clear google search history iphone safari

How to clear Safari browsing history on iPhone and iPad

Clear Safari browsing history on iPhone and iPad in a few simple steps

You'll definitely want to know how to clear Safari browsing history on iPhone and iPad . Know how to delete browsing history is part of basic user operation on all your devices, and is especially if you share devices with others. 

Luckily, deleting browsing history on Safari is easy and can be done in just a few taps, and is the same on iOS and iPadOS, so whether you're using an iPhone 15 Pro or an iPad Air , these steps will apply.

Remember, though, that deleting your browsing history only stops your activity being visible on that device. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will still be able to see the webpages you have visited. If you want to stop that, for ultimate privacy, you'll need to use one of the best VPN services .

The following screenshots were taken on an iPhone running iOS 17 . If you aren't running the latest version of your device's OS, we can show you how to update an iPhone or how to update an iPad .

• In Safari, tap the book icon
• Go to the history tab (clock)
• Select how far back to clear

Read on to see full illustrated instructions.

1. In Safari, tap the book icon

Firstly, open Safari and tap the book icon in the bottom bar.

2. Select the history tab (clock icon) and tap Clear

Now select the history tab (clock icon) and tap Clear at the bottom.

3. Select how far back to clear and tap Delete

Now choose how far back you'd like to delete : last hour, today, today and yesterday, or all time.

If you like, you can toggle on Close All Tabs , which will close every open tab that isn't in a tab group (we can show you how to use tab groups if you aren't sure).

Finally, when you're happy, hit Delete .

As you can see in the screenshot above, if you now go back to the history tab, your history will have been deleted.

For more iPhone tutorials, check out our guides on how to transfer data from iPhone to iPhone , how to clear RAM on iPhone , how to delete multiple contacts on iPhone and how to rearrange the iOS 17 Messages '+' menu .

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Peter is Reviews Editor at Tom's Guide. As a writer, he covers topics including tech, photography, gaming, hardware, motoring and food & drink. Outside of work, he's an avid photographer, specialising in architectural and portrait photography. When he's not snapping away on his beloved Fujifilm camera, he can usually be found telling everyone about his greyhounds, riding his motorcycle, squeezing as many FPS as possible out of PC games, and perfecting his espresso shots. 

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How to clear browsing history on Safari on iPhone or Mac

You can clear your Safari browsing history on both iOS and Mac

As tracking goes, Safari keeping your browsing history is less about privacy-busting security and more about just being useful. It's your history that means Safari remembers where to go to when you choose forward and back within a site, for instance.

It's also how Safari is able to offer you a list of sites that you regularly go to, on account of how handy it is to be able to back to them with a click. History also does keep things you may not expect, though, such as a list of items you've downloaded.

If you don't want that, though, or you're just fed up of Safari going to site addresses you haven't looked at in years, you can wipe the whole browsing history.

On a Mac, you can also wipe, for instance, just the last hour's browsing history. So if you share Safari and it's someone's special birthday coming up, you can avoid them inadvertently finding out you plan to surprise them with dance lessons.

How to clear search history on Safari on Mac

• In Safari, choose the History menu
• Select Clear History from the very bottom of the menu
• In the dialog box that appears, choose from clearing the last hour , today , today and yesterday , or all history
• Click on Clear History

Alternatively, within Safari you can press Command-Y and the current page will be replaced by a history list. There's a Clear History... button toward the top right.

Clicking on that gives you exactly the same dialog about choosing how far back you want to clear your browsing history. But this page does also give you one extra option — the ability to delete one specific item.

How to clear one item from Safari search history on Mac

• In Safari, press Command-Y
• From the long list, click once on a history item to select it
• Right-click to bring up a menu, then choose Delete

Alternatively, if you select one, two, or more items in the history list, you can then press the Delete key to remove them all.

That kind of precision removal is only possible on your Mac, not on iOS . However, whether it's precision or wholesale clearing of your history, though, there is a way to replicate it on iOS.

If you have set iCloud to share your Safari history, then just doing this on your Mac also removes the history from your iPhone, and iPad.

Otherwise, you're stuck with going to your iOS device. And then with clearing the entire history.

How to clear search history on iPhone

• Go to Settings on your iOS device
• Tap on Safari
• Scroll down to Clear History and Website Data
• Tap that, then tap Clear History and Data to confirm

One important thing to note is that you can't selectively remove, say, today's browsing history on the iPhone or iPad . It's all or nothing, with iOS.

What you leave behind

Clearing your history like this does remove the list of sites and pages you've visited. It does mean you can't go back to that site you read last Tuesday, not without remembering what it was and going there yourself.

What it doesn't remove, though, is the information that gets used by something like AutoFill. If you have your address, for instance, and you're used to online forms being filled out with it, you've still got that feature.

You've also still got anything you downloaded. It's purely that Safari won't keep the list of downloads.

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How to Clear Search History on iPhone

Clear selected Safari entries or your entire browsing history

In This Article

Jump to a Section

• Clear History Via Safari
• Clear History Via the Settings App
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Safari web browser on your iPhone keeps a log of web pages that you visit. If you want to clear your search history, you can do so through Safari or your iPhone's Settings app.

These procedures work for all recent versions of iOS.

Clear Browsing History Using the Safari App

Here's how to delete your browsing history through the Safari app on your iOS device.

Open the Safari app and tap Bookmarks (the icon that looks like an open book) at the bottom.

Tap History (clock icon).

Select Clear , and then select All time to erase your browsing history completely. Alternatively, choose The last hour , Today , or Today and yesterday .

Depending on the setting you chose, you've deleted your browsing history.

To delete individual entries, instead of tapping Clear , swipe from right to left over the website you want to remove, and then choose Delete .

Clear Browsing History Using the Settings App

You also can delete your browsing history through your iOS device's Settings app.

Tap Settings and then scroll down and tap Safari .

Scroll down and tap Clear History and Website Data .

In the confirmation box, tap Clear History and Data . You've deleted your Safari browsing history.

This method clears your entire browsing history, with no option to delete items selectively.

Open the Safari app and tap the book icon at the bottom of the screen. Tap the History icon (clock) and pull down on the screen to reveal the Search History field. Enter a search term .

You can't, but neither can anyone else. When you enter Safari's Private Browsing mode , the iPhone doesn't store your browsing history. To browse without recording the history, tap the Safari app > Tabs icon > [number] button > Private .

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2 Simple Ways to Clear Safari Search History

Last Updated: November 28, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was written by Gonzalo Martinez and by wikiHow staff writer, Rain Kengly . Gonzalo Martinez is the President of CleverTech, a tech repair business in San Jose, California founded in 2014. CleverTech LLC specializes in repairing Apple products. CleverTech pursues environmental responsibility by recycling aluminum, display assemblies, and the micro components on motherboards to reuse for future repairs. On average, they save 2 lbs - 3 lbs more electronic waste daily than the average computer repair store. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 506,312 times.

Do you need to delete searches that pop up when you click Safari's URL bar? Whether you want to delete Safari history on your Mac computer or iPhone, you can do this in a few simple steps.

• This will remove all history, cookies, and other browsing data from Safari.

• If you choose to leave this on, Safari will suggest searches more often as your browser history builds.

• You can choose: the last hour , today , today and yesterday , or all history .

Troubleshooting Safari History Data

• Go to Settings → Screen Time → Turn Off Screen Time .
• You can turn Screen Time back on after you have successfully cleared your history.

• For iOS, go to Settings , then click your Apple ID . Click iCloud and toggle Safari off.
• For Mac, go to System Preferences → iCloud . Uncheck the box for Safari .
• Clear your Safari history following the steps above.

• To restart an iPhone without a home button, press and hold the lock button and top volume button for at least five seconds. Slide to power off. After a few minutes, hold the power button to turn it on.
• To restart an iPhone with a home button, press and hold the lock button and home button for at least five seconds. Slide to power off. After a few minutes, hold the power button to turn it on.
• To restart a Mac , click the Apple icon in the top left. In the drop-down menu, click Restart… . It will power on again automatically.

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201265
• ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/clear-your-browsing-history-sfri47acf5d6/mac
• ↑ https://support.apple.com/lv-lv/guide/safari/ibrwe75c2a3c/mac
• ↑ https://appletoolbox.com/cant-delete-safari-history-on-iphone-ipad-fix/#Why_cant_I_clear_Safari_history_and_website_data_on_my_iPhone_or_iPad

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1. Open Safari. 2. Click the URL bar. 3. Delete anything in the bar. 4. Click Clear Recent Searches . Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to view and clear your web browsing history in Safari on iPhone or iPad

Easily wipe your browsing history in Apple's Safari web browser in seconds.

How to find your web-browsing history

How to clear your web browsing history.

Clearing your browsing history on iPhone and iPad in Safari has been a straightforward affair for years now.

Sometimes, you may want a fresh start with your web browsing — perhaps to get rid of some history that may bring up a memory you'd rather forget as you type in a website URL in the address bar.

Apple makes this feature very easy to access on both the iPhone and iPad by offering two ways to clear your history. So with this in mind, here's how you can do just that and make a fresh start in Safari .

Viewing your web history in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 is very easy to do — and it's all done from Safari.

• In Safari, tap the Bookmarks button in the toolbar that's below the address bar.
• Tap the History icon in the upper right corner. Here, you can view your entire web history.

• Use the History search bar to find previously viewed pages.

If the time calls to wipe most or all of your web browsing history in Safari, here's how to do it on both iPhone and iPad.

To note, the below steps will be the same if you attempt to wipe your web browsing history on an iPhone 15 Pro Max , and an iPad Mini 6 for example.

• In Safari, tap the Bookmarks button.
• Select the History icon in the upper right corner.
• Tap Clear and select how much history you'd like to clear: the last hour, the last day, 48 hours' worth, or all recorded history.

One more thing… A feature no one talks about

Privacy on the web matters more than ever in these modern times. Websites store the pages you click on, especially when you sign into a page that can contain personal information about you.

Master your iPhone in minutes

iMore offers spot-on advice and guidance from our team of experts, with decades of Apple device experience to lean on. Learn more with iMore!

It's great to have a feature like this in Safari — but it would be good to have this automated. To tell Apple's web browser to automatically clear history after 24 hours would be very useful, as you wouldn't leave a trail behind.

Regardless, it's still a good feature, and one you should use every week.

Daryl is iMore's Features Editor, overseeing long-form and in-depth articles and op-eds. Daryl loves using his experience as both a journalist and Apple fan to tell stories about Apple's products and its community, from the apps we use everyday to the products that have been long forgotten in the Cupertino archives.

Previously Software & Downloads Writer at TechRadar, and Deputy Editor at StealthOptional, he's also written a book, ' The Making of Tomb Raider ', which tells the story of the beginnings of Lara Croft and the series' early development. He's also written for many other publications including WIRED, MacFormat, Bloody Disgusting, VGC, GamesRadar, Nintendo Life, VRV Blog, The Loop Magazine, SUPER JUMP, Gizmodo, Film Stories, TopTenReviews, Miketendo64 and Daily Star.

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Clear the history, cache and cookies from Safari on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

Find out how to delete your history, cookies and cache in Settings.

Delete your history, cache and cookies

Clear your cookies and the cache, but keep your history

Delete a website from your history, block cookies, use content blockers, delete history, cache and cookies.

Go to Settings > Safari.

Tap Clear History and Website Data.

Clearing your history, cookies and browsing data from Safari won't change your AutoFill information.

When there’s no history or website data to be cleared, the button to clear it will turn grey. The button may also be grey if you have web content restrictions set up under Content & Privacy Restrictions in Screen Time .

To visit sites without leaving history, turn Private Browsing on .

Go to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data.

Tap Remove All Website Data.

When there’s no website data to be cleared, the button to clear it will turn grey. The button may also be grey if you have web content restrictions set up under Content & Privacy Restrictions in Screen Time .

Open the Safari app.

Tap the Edit button, then select the website(s) that you want to delete from your history.

Tap the Delete button.

A cookie is a piece of data that a site puts on your device so that site can remember you when you visit again.

To block cookies:

Go to Settings > Safari > Advanced.

Turn on Block All Cookies.

If you block cookies, some web pages may not work. Here are some examples:

You'll likely not be able to sign in to a site even when using your correct user name and password.

You may see a message that cookies are required or that your browser's cookies are turned off.

Some features on a site may not work.

Content blockers are third-party apps and extensions that let Safari block cookies, images, resources, pop-ups and other content.

To get a content blocker:

Download a content blocking app from the App Store.

Tap Settings > Safari > Extensions.

Tap to turn on a listed content blocker.

You can use more than one content blocker. If you need help, contact the app developer .

Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Contact the vendor for additional information.

Related topics

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How-To Geek

How to delete specific website history from safari on iphone or ipad.

Forgot to enable Private Browsing mode on Safari? Don't nuke your entire history, prune specific sites instead.

Quick Links

How to remove websites from safari history, how to delete specific website data, don't forget about private browsing mode.

It's not always convenient to delete your entire history, but you can instead choose to delete specific websites from your history (and the data they leave behind on your device). Here's how to do it in Safari for iPhone and iPad.

Safari will record any websites you visit unless you use Private Browsing . Once a website is in your history it will appear in the URL bar when you start typing a related term. There are all sorts of reasons you may want to prune specific websites, and it's easy to do so.

Open Safari and tap on the "Bookmarks" icon at the bottom of the screen (it looks like an open book).

A pop-up will appear with three tabs for your Bookmarks, Reading List , and History. Tap on the clock icon to see your history.

You can now swipe left on any entry in your history and tap "Delete" to remove it for good.

Rather than scrolling through your entire history of visited websites, you can also search for specific terms or URLs using the on-screen search box . But that's not the only evidence a website may have left behind on your device.

Related: How to Change the Default Search Engine in Safari on iPhone or iPad

Websites leave all sorts of data on your device including cached images and cookies . If you want to remove all signs of a website, it's important to remove website data as well.

Launch Settings and tap on Safari > Advanced > Website Data. This menu may take a little while to load as Safari fetches a full list of website data and estimates how much storage each entry takes up on your device.

You can now follow the same procedure as above by swiping left on any websites you would like to forget about and tapping the "Delete" button that appears.

You can also search for specific websites using the search bar at the top of the screen, or nuke everything using the "Remove All Website Data" button at the bottom of the list.

Note that if you do remove website data (or wipe everything) that there may be some drawbacks like having to log in again or having your shopping cart emptied.

Related: Clearing Your Cookies All the Time Makes the Web More Annoying

You can use Private Browsing mode in Safari at any point to visit a website without it being recorded to your device. To do this, tap on the tab icon in the lower right corner of the screen followed by the number of tabs you have open at the bottom of the screen. From here tap "Private" to switch to a private browsing session.

Note that all tabs in your private browsing session will remain open until you close them , so make sure you close anything that may compromise your privacy.

To get a better handle on your iPhone or iPad's privacy settings, we recommend a periodic iOS privacy check-up .

Related: How to Check and Tighten All Your iPhone's Privacy Settings

How to clear the cache on your iPhone (and why you should)

How many tabs are open on your mobile browser right now? Go ahead, check -- you might be surprised by what you find.

Americans spend over five hours a day on their smartphones. That's over five hours of your phone potentially accessing, retrieving, and saving cache and cookies, which can negatively impact your iPhone's storage space .

What is cache?

Cache is the temporary storage of some data, like parts of a website from the last time you visited it, for example. Browser cache is content from a website that is stored on your phone during a browser session to help the browser execute faster the next time you visit that page.

Also:  How to clear Google search cache on Android

Cache data can slow down your phone's overall browsing performance, however, since it takes up storage space on your device, so it's good to clear it out regularly. In this article, we mainly focus on clearing web browser cache on an iPhone, but you should know that other types of cache include mobile app cache and CPU cache.

How to clear cache on iPhone

What you'll need: Everything you need to clear your browser cache is within the iPhone's settings app or the Safari app, so grab your iPhone to get started.

Keep in mind that clearing the cache can clear private data, which can close all open tabs in Safari. This is also likely to log you out of all your websites, prompting you to sign in again the next time you open them. 

How do I clear the cache from Chrome on iPhone?

If Google Chrome is your preferred browser, it may have a substantial amount of data stored on your device, which could also slow down performance. 

To clear the cache in Chrome, open the Google Chrome app and follow these steps:

• Tap  Settings .
• Go to  Privacy and Security .
• Select  Clear Browsing Data .
• Select the time from which to delete the data (if you want to delete all your browsing history, choose All Time ).
• Go through the items you'd like to delete, like your Browsing History, Cookies and Site Data, Cached Images and Files, Saved Passwords , and Autofill Data.
• Confirm by tapping  Clear Browsing Data  at the bottom of the screen.
• Tap Done when you've deleted the Chrome cache.

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Clearing the browsing and cache data in Google Chrome doesn't close all open tabs, but it will refresh each tab and log you out of websites. Once you tap on one of the tabs you want to access, you'll have to log back in.

How can I browse on Safari without history?

If you're learning how to clear cache on an iPhone, you may also be wondering if there's a way to use Safari without saving any browsing history. You can turn on Private Browsing by following these steps:

• Open  Safari .
• Tap on  Tabs .
• Choose Private .

You can also enable private browsing by going to your iPhone Settings, finding Safari, and toggling on the private option. 

How do I clear my app cache on my iPhone?

To clear the app cache from your iPhone Settings app, you can either delete the app and reinstall it, offload it, or try to clear the cache from within the app. Unfortunately, iOS apps don't have consistent settings across the board that would allow you to clear the cache of every app.

Also: Apple warns: Don't put your wet iPhone in rice. Do this instead

Apps like TikTok and CapCut, for example, have options to Clear Cache within their respective settings. Amazon lets users delete their browsing history, while the Reddit app can clear local history. It all depends on what the app's settings let you do. 

Is "clear cache" the same as offloading?

Not exactly, though app offloading can help if your phone is slowed down by low storage. To offload an app  means to uninstall an app without deleting any documents or data associated with it. 

Also: Apple secures iMessage against threats from the future

To offload an app, go to  Settings , then  General , choose  iPhone Storage  and select the app to offload, then tap  Offload App . If you ever download it again, you'll pick up where you left off for that app.

Are cookies and cache the same thing?

Cookies and cache are not the same. Cookies are data files that websites send to your phone, including things like saved passwords to keep you logged into an account or even the website preferences from the previous time you visited. 

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Though they do sound harmless, cookies can also track how you browse the internet. They monitor patterns in your browsing and search history, even seeing what you clicked on or what your mouse hovered over. Ever made an innocuous search on Amazon only to find ads for it on all the apps you use? Cookies likely made that possible.

Can I block cookies on my iPhone?

While you can block cookies on Safari, the ranks are divided on whether you should. Blocking cookies entirely means that websites won't be able to get information from you, but it also means that some websites may not even work correctly on your browser. A lot of users actually enjoy a more personalized browsing experience, so cookies are a good thing for them.

 If you'd like to block cookies in Safari, follow these steps:

• Go to  Settings  and select  Safari .
• Tap on the toggle next to  Block All Cookies .

There are also third-party extensions that help you block cookies and trackers in Google Chrome, like Ghostery and Disconnect .

How do I check iPhone storage?

On an iPhone, Settings can show you what's taking up most of your media storage, like photos, videos, and music. You can also see what each particular app's storage consumption is, which includes temporary data. To view the details of your iPhone's storage space, follow these steps:

• Go to the iPhone Settings .
• Tap on General .
• Select iPhone Storage .
• Scroll through to find the app you're looking for.
• Tap on the app to view storage status and options.

Unfortunately, you can't clear your iPhone cache for third-party apps by going into your Settings app, but this gives you a visual of your iPhone's storage and the option to delete or offload apps.

Also: Here's the fastest way to declutter your iPhone and free up Gigabytes of space

When you look at your device's storage space, you'll probably see recommended steps you can take to optimize your iPhone's storage, like offloading unused apps.

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How to See the Safari History on an iPhone: A Step-by-Step Guide

Seeing the Safari history on an iPhone is a straightforward process. Just open the Safari app, tap the book icon at the bottom of the screen, and then tap the clock icon to view your browsing history. You’ll be able to see a list of all the websites you’ve visited, sorted by date.

After completing this action, you’ll have access to the list of websites you’ve visited using Safari on your iPhone. This can be useful for finding a site you forgot to bookmark, checking what sites were visited on a particular day, or clearing your history for privacy reasons.

Introduction

Browsing the internet on your iPhone is a daily activity for many of us, but how often do we think about our digital footprints? Whether you’re a privacy-conscious individual, a parent wanting to check what your kids have been up to online, or simply trying to find that one website you stumbled upon a few days ago, knowing how to view your Safari history is essential.

Safari, the default browser on all Apple devices, keeps track of all the websites you visit, allowing you to revisit a site whenever you need to. However, not everyone knows how to access this history. This article is for iPhone users of all ages and skill levels who want to learn how to see their Safari history. It’s an important skill that can help you in a variety of situations. Plus, it’s super easy to do!

How to See the Safari History on an iPhone

The following steps will guide you through the process of viewing your Safari history on an iPhone.

Open the Safari app on your iPhone. Upon opening the Safari app, you’ll be greeted with your default homepage or the last page you visited.

Tap the book icon located at the bottom of the screen. This icon will take you to your bookmarks, reading list, and history.

Tap the clock icon to view your browsing history. The clock icon is typically at the top of the list, and tapping it will display all the sites you’ve visited, organized by date.

Additional Information

When browsing through your Safari history, you can tap on any entry to revisit that webpage immediately. Plus, if you’re looking to delete certain parts of your history, you can do that too! Just swipe left on any entry and tap ‘Delete’ to remove it from your history. If you want to clear your entire browsing history, there’s an option for that at the bottom of the history list. Remember, once it’s gone, it’s gone for good, so make sure you really don’t need that history before you delete it.

Additionally, keep in mind that if you’re using iCloud to sync Safari across your devices, your history will be visible on all devices signed into that iCloud account. This is super handy if you want to access a webpage you visited on your Mac from your iPhone, for example. However, if privacy is a concern for you, consider using private browsing mode, which doesn’t save any history.

• Open the Safari app.
• Tap the book icon.
• Select the clock icon to view history.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i delete my safari history.

To delete your Safari history, go to the history page, tap ‘Clear’ at the bottom, and choose the time range you want to clear.

Can I search through my Safari history?

Yes, there’s a search bar at the top of the history page where you can enter keywords to find specific sites.

Will my Safari history be synced across all my Apple devices?

If you’re using iCloud Safari syncing, then yes, your history will be visible on all devices signed into that iCloud account.

How long does Safari keep my browsing history?

Safari typically keeps your browsing history for up to one month, but this can be adjusted in settings.

Is there a way to keep my browsing private?

Yes, you can use private browsing mode in Safari, which does not save your history or AutoFill information.

Knowing how to see the Safari history on your iPhone is a neat trick that can save you time and ensure that you’re never too far from a useful website you’ve visited. Whether it’s for privacy, parental control, or pure convenience, mastering this skill is a must for any iPhone user. Remember to manage your history responsibly and enjoy the vast wealth of information the internet has to offer right at your fingertips. Happy browsing!

Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.

His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.

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If you want to request removal of search results from Google, go to Remove web results from Google Search .

Manage & delete your Search history

When you search on Google with Web & App Activity turned on, Google saves activity like your Search history to your Google Account. Web & App Activity saves data about the things you do across Google services, including associated info like locations, in your account to make your experience more personalized. We use your saved activity to give you more personalized experiences, like app and content recommendations.

In My Activity , you can:

• Delete Search history saved to your Google Account.
• Manage Search settings like what activity Google saves and when Google auto-deletes your history.

Your Search history can also be saved to your device, like when you use the Google app while signed out of your Google Account. Learn how to manage your on-device Search history .

Manage Search history saved to your Google Account

Delete search history.

Important: If you delete Search history that’s saved to your Google Account, you can’t get it back.

You can delete a specific activity, or delete your Search history from a specific day, a custom date range, or all time.

Control your Search history

• If you find “Auto-delete (On),” Google automatically deletes your Web & App Activity, which includes your Search history, after a specific time period. To change the time period or turn it off, tap Auto-delete (On) .
• Follow the on-screen instructions.

To pause saving your history:

• Under "Web & App Activity," tap Turn off .
• Tap Turn off or Turn off and delete activity .
• If you choose “Turn off and delete activity,” to select and confirm what activity you want to delete, follow the additional steps.

Manage Search history saved on your device

• Tap the search bar and find the activity you want to delete.

Even if your Search history isn’t saved to your Google Account, or you delete it from My Activity, your browser might still store it.

You can delete your browser history:

• In Chrome: Learn how to delete browsing history and other browsing data .
• In other browsers: Check your browser’s instructions.

If you use the Google app while you’re signed out of your Google Account, the app saves your Search history to your device.

Tip: If you delete your Search history in the Google app, it might still be saved in your Google Account. To find and delete your Search history saved to your Google Account, go to My Activity .

To delete Search history saved on your device:

• If you find your Search history, tap Clear all .

To delete searches from the search bar:

• At the top of “Recent searches,” if you find “Manage History,” you’re currently signed in to your Google Account.
• Turn off Search customization .

Fix problems with your Search history

• Connect your device to the internet: If you delete your history from My Activity on one device, you might still find it on a device that’s offline. When your device connects to the internet, it removes your deleted Search history.
• Clear your cache and cookies: Learn how to clear your cache and cookies .

To turn off Search customization:

How google deletes your history in your google account.

When you choose to delete activity manually or activity is deleted automatically based on your auto-delete setting, we immediately start the process of removing it from the product and our systems.

First, we aim to immediately remove it from view and the data may no longer be used to personalize your Google experience.

We then begin a process designed to safely and completely delete the data from our storage systems. 

Related articles

• Delete your activity
• View & control your Web & App Activity
• Manage your audio recordings in your Web & App Activity
• Change your Google app settings
• Search & browse privately

How Search works with your activity

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How to search your browsing history on an iPhone, in Safari or Google Chrome

• It's easy to search the history on your iPhone's web browser to return to a specific webpage you've visited previously. 
• You can search the history on your iPhone in the Safari or Google Chrome browsers with these steps. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The search history on your iPhone's web browser can be helpful in taking you back to a site you want to see again, but scrolling through the whole list can be time consuming and annoying. 

Luckily, there's a search tool to help you get back to websites you may have visited a while ago — without going through the trouble of trying to remember the date you visited it. 

This feature is available on both the Safari and Google Chrome browsers. Here's how to use it to search your web history on an iPhone . 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Iphone 11 (from $699.99 at best buy), how to search the history on your iphone in safari .

1. Open the Safari app.

2. Tap the book icon at the bottom of your screen. It is the second icon from the right. This will bring up your search history.

3. Pull down on this History menu to reveal a bar at the top labeled "Search History" with a magnifying glass to the left of it.

4. Tap the search bar you just revealed to bring up the keypad, and type your search query. The query doesn't have to be exact to bring up results.

5. The result you are looking for should appear. Tap it to return to the website you visited.

How to search history on your iPhone in Google Chrome

1. Open the Google Chrome app.

2. Tap the three dots in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. This will bring up an options menu.

3. Tap "History," which is the second to last option on the list of items in blue. The icon looks like a clock with an arrow around the outside pointing counterclockwise.

4. On the new History page, tap the search bar at the top to bring up your keyboard.

5. Type your search query into the search bar. 

6. Tap the name of the site you were looking for. This will bring you back to the page.

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech :

How to close all of the open tabs on your iphone's safari browser at once, how to stop pop-ups from appearing on your iphone's safari browser, how to add bookmarks and favorites on an iphone's safari browser for quick access to your preferred webpages, how to clear the safari search history on your iphone in three different ways.

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

Insider Inc. receives a commission when you buy through our links.

Watch: I'm a diehard iPhone user who switched to Android for a week — here's what I loved and hated about the Google Pixel 3 XL

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Home › Privacy basics › How to delete your search history

How to delete your search history

Posted on April 18th, 2024 by Douglas Crawford in Privacy basics .

Your search history is a window into your inner life . Anyone with access to it knows what your hobbies and interests are, your sexual orientation and preferences, the things that worry you (for example your medical concerns), your political affiliations, your financial situation, and much more. 

In this article, we’ll explore why it’s important to delete your search and (closely related) browsing history and how to do it, but also the limitations of deleting your search and browsing history. Unfortunately, you can’t delete everything that’s out there.

However, moving forward, you can take steps to prevent others from seeing and logging your search and browsing history in the first place. We’ll also discuss these. 

Why you should delete your search history

• How to delete Google search history on your desktop
• How to delete Google search history on mobile apps

How to delete search history in Play Store

How to delete youtube search history, how to delete google maps search history, how to delete gmail search history, how to delete search history in firefox, how to delete search history in chrome, how to delete search history in edge, how to delete search history on iphone and in safari.

• How to delete search history on Samsung Internet

Search history you can’t delete

Does turning off personalized ads prevent google from tracking me.

• Prevention is always better than a cure

As we noted above, your search history and browsing history reveal a great deal about you. This highly personal information is extremely valuable for the purposes of surveillance and influencing your behaviors.

Targeted advertising

The more advertising and analytics companies know about you, the more successfully they can target you with ever more personalized ads. Our analysis found that your data may be worth over $600 a year for advertising purposes alone.

Alphabet (Google’s parent company) is now worth over $1.9 trillion , a staggering fortune, made by offering services that are almost entirely “free” to use, but which it monetizes by selling your search queries to advertising and analytics companies.

Google so dominates the search engine landscape that searching for anything online is now commonly referred to as “googling”, and its search services form the backbone of the other services it offers, such as Google Maps, Gmail, Google Calendar, and more.  

Government mass surveillance

In 2013, Edward Snowden exposed the stupefying scale and ambition of the United States and United Kingdom’s mass surveillance programs, which operated on a “ collect it all ” principle to harvest data from almost everyone on the planet. Little has changed in real terms since then, and in many ways, things are now worse . 

And it’s not just NSA and its 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes, and 14 Eyes allies that spy on your search history. Almost all governments have some form of mass surveillance system, even if it’s only legislation that requires internet service providers (ISPs ) to log their customers’ browsing histories and store this data where it can be accessed by government agencies for a certain amount of time. 

How to delete Google search history

You can tell Google to delete your search history. Whether it really deletes it is hard to know, but doing this probably prevents Google from using past search history to directly target you with ads or selling it to third-party advertising and analytics companies. It’s anybody’s guess whether governments can still access this “deleted” data.

How to delete Google search history on your desktop 

The easiest way to delete your entire Google search history across all apps and devices is using a desktop browser. To do this:

1. Visit myactivity.google.com/myactivity and sign in with your Google account. You can now review the information Google keeps about you. When you’re ready, click Delete .

2. Select All time (or whatever time range you prefer)

3. Click Select all (or select which apps you wish to delete your search history from). You can delete the search history from all Google apps here, including Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Play, and more. Click Next when you’re ready.

4. Click Delete to confirm you’d like to delete your activity.  

How to delete Google search history on mobile apps 

On mobile devices, each individual Google app allows you to delete your search history. In some cases, doing this only deletes your search history for that app, while in others, you can delete your search history for that app across all your devices. 

In some apps, you get taken to the My Google Activity page, where you can manage and delete your search history for all Google apps and services you use. For example:

Deleting your search history in the Google Play Store only deletes your search history on the Play Store app on the current device.

Open the Play Store app on your Android device or Chromebook. Tap your profile picture and go to Settings →  General → Account and device preferences → Clear device search history .

Deleting your YouTube search history deletes your YouTube search history (only) across all your apps and devices. 

On Android, iOS, and iPadOS, open the YouTube app and tap your profile picture → Settings → Manage all history → Saving your YouTube history → Turn off .

On Android, iOS, and iPadOS, open the Google Maps app and tap your profile picture → Settings → Maps history → Delete → Delete all (or select whatever timescale you prefer). From here, you can also tap the Controls tab to manage your Google search history across all apps. 

On Android, deleting your search history in the Gmail app only deletes your search history for the Gmail app on the current device. Open the Gmail app and go to ☰ → ⚙ Settings → General settings . Tap ⋮ at the top right corner → Clear search history .

On the Gmail app for iPhone and iPad, you effectively get access to the full My Google Activity web app. Open the app and go to  ☰ → ⚙ Settings → Account → tap on your account → Your info, privacy, and security → Data and Privacy tab → History settings → Web & App Activity → Turn off .

How to delete your browser search history

Of course, it may not just be Google and your government that you’d rather not see your search history. Deleting your browser search history prevents friends, family, and colleagues who have physical access to your device from seeing what you’ve been up to online. 

In this section, we’ll look at how to delete your search history in a selection of popular browsers on different platforms. Please be aware, though, that much like using incognito/private mode , deleting your browser history does nothing to prevent anyone on the internet from seeing your search history , such as your ISP or the websites you visit. 

Learn about browsers that are good for your privacy

On the desktop, open Firefox and go to ☰ → Settings → Privacy & Security → History → Clear History… → T ime range to clear → select Everything from the dropdown menu (or whichever time range you prefer) → Clear now .

You can also set Firefox to automatically delete your search history every time you close the app. To do this, go to ☰ → Settings → Privacy & Security → History → ensure Clear history when firefox closes is selected . 

On Android, open the Firefox app and tap ⋮ → History → Settings → Privacy and security → Delete browsing data .

On an iPhone or iPad, open the Firefox app and go to ☰ → Settings ⚙ → Privacy → Data Management → Clear Private Data .

On your desktop, open Chrome and go to ☰ → Clear browsing history → select All time from the dropdown menu (or whichever time range you prefer) → Clear data .

On Android, open the Chrome app and tap ⋮ → Clear browsing data → select All time from the dropdown menu (or whichever time range you prefer) → Clear data .

On an iPhone or iPad, open the Chrome app and go to  … → History → Clear Browsing Data… → select All time from the dropdown menu (or whichever time range you prefer) → Clear Browsing Data .

Open Microsoft Edge in Windows and go to … → ⚙ Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Clear browsing data → Clear browsing data now → Choose what to clear → select All time from the dropdown menu (or whichever time range you prefer) → Clear now .

You can also set Edge to automatically delete your search history every time you close the app. To do this, go to  … → ⚙ Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Clear browsing data → Choose what to clear every time you close the browser . Toggle Browsing history and any other data you’d like deleted between sessions on . 

On macOS, open Safari and go to the macOS menu bar → History → Clear History…. → Clear → select All History from the dropdown menu (or whichever time range you prefer) → Clear History .

On an iPhone or iPad, open the Settings app (not the Safari app) → Safari → Clear History and Website Data → Clear Timeframe → select All History (or whichever time range you prefer) → Clear History .

How to delete search history on Samsung Internet 

On your Android device, tap ☰ → History → ⋮ → Clear history (to delete all your search history).

You can ask Google to delete your search history from its apps, and you can delete any search history stored locally on your devices. However, your ISP can see every website you visit online, and almost all ISPs log this information (in many countries, they are required to do so by law). 

In some counties (such as the United States), ISPs are permitted to sell customer data to advertisers . In almost every country, they will hand over the data at the request of law enforcement or government agencies.  

No ISP will delete your browsing history just because you ask it to, so there’s little you can do about the data it already has. However, moving forward, you can prevent your ISP from seeing what you do by subscribing to a VPN service such as Proton VPN. 

A VPN routes your internet connection from your device to a VPN server run by a commercial VPN service such as Proton VPN. The connection between your device and the VPN server is securely encrypted so that no one sitting between your device and the VPN server can see the contents of your data. 

DNS queries , which translate human-friendly URLs into computer-friendly numerical values, are usually handled by your ISP. But when you connect to a VPN, it routes these DNS queries through the encrypted VPN tunnel and handles them itself. 

Learn more about how a VPN works

Your ISP can see that you’re connected to an IP address belonging to the VPN server but can’t see which websites you connect to after that.

This means that connecting to a VPN prevents your ISP from seeing what you do online. And because most government mass surveillance programs rely on requiring ISPs to log their customers’ browsing activity, a trustworthy VPN is effective at preventing governments from collecting your search history through untargeted surveillance. 

[ Protect your browsing history with Proton VPN ]

To prevent Google from using your browsing history to serve you personalized ads, head over to Google’s My Ad Center , sign in with your Google account, and toggle the Personalized ads switch off . 

Please be aware, though, that turning off personalized ads in Google’s settings doesn’t stop Google from tracking your browsing history . But it does change how that data is used. When you opt out of personalized ads, Google will no longer use your browsing history to serve you ads based on your interests and behavior. Instead, you’ll receive ads based on factors like your general location or the content of the site you are visiting.

However, Google may still collect and use your data for other purposes, such as improving its services, developing new features, or ensuring the security of its systems. This data collection can include your search history, the videos you watch on YouTube, and your interactions with other Google services.

Final thoughts: Prevention is always better than a cure

Asking Google (and other online services) to delete your search history from within its apps is probably better than doing nothing at all to protect your privacy. But a far better way is to use apps and services that don’t collect your search history in the first place. For example:

• Use Proton apps. When you search for emails in Proton Mail, events in Proton Calendar, or files in Proton Drive, the search is performed locally on your device . Just as our zero-access encryption ensures no one but you can access your data stored on Proton services, we also have no access to your search history. 
• Use your browser’s private or incognito mode . While your browser’s private or incognito mode will do nothing to prevent anyone on the internet from knowing what you do online, it will at least protect your online privacy from others who share your devices. 
• Use a privacy-focused search engine — Alternative search engines to Google, such as DuckDuckGo, don’t log your IP address or record your search history.
• Block third-party cookies to prevent websites from tracking you across the internet. 
• If you must use Google, don’t search while signed in to your Google Account, and use a VPN so Google can’t link your IP address to your searches. 

It’s not easy to stay private on the internet, but with some common sense and the help of privacy-focused services such Proton, it is possible to avoid most online tracking. 

Douglas Crawford

Starting with ProPrivacy and now Proton, Douglas has worked for many years as a technology writer. During this time, he has established himself as a thought leader specializing in online privacy. He has been quoted by the BBC News, national newspapers such as The Independent, The Telegraph, and The Daily Mail, and by international technology publications such as Ars Technica, CNET, and LinuxInsider. Douglas was invited by the EFF to help host a livestream session in support of net neutrality. At Proton, Douglas continues to explore his passion for privacy and all things VPN.

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