Find & erase your Google Search history

When you search on Google with “Web & App Activity” on, Google saves activity like your search history to your Google Account. It helps Google improve your search results and suggestions.

With My Activity, you can:

  • Erase the search history saved to your Google Account.
  • Change your search settings. You can pick what Google saves and when Google deletes your history.

Your search history can also be saved to your phone or tablet. This happens when you use the Google app while you’re signed out of your Google Account. Learn how to manage Search history saved on your device.

Manage & delete Search history

Change your saved search history

Erase your search history

Important: Once you erase your search history that’s saved to your Google Account, you can’t get it back.

You can erase one search or all your Search history from a day, week, or ever.

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google app .
  2. At the top right, tap your Profile picture or Initial and then Search history.
  3. Pick what search history you want to erase:
    • All your Search history: Tap Delete Down arrow and then Delete all time.
    • Erase searches from a time period: Tap Delete Down arrow and then Delete custom range.
    • Erase searches from a day: Find the day, then tap Delete activity .
    • Erase one search: Find the search, then tap Delete activity .

Control your search history

Erase your search history automatically
Important: If you set your search history to erase automatically, you can still erase it yourself.
  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google app .
  2. At the top right, tap your Profile picture or Initial and then Search history and then Controls.
  3. Choose an option to proceed.
    • Based on when you want to automatically delete your Search history, you can tap Auto-delete activity older than and choose 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months.
    • You can tap Do not auto-delete activity, if you don't want to delete your Search history automatically.
  4. Tap Next.
Stop saving your search history
Tip: Your search history isn’t saved to your Google Account when you search and browse in Incognito mode.

To stop saving your history:

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google app .
  2. At the top right, tap your Profile picture or Initial and then Search history and then Controls.
  3. Under "Web & App Activity," tap Turn off.
  4. Tap Turn off or Turn off and delete activity.
  5. If you choose “Turn off and delete activity,” to select and confirm activity you want to erase, additional steps are necessary.

Change search history saved on your computer

Erase recent activity in the search bar
  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google app .
  2. Tap the Search bar.
  3. Find the activity you want to delete.
  4. Swipe left and tap Delete Delete.
Erase browser history

Even if your search history isn’t saved to your Google Account, or you delete it from My Activity, your browser might track it.

You can erase your browser history in:

Erase Google app searches made while signed out

If you use the Google app while you’re signed out of your Google Account, the app saves your search history to your device.

Tip: If you delete your search history in the Google app, it might still be saved in your Google Account. To find and erase your search history saved to your Google Account, go to My Activity.

To erase search history saved on your device:

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google app .
  2. At the top right, tap your Profile picture or Initial and then Settings and then Privacy & Safety.
  3. Tap Clear app history.
  4. In the pop-up confirmation, tap Clear all.

To erase searches from the Search bar:

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google app .
  2. Tap the search bar and then Manage History and then Delete.
  3. Choose what you want to do.
    • Based on what you want, you can tap:
      • Delete today
      • Delete custom range
      • Auto-delete
Turn off search customization while signed out of your Google Account
  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google app .
  2. At the top right, tap the Person icon and then Settings and then Privacy & Safety.
  3. Tap Signed-out search.
  4. Turn off Search customization.

Fix problems with your search history

Erased history shows in My Activity
  • Connect your device to the internet: If you erase your history from My Activity on one device, it can show on another device that’s offline. When that device connects, it erases the search history.
  • Clear your cache and cookies: Learn how to clear your cache and cookies.
The search bar still shows erased history
If you use the Google app while you’re not signed in, search customization can be on. This helps Google give better suggestions.

To erase search history saved on your device:

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google app .
  2. At the top right, tap the Person icon and then Settings and then Privacy & Safety.
  3. Tap Clear app history.
  4. In the pop-up confirmation, tap Clear all.

How Google erases your history in your Google Account

When you erase activity manually or it’s erased automatically, the process starts to remove it from the product and systems.

We aim to remove it from view, and the data no longer personalizes your Google experience.

We then begin a process designed to safely and completely erase the data from our storage systems.

For limited purposes, like business or legal requirements, Google can retain certain types of data for an extended period of time.

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