It's normal to want to keep your search history safe from Google.
Google has been in the data security news section a lot -- and not always in a good way. People are learning to be suspicious of how data is used by Google, from leaking its own products to leaking customer data and even collecting the personal information of people who use Google apps.
Even if you don't own an Android phone, you probably use three or four Google services every day, so the company knows a lot about you. This includes your business trips and shopping habits, even if you have used the Services offline.
This does not mean that Google is trying to track you personally as the information is stored anonymously, but it is attached to you. Its main function is to allow advertisers to understand demographics and your interests in order to better target advertisements. However, if you've done things for work, watched things you shouldn't, or just don't want sites to be able to extract your private information, there are ways to delete Google History. stored on your devices.
There are also a number of alternative methods to remain anonymous online, which are listed at the bottom of the article. These include switching to DuckDuckGo or even accessing the dark web and dark websites.
How to Delete Google History
In the past, keeping track of what Google knew about you was quite tricky. Now, however, Google has a sign-up service known as “My Activity,” a page where you can see everything Google has learned about you. It's basically like web browser history, except this time it's dialed up to 11.
You can, of course, delete Google History data through your browser, but "My Activity" displays a much larger and more informative view, and makes it easy to clear individual items from your Google History with just a few clicks.
Once you've enabled My Activity, you'll be able to delete as much or as little of your Google data as you want, and it's relatively easy to do.
Use a web browser to Delete Google History in MyActivity
To delete Google history stored on your phone, tablet or laptop, follow the step below.
- Go to your My Activity page using a browser.
- Choose to filter your Google activity by "date" or "data type".
- Click on one of the options on the right side of the web page to start the removal process. To choose "View of the article" for a chronological list of the data that Google has collected. For "Delete activity by", proceed to "Step 5".
- Press the small " trash can " icon in the upper right corner. The data in this range will be automatically deleted. There's no pop-up confirmation box, so be careful before deleting any information you might need.
- You can also use the "Delete activity by" option on the left side. The option is hidden in the left menu on smartphones and can be accessed by tapping the ellipsis (three lines) in the top left corner.
- To clear Google history saved since starting your Google account using "Delete activity by", click " Today, " then select " All the time, " and " Wipe off. "
If this is the first time you've cleared your Google history, you'll receive a warning explaining how Google may use your data to improve its services. But if you still want to delete your Google history, click OK and you're done.
Clear Google History in Google Chrome
To clear only your search browsing history, cookies, and cache on Chrome, follow this.
- Click the Chrome menu in the upper left corner of your browser window.
- Now select Parameters among the options you can also type 'chrome://settings' in the search bar and press Enter.
- Then click Clear browsing data, located under Confidentialité et sécurité.
- A new tab will open where you can choose Basic ou Advanced tools. Basic is a way to quickly clear Google history while Advanced gives you more control over individual items, such as passwords.
Du Pedestalsc, you can delete your Google browsing history from all connected devices, clear cookies and other site data (which will sign you out of most sites), and delete cached images and files. This is useful for freeing up space, especially if your browser is a bit slow, but can cause sites to load slowly the next time you use them.
Clear Google History on Android
On your Android device, open Google Chrome and follow these steps:
- Tap the three vertical dots in the upper right corner.
2. Now press History.
3. Then press Clear browsing data… in the new window.
4. Confirm when finished.
All of your Google search history and website history will be gone after performing these steps, so make sure you've saved all sites, data, etc. somewhere else.
Clear Google History on iPhone
For iPhone users, open Google History and follow these steps to clear your history:
- Tap Suite in the lower left corner.
2. Then press History.
3. Then press Clear browsing data… about cookies and iMessage search history.
All your browsing history on your iPhone in Chrome will be deleted after performing the steps given above.
Configure automatic deletion
Google offers an option to automatically clear your data. If you prefer to keep certain data, it is better to avoid this function. However, if you feel that manually deleting your Google data is complicated, visit the Google Activity page and follow these steps to set up the automatic deletion feature:
- Select the Automatic deletion (Disabled) option under the Web and App Activity section of the activity page.
2. Choose how often you want the data to be deleted and select Next.
3. The next page will review some of the activity that Google will remove if you continue. Assuming you're ok with that, click Continue and a confirmation page will appear.
Stay anonymous online
If you are very concerned about protecting your privacy or want to ensure a greater level of anonymity online, you can do the following:
Use Google's incognito mode
In Google, go to File > New Incognito Window, you can also type Ctrl + Shift + N. This will open a new window which will appear dark gray and display a spy icon. Everything you do on Incognito is not stored in your history and as soon as you close the window, your searches disappear.
Note that this method only sends a do not track flag to third-party websites and trackers, so it is up to them to honor the request.
While this is a great way to keep your search history clear, using any incognito or private mode in a browser does not hide your IP address, it only prevents certain data from being stored long term on the device used.
Using DuckDuckGo
If you want to ditch Google altogether, switch to DuckDuckGo, the "privacy-conscious search engine."
Unlike other search engines, when you click on a link through DuckDuckGo, the site you're sent to doesn't know anything about the words you used to find it. Your data is also not collected for advertising purposes, as DuckDuckGo earns money based on the keywords a user searches for rather than the person's details.
StartPage is another great alternative. It is also a privacy-based search engine that anonymizes search queries and offers an anonymous viewing option that helps against tracking, malicious code execution and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some more answers to your questions about Google activity and your online privacy.
I want to save my passwords but delete everything else. How can I do this?
If you delete all your Google data, it is possible to deselect the option under Clear browsing data to clear passwords. But, if you want more security, you can use a browser extension like Last Pass to store all your passwords in one secure place.
Similar to Google or Chrome storing these passwords for you, Last Pass will autofill the passwords for you.
Can I permanently close my Google Account?
Yes. If you no longer want to use your current Google Account, you can permanently delete it. We have an article here that explains the whole process.
If you visit the Google account webpage, you can click on the option to download all your data and then delete your entire Google account and everything that goes with it.
Remember that this action will completely erase all of your Google-related information. This includes Google Docs, emails, contacts, etc. If you're using an Android device, you'll need to create or use another Google account to access many features and back up your device.
Delete your search history from Google
A fairly simple process, deleting your Google search history via MyActivity or simply using the built-in Google Chrome tools takes two minutes at most.
Have you encountered any browser issues that weren't fixed until you cleared your browser history? Do you have concerns about the data stored by Google? Feel free to share your thoughts below.
