Where to find and delete your Google history

Google stores your search history and browsing activity across devices in your Google Account. To delete it, you go to myactivity.google.com, sign in with your Google account, and use the delete options there. You can delete everything at once, delete by date range, or delete specific items one at a time.

The process takes about two minutes. What you delete depends on what Google has recorded — your search queries, websites you visited through Google Search, YouTube videos you watched, and apps you used if you signed into them with your Google account.

Deleting your Google history does not delete your browsing history in Chrome or another browser. Those are separate. If you want both gone, you need to delete them in two places.

Key Takeaways

  • Go to myactivity.google.com, sign in, and use the delete menu to remove your Google search and activity history.
  • You can delete everything at once, choose a date range, or remove individual items.
  • Deleting Google history does not delete your browser history in Chrome or Firefox — you must delete those separately in each browser's settings.
  • If you turn on auto-delete, Google will remove your activity automatically after 3, 18, or 36 months.
  • Signing out of your Google account before browsing prevents Google from recording that activity to your account.

Step-by-step: Delete all your Google history at once

Open a web browser and go to myactivity.google.com. Sign in with the Google account whose history you want to delete. On the left side of the page, click Delete activity by.

A menu will appear with three options: All time, Last hour, Last day, Last week, Last month, or Custom range. Choose the time period you want to delete. Then click the Delete button. Google will ask you to confirm — click Delete again.

The deletion happens immediately, though it may take a few hours for the change to show across all Google services. Your search results and recommendations may look different after deletion because Google no longer has that history to personalize them.

Delete specific items or date ranges

If you only want to remove certain searches or activities, go to myactivity.google.com and scroll through your activity list. Each item shows the date, time, and what you searched for or did. Click on any item to see more detail, then click the trash icon to delete just that one.

To delete a range of dates without deleting everything, click Delete activity by on the left, then choose Custom range. Enter the start and end dates you want removed, then click Delete.

You can also filter your activity by type — for example, show only YouTube activity or only Chrome browsing — and delete just that category. Click the filter icon at the top of the activity list to see these options.

Turn on automatic deletion of Google history

Instead of manually deleting your history, you can set Google to delete it automatically. Go to myactivity.google.com, click your profile picture in the top right, then click Manage your Google Account. Go to the Data & privacy tab.

Scroll down to Web & App Activity and click it. You will see an option called Auto-delete. Turn it on and choose how often you want Google to delete your activity: every 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months. Google will then remove activity older than that age automatically.

Auto-delete does not happen instantly — Google removes old activity gradually over time. If you turn auto-delete on, you cannot recover activity older than your chosen period, so make sure that is what you want before you enable it.

The difference between Google history and browser history

Google history is what Google records about you in your Google Account — your searches, the websites you visit through Google Search, your YouTube activity, and your location history if you use Google Maps. Browser history is what your web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) records about every website you visit, whether you used Google to get there or not.

Deleting your Google history at myactivity.google.com does not touch your browser history. If you search for something in Chrome, that search appears in both places: in your Google Account history and in Chrome's browser history. To remove it completely, you must delete it from both.

To delete Chrome history, open Chrome, press Ctrl + H (or Command + Y on Mac), click Delete browsing data on the left, choose your time range, check the boxes for what you want to delete, and click Delete data. The same general process works in Firefox, Safari, and Edge, though the menu names differ slightly.

What happens when you sign out before browsing

If you sign out of your Google account before you search or browse, Google does not record that activity to your account. You can still use Google Search — it just will not be saved in your history. This is different from Incognito mode in Chrome, which hides your browsing from your browser but not from Google if you are signed in.

To sign out, click your profile picture in the top right of any Google page and click Sign out. When you are signed out, Google will not personalize your search results based on your past activity, and nothing you search for will be added to your Google Account history.

If you want to use Google services like Gmail or YouTube, you will need to sign back in. Signing out only prevents Google from recording new activity — it does not delete what is already there.

Deleting history on mobile devices

On an Android phone or iPhone, open the Google app or go to google.com in your browser. Tap your profile picture in the top right and tap Manage your Google Account. Go to the Data & privacy tab, scroll to Web & App Activity, and tap it. You will see the same delete options as on a computer.

Tap Delete activity by, choose your time range, and tap Delete. You can also delete individual items by tapping the trash icon next to each one. The process is the same whether you use an iPhone or Android phone.

Remember that deleting Google history on your phone does not delete it on your computer or other devices — Google stores your history across all devices in your account, but you can delete it from any device and it will be gone everywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does deleting my Google history delete my Chrome history too?

No. Deleting your Google Account history at myactivity.google.com only removes what Google recorded about you. Your Chrome browser history is stored separately on your device. You must delete Chrome history through Chrome's settings by pressing Ctrl + H (or Command + Y on Mac), clicking Delete browsing data, and choosing what to remove.

Can I recover my Google history after I delete it?

No. Once you delete your Google history, it is gone permanently. Google does not keep a backup you can restore. If you are unsure whether you want to delete something, you can delete a specific date range or individual items instead of everything at once.

Will deleting my history affect my Google recommendations?

Yes. Google uses your history to personalize search results, YouTube recommendations, and ads. After you delete your history, these recommendations will be less personalized until Google builds up new history about you. Your search results will be more generic.

Does Incognito mode prevent Google from recording my searches?

Incognito mode hides your browsing from your browser history and device, but if you are signed into your Google account, Google still records your searches in your Google Account history. To prevent Google from recording anything, you must sign out of your Google account before you search.

What is the difference between Web & App Activity and YouTube History?

Web & App Activity includes your Google searches, websites you visit through Google Search, and apps you use with your Google account. YouTube History is separate and only tracks videos you watch on YouTube. You can delete them independently — deleting Web & App Activity does not delete your YouTube watch history.