How do I delete my Google search history?

To Delete your Google history, go to myactivity.google.com, click on Delete the activity and select the period you want to delete. You can also enable the automatic deletion so I won't have to think about it anymore.

⚠️ Warning: Delete the’browsing history of Chrome Don't clear your history Google account, and the reverse is also true. The two are completely independent.

1. Manually delete your Google search history

Google records all of your research and a large portion of your browsing activity on this search engine, whether you're online or not. This data isn't public, but Google uses it internally to show you targeted ads through its own ad network, without reselling your raw data to advertisers.

That's why it's best to clean your recorded activity, not just your browser's cache or cookies. The manual method lets you choose exactly what you want delete.

Here are the steps to Delete Google search history for a computer :

• Open https://myactivity.google.com and sign in to your Google account.
• At the top of the page, right next to the search bar, click the button “Delete”.
• Choose the period : the last hour, the last day, a custom time frame, or “The entire period”.
• Google sometimes asks you to re-enter your password to view the complete list of your activities.
• You can filter by service (Search, Maps, YouTube) so you can delete only what you're interested in.

On android, iPhone Where iPad, open the Google app and tap your profile picture. Go to “Manage Your Google Account”, then in “Data and Privacy” to view your search history and clear it in the same way.

If you want to take it a step further and delete all traces of visited websites, you'll also need to clear your browser's cache and cookies at the same time.

2. Clear your browsing history in Chrome

Google Search History and the’browsing history of Chrome are two separate things. The browser stores a list of visited pages locally, regardless of what Google records on its servers. To clear everything, you must clear both separately.

Here's how to clear your browsing history in Chrome on computer :

1. Open Chrome and click on the three dots top right.
2. Click on Historical, then again on Historical in the submenu.
3. On the left, click on “Clear browsing data”.
4. Select the period desired (or “Entire period” to delete everything).
5. Check the boxes: browsing history, Cookies, hidden depending on what you want to delete.
6. Click on “Clear Data” to confirm.

On android Where iPhone/iPad, open Chrome, tap the three dots in the upper-right corner, then go to Historical and select “Clear browsing data”. The options are the same: you choose the time period and the types of data to delete (cache, cookies, history).

Clearing your cache and cookies can sometimes improve your browser's performance, in addition to protecting your privacy.

3. Enable automatic deletion

If you don't want to go through the trouble of clearing your history manually, Google offers a automatic deletion Very convenient. It deletes your data as often as you like. Once enabled, the history deletes itself automatically, without any action on your part.

Here's how to configure this option from your computer :

1. Open https://myaccount.google.com and log in.
2. In the menu on the left, click on Data and Privacy.
3. Scroll down to the section History Settings.
4. Click on Web and App Activity.
5. Select Automatic deletion, then select the desired time period.
6. Confirm your selection.

Google offers several retention periods: 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months. Any activity older than the selected time period is automatically deleted. On android, iPhone Where iPad, the steps are the same: open the Google app, tap your profile picture, then go to Manage Your Google Account and in the tab Data and Privacy.

Note: The available durations may change depending on Google updates. Check the options displayed in your settings.

4. Turn off Google Activity History and Web Search History

The private browsing Avoid leaving a local record of your search history, for example on a public computer. However, this does not prevent your internet service provider, your employer, or the websites you visit from seeing your activity. And if you're signed in to your Google account, your data is still sent to Google.

To stop this recording at the source, the best thing to do is to turn off tracking directly in this search engine's settings. Here's how:

• Open https://myaccount.google.com and log in.
• In the menu on the left, click on Data and Privacy.
• Go down to History Settings, then click on Web and App Activity.
• Click on Disable to stop tracking your searches.

From that same page, you can also disable other trackers, such as the’position history or that of Youtube. Each activity is managed separately, depending on what you want to keep and what you don't.

These methods don't make you completely invisible on the web, but they significantly limit the personal information that Google collects about you every day. This is already a good starting point for regaining control of your online privacy.

You can also check out the SafeSearch filter If you want to refine other Google search settings.