Google!! the giant search engine is watching us all like a God. It keep record of all your web and app activities be it on Google, YouTube, Google Assistant, or even on Google Maps. While the recorded activity helps Google build a personalized experience for you, it also benefits the company in building a profile to target you with ads.
But if you are not comfortable with Google storing your data, then you are at right place. In this tutorial, we will show you, how to check and delete your Google search history permanently including how to disable this feature.
How to check and delete your Google search history
Whenever your computer or mobile device utilizes a Google service, such as Google Search or YouTube, any searches you perform are logged into My Activity.
The My Activity feature from Google is useful for those who need to view their search history or would like a general idea of their searching habits. However, for others, the information in My Activity may cause a privacy concern.
Luckily, there is a fast and easy trick that lets you instantly delete all of your search history from Google permanently.To view, edit, and disable this feature, follow the steps below.
If you are not logged into any Google service, your web history is not logged by Google. It’s only being tracked in your browser.
Step 1: Navigate to the Google My Activity homepage. Once prompted, enter your Google account username and password. Once you have successfully logged in, you will see a screen similar to the example below.
Step 2: To clear all of your Google search history, click on Delete activity by -> All Time.
Step 3: Choose which services to delete activity from, or Select All to select all categories. Select Next.
Step 4: Tap on Delete. That’s it; All your Google activity, including searches on Google services, will be erased from the platform.
To delete individual Google search activity items, scroll through your My Activity page (or use the search function), find the search item you want to delete, select the three vertical dots(⋮) in the top right corner of the item, then select Delete.
How to disable Google search history
If you don’t want Google add your search queries in history from now on then you can disable all history tracking using the steps mentioned below.
Step 1: From the My Activity homepage, select Activity controls from the menu on the left.
Step 2: In the page that appears, look for the Web & App Activity section. Click the toggle switch for the Web & App Activity option.
Step 3: A pop up box will appear which read as Pause Web & App Activity?, simply click on Pause button.
This will change the blue color button into grey color showing that you have successfully paused search history.
How to auto-delete Google search history
Google has also rolled out a feature in 2019 which allows you to auto-delete Google search activity and location history. If you do not like manual process all the time then this features is for you, here are the steps which you need to follow:
Step 1: From the My Activity homepage, select Activity controls from the menu on the left.
Step 2: In the page that appears, look for the Web & App Activity section. Click Auto-delete (off) option.
Step 3: You will see a pop-up box with three options: Don’t auto-delete (which will be selected by default), Auto-delete activity older than 18 months, and Auto-delete activity older than 3 months.
Pick the one you want, click Next then Confirm, and your data will automatically be deleted at the chosen frequency.
Click on Got it button to save your preference. The same process you can repeat for Location history, YouTube history too.
How to clear Google search history from Chrome web browser on a Computer
If Google Chrome is your main web browser, you can clear Google search history from within the browser itself. Here are the steps which you need to follow:
Step 1: Open Google Chrome on your computer.
Step 2: At the top right corner, tap the three-dot (⋮) menu and navigate to More tools > Clear browsing data. You can also open it by using CTRL + Shift + Del key combination.
Step 3: Choose between Basic & Advanced options and select the amount of history you want to delete. You can also select time range like All time, last 4 weeks, last hour and so. Now, tap on Clear Data.
Conclusion
Whether you use Google a little or a lot, you have full control over clearing your Google search history whenever you want. So this was a short guide on how you can view, delete your Google history or disable it altogether.
If you have some burning questions in your mind, please let us know in below comment box. We will reply back to you as soon as possible. Stay tuned for more interesting tutorials.
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