You spend a lot of time online, searching for information. And like most of us, you use google to find information online, searching for answers about private stuff that you might not want anyone else to know. And as you know, google tracks and saves all your browsing data as well as online activities. If this makes you uncomfortable, or if you just want to prevent other people who use your PC or Phone from seeing your private searches, there is a way to Completely Delete Your Google History. This is how you do it.
1. Login to your Google Account:
2. Now go to the Google history page.
Click on https://history.google.com/history/
3. Delete Web & App Activity:
Click on Setting Icon at Right Top (See above screenshot) and select delete option from drop down menu.
A new window will pop up. From there, select Advanced and Select All time from the drop down menu. Then click on Delete.
Another box is popup, asking you to confirm your choice. Just click on DELETE and you are done.
MORE GOOD STUFFS:
Disable (or “pause”) your Google Web & App History:
1. From your Web & App History page, click the cog, then click Settings from the drop-down menu.
2. On the “Account history” page, there is a blue switch next to “Your searches and browsing activity.” Slide the switch to the left.
3. You’ll see a window asking, “Pause Web & App Activity?” Read the important information before your proceed. Then click Pause.
Your “Account history” page should say that your search and browsing activity is paused, and the switch should be grey.
4. If you want to go a little further, you can tell Google to “pause” all of the other history it logs from the other Google apps and services you use. This includes the places you go, information from your devices, and your YouTube watch history. Click on Show More Settings.
5. Slide all the switches to the left. After you slide each switch, you will see a confirmation message asking if you would like to pause each activity. Read the important information for each item, then click Pause.
That’s it. You are done.
Before deleting your Google search history, you need to know:
By default, Google personalizes your search results based on your search activity. For example, If you search for technical support and click on techyuga.com more frequently then all other websites, then Google will rank techyuga.com higher on the search results page every time you look for technical support.
If you delete and disable your history, then your returning search results will be broader and less specific to you. So techyuga.com won’t show up at the top of the results, even though it’s your favorite site.
Deleting and disabling your history does NOT make you invisible to Google:
The reality is that it’s pretty much impossible to be invisible to Google. But you can be prudent. Start by eliminating all Google apps and services from your daily web use. And use search engines that don’t track your search activity, such as DuckDuckGo, Ixquick, and Startpage.
Remember that time you did a Facebook search of your partner’s ex? And before that, when you had a huge crush on your sweetie, you’d check his or her profile page slightly too often. Facebook Does. Just like Google, Whenever you search for something on Facebook, your search terms get stored in your Activity Log. Here’s how to how to delete facebook search history
How does My email(Gmail in this case) saves my Google search history if i am not logged in? Please explain as your explanation is puzzling me. If i am just searching on Google, using Opera or Safari etc… what you just said won’t apply, does it?
Excellent Question, Zed.
There are four ways I’m aware of that Google can tailor what they show you based on what they know about you. I’ll describe these from most information about you to least:
Search History:
If you are logged into Google (for example with an account such as Gmail, Google+, Search Console, or Google Analytics) AND you have not disabled the Search History feature (which allows Google to track the searches you’ve performed previously) – Google can use this information to show you results and ads it’s algorithms believe will be more relevant for you. This information is tied to your account, not your computer — so it “follows” you even on other devices where you might also log in.
What you can do: if you don’t want Google to track your search history, you can turn this feature off in settings. Better yet, log out of your Google accounts.
Cookies:
Cookies are computer specific (they do not follow you to other devices) and work similar to Search History. It enables Google to display what it thinks will be more relevant results and ads based on your most recent searches and activities. (By default, Google Cookies have a 2 year expiration date but you can clear your cookies whenever you want). Cookies also help Google retain information about your search preferences (e.g. How many results to show, safe search settings, preferred geographic location, preferred language etc.)
What you can do: you can set your computer to reject cookies but this is not recommended since so many websites, including Google, really do provide a better user experience when these are enabled. You can also clear your cookies whenever you want. And finally, you can use your browser’s “stealth” mode to turn off tracking for the duration of your browsing session. Different browsers have different names for this. For example, Chrome calls it “Incognito,” Internet Explorer calls it “InPrivate.” Safari calls it “Private.”
More about cookies here: https://www.google.com/policies/…
Device Location Services:
Smartphones have location services that enable some apps to use your exact GPS location. For example, Google Maps is an obvious use of this information to help know where you are so that it can provide driving directions in real time. Google Chrome also uses location services. If you use Google Chrome as your web browser on a mobile device, you should assume that Google Search is accessing this information as well to improve the precision of location based searches such as [restaurants near me].
What you can do: You can always turn off location services on your phone’s settings.
IP Address:
Even if your browser settings are set to reject the use of cookies, you aren’t logged in, and you’re not on a Smartphone — Google can still use your IP address to know where in the world you are at the city, town, or even postal code level. Like location services, this too is intended to improve the quality of location based search queries.
What you can do: there are ways to change your IP address. For example, you can be sitting in a coffee shop in New York and use a service that would change your IP address to somewhere far far away.
I hope, it helps.
Any other question? Let us know. We will be happy to help.
Thank you for your prompt reply.
I think it would be good to mention to readers that History deletion and account tweaking is when a user is Logged in.
Thank you very much for sharing and for helping the community.
Very Good Suggestion, Zed. Will do. Thanks.