phone

Using your phone, it takes a few taps to remove your recent queries or delete your entire search history. If you searched for something in the last 15 minutes, there is an easy way to delete your queries from within that time. Otherwise, follow the steps below for a more granular way to remove your recent searches.

From the Google Search app

1. Open the Google Search app.
2. Tap your profile picture in the upper-right corner.
3. Tap Search history.
4. Before you can continue, you must confirm your identity. To do so, tap the blue Verify icon at the bottom of the page.
5. Tap Continue and enter your screen lock pattern, password, PIN, or fingerprint.
6. Your full Search history appears at the bottom of the page, with an X next to each item and day.

7. Tap the X next to each query or day to delete it.
8. To delete items in bulk from your search history, tap the blue Delete icon and select from the available options: Delete today, Delete custom range, Delete all time, or Auto-delete. The first three let you delete all searches from the current day, a specific timeframe, or all of them, respectively. Auto-delete allows you to automatically delete searches older than 3, 18, or 36 months, letting you get rid of queries that aren’t relevant anymore.

Whichever option you choose, your search history is permanently removed. However, your browsing history isn’t cleared. We’re only talking about your Google search history.

From Google Chrome

If you use Chrome, you can clear your browsing history in just a few taps:

1. Tap the three-dot (⋮) menu in the upper-right corner.
2. Navigate to Settings > Privacy and Security.
3. Tap Clear browsing data.

4. Select the data you want to remove and from what range, and then tap Clear data in the lower-right corner.

Deleting your search history from your computer or web browser

If you don’t have your phone handy, delete your browsing history using your web browser:

1. Navigate to Google My Activity using your favorite web browser.
2. Confirm your identity to continue. To do so, click the blue Verify icon.
3. My Activity lists anything you may have done using Google’s services, including the apps you’ve used on your Android phone. To narrow your query to your Google searches, click Filter by date and product and select Search.

4. Your full Search history displays at the bottom of the page, with an X next to each item and day. Click the X next to each query or day to delete it.

5. To delete items in bulk from your search history, click the Delete icon and select from the available options: Delete today, Delete custom range, Delete all time, or Auto-delete. The first three let you delete all searches from the current day, a specific timeframe, or all of them, respectively. Auto-delete allows you to automatically delete searches older than 3, 18, or 36 months, letting you get rid of queries that aren’t relevant.

Like on your phone, only your search history is permanently removed, not your browsing data. To remove it using Chrome on your computer, follow these steps:

1. Click the three-dot (⋮) menu in the upper-right corner.
2. Navigate to Settings > Privacy and Security > Clear browsing data.
3. Select the data you want to remove and from what range, and click Clear data.

Keep it private

To keep your search history confidential, use incognito mode, as it prevents your queries from being recorded. However, if you forget to use it or want to clear your search history, you can do it quickly from the device of your choice.

To ensure your private data stays that way, there are various steps you can take to stay in control of your data and what happens to it.