Clear Google Search History to Maintain Your Privacy

One of the most common questions I see about Google is “How do I clear my search history from the Google search box?”
Important note: This post is very old.
Keeping your searches private is very time consuming (and confusing) these days.
I highly recommend using this more complete guide to how-to delete search history instead.
What’s everybody guilty of
? If you’re one of the many it seems that have search terms you’d prefer to hide from other users of your computer, or feel the need to protect your privacy for bigger reasons, this article is for you. When you key into either the Google home page search box, the Google Toolbar search box or the Firefox Googlebar extension, the the search terms you keyed are stored unless disabled. Then, on subsequent uses of the search box, it suggests what it is you might want to search for by showing a drop down list filled with previously keyed search terms whose initial characters match what you are keying. For example, if you in the past searched for “hot pictures” and your spouse, kids or boss sit down and start to key in “hot tamales,” the words “hot pictures” will be in the drop down box as a suggestion for them. If this situation doesn’t thrill you, you need to tell the browser, and Google Toolbar or Firefox Googlebar to cut it out!
Deleting search history from the Google home page search box
In Internet Explorer
The search history that displays in the search box on the Google homepage is stored by your browser, not by Google. You can clear the history or disable this feature entirely by following these steps:
- Go to the “Tools” menu
- Select “Internet Options”
- Select the “Content” tab
- Within the “Personal Information” area, select “AutoComplete”
- To clear the current history, click on “Clear Forms”
- To disable this feature entirely, uncheck the “Forms” box
You can also delete individual entries from your search history by using the Down arrow key to highlight a previous search and then pressing the Delete key.
As with Internet Explorer, you can also clear the search history or disable the feature in Firefox.
- Go to the “Tools” menu
- Select “Options”
- Select the “Privacy” tab
- Within the “Saved Form Information” area:
- To clear the current history, click on “Clear”
- To disable this feature entirely, uncheck the “Save information I enter in web page forms and the search bar”
Another way to very quickly clear the search history is to place your cursor in the search box, right click and select “clear search history.” This is faster for on-the-fly clearing.
You can also delete individual entries from your search history by using the Down arrow key to highlight a previous search and then pressing the Shift-Delete key.
Excerpted from Bob’s guide to Deleting Google’s Search history.
Deleting search history from the Google Toolbar
The Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer also retains the search history if you let it. Clearing the current search history or disabling the feature in the browser does not affect the Google Toolbar. You have to do it in the Toolbar separately.
To completely disable your Toolbar’s search history
- Select the “Options” button on the Toolbar
- Un-check the box next to “Drop-down search history”
To simply clear the current search history:
- Click the Google logo to access the drop-down menu
- Select the “Clear Search History” option
Deleting search history from the Googlebar Firefox extension
The Google Toolbar has not yet been written for Firefox, but there is an extension called Googlebar that provides a similar function. It also retains the search history. The difference is that it does not automatically place everything in a drop down list for the user to see. But, it is there to view with the click of a check mark at the right of the search box.
To completely disable Googlebar’s search history:
- Click on the Googlebar logo at the left side of the bar
- Select “Googlebar Options”
- Select the Miscellaneous tab
- In the “Save History” section, uncheck “Preserve the search history across browser sessions”
To simply clear the current search history:
- Click the Googlebar logo
- Select the “Clear Search History” option
Important note: This post is very old.
Keeping your searches private is very time consuming (and confusing) these days.
I highly recommend using this software instead. Much faster and easier!
While You’re At It…
This isn’t really related to the search boxes, but if you are using Google Desktop Search and you are interested in keeping things on your computer private, we have a must-read article in our archives entitled, “Keeping Private Matters Private in Google Desktop Search.”
And you should also check out, “6 Ways to Keep Your Search Secrets Safe“.
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[...] ll the browser, and Google Toolbar or Firefox Googlebar to cut it out! Complete Article : Click Here And the link Google Tutor is quiet cool site to know the way you wanna us [...]
In firefox, you can delete individual entries by highlighting them and pushing shift+delete
Thank you! I’ll update the article.
[...] hing to think about next time you are rubbing your fingers on a grimy keyboard at school. How to delete your Google search history. This is some useful stuff for alot of my f [...]
good advice, I was wondering about this and now I know, keep up the good work.
Don’t forget that if you use GMail or otherwise have identified yourself to Google and kept the cookies, Google has the potential to track what you search for over time.
This is a lot more obvious when you visit Amazon’s search engine, A9, and it pops up a list of what you’ve searched for. Not only that, it lets you clear searches from display, but they’re still saved. If A9 does it, who says Google won’t?
Google stores info about our company website which is OK, but also some personal details that I have placed on other websites, I would like to delete some of this information and remove any personal details, especially that of my children. I can easily find this info by doing a search by name. Is this possible?
Lyn,
I understand the problem. EVERYTHING anyone posts now seems to show up on search engines. I don’t know of a way to clear that except to contact the web site owners to see if they can remove it.
Very good site. I love ya at the first sight!
Can someone tell me how to do this in Safari?
I have tried everything short of resetting Safari (which would clear all my other autocomplete items as well). I just want to clear the Google and Yahoo search engine drop down windows.
JDE
Jason,
I had exactly the same question! I hope this response isn’t to late, but I just read this page looking for the answer and figured it out. In Safari’s Preferences go to the “AutoFill” tab and next to the “Other forms” checkbox, click the “Edit…” button. Scroll down the list until you see google.com and click “Remove.” Afetrward click “Done” and you should be set!
-Steel Shot
kool
thank you this that what I want
I like this website and utilities,
good and nice
keep it up
[...] ot you should check it out. Hint, hint. Anyway check out the full story and details here. GoogleTutor.com Of course you could always use Google Suggest. Which is my personal [...]
[...] watch the videos, look at photos and more. I have to say, it’s really addicting.” Clearing Google Search History to Maintain Your Privacy [...]
Hi
Anyone know how to selectively delete some items from the drop down menu when doing a search in Google – for an obvious I don’t to delete all the items but some have to go.
I’m using the Firefox browser.
HELP!!!!!
Whoops – sorry mistake below, I’m using Safari
Hi
Anyone know how to selectively delete some items from the drop down menu when doing a search in Google – for an obvious I don’t to delete all the items but some have to go.
I’m using the Firefox browser.
HELP!!!!!
What if I am using Safari on an iMac – Tiger? Is clearing for Google the same? I can’t find some of the things you are talking about. Can you help me?
[...] seful. We’ve all got a little voyeurism in us. That’s why the recent article, Clearing Google Search History to Maintain Your Privacy sent my visitor counts off th [...]
thank you my mum was gona go mad!!!
Thanks for the lifesaver.
Carl you can double-click on a empty search box and drop any item listed there using shift-delete on highlighted item. Just use the navigation keys to do that.
SK you article has a clear language, that can be the spotlight on end of tunnel to many users. So i´d translated it to Brazilian Portuguese here . I left a link to your original content too, of course!
Hi Again!
I must say that Firefox has a extension that allow you to manage each Form History Entry.
Everyone must check this out: Form History Manager 0.4.0 …
Thanks alot that was really helpful know i got some privacy
Realy good guidance. Im using Mozila. I did disable the history stroring at Internet Explorer but it clear all the history in google. This guidance helps me alot.
Thanks
Does anyone knows how to clear the toolbar for google
using netscape 8.0?
Thanks a lot!!!! I was about to never use google again, but you saved me. I am putting googletutor on my favorites list. Keep up the good work!!!
Thanks. A related question … when I clear out the history, 99% disappear but occasionally a random address stays, no matter how many times you clear the history. Any ideas on how to get rid of those?
Looks like following your steps also takes care of what I mentioned in #29, so I’m all set.
to answer number 27…highlight entries which you want to delet (do not click) and then hold shift+delete…that should take the buggars out.
How do I clear the Google Search Bar??
For #32, what the guy says in #31 works.
I’m writing to thank you so much, you saved me from death.. I don’t have to tell you why lol
Bye and thanks again.
Thanks to you all guys who excersiz into solve my type case. hopefully your experience helps in future to me!!!!
[...] mment. We’ve all got a little voyeurism in us. That’s why the recent article, Clearing Google Search History to Maintain Your Privacy sent my visitor counts off th [...]
I have used a comp for about 10 years and never new i could do that. The main reason I wanted to delete is so that my girly wouldnt see the wedding rings I was looking at. Thats legitimate excuse right? Anyways thanks
27 and 31 — Deleting the saved searches one at a time is handy but can you prevent info from being saved in the toolbar in the first place? (Netscape
thank you thankyou thankyou so much
Thank You! #31 (Ninv) I have been searching for the solution for a while. The results received were irrelevant or had alreday been tried. Not anymore
thank you very much this site is very useful
Hello, i’m using Opera Version 8.02 and i can’t get rid of the google search history. I have tried these steps.
1) Delete cookies
2) Delete files
3) Delete history
4) Delete cached pages/info
4) Run Adaware
5) Run Spybot
None of these work.
2nd.. How does one active that ‘drop down menu’ of history of google searches?
I always do this by accident. If i knew how to active it, i can try different methods of problem solving.
thanksss thankz thanks
safe safe!!!!!!!!!
hahahaha!!!!
u tha man!!!!!1
ur a gangster!!!!
OMG…..thank you so much…you saved me!!! That highlight delete thing works great…even in MSN 8—->>>Thanx sooooooo much!!!
is there a way?
can i clear my internet history completely i have deleted loads of stuff but im wondering if i can clear the internet altogether it is very clogged thnx
hi, i was just wondering, I have ntl and not all of my history deletes when i clear the history. I also do delete temporary internet files and cookies etc but some sites just don’t delete. Is there a way to delete them? i have one random google one and then a couple links to ringo and bebo – how do i delete these cos they won’t delete normally!???
I cannot find the History folder on my toolbar. It disappeared after I installed a Fotomat toolbar. I then deinstalled he Fotomat toolbar but the History folder button (the one that looks like a sundial) is still missing. I know about the new personalized SEARCH HISTORY but it wasn’t on when I searched the sites I am after now. And “Internet Options” still says I am keeping my files for 7 days. Can you give me any advice on this?
Thank you.
RB
Please, explain me – maybe one more time again – how do I clear my Google Search History? Mine is an Intel iMac. I really don’t understand. Why is it made so complicated? Why can’t you just start with a “new Google” – like a new life???
thanks to u
hey.. thx! u really helped!! :*
Thank You!
Been wondering how to do this for a long time!
xx
i need to clear my google search history n i have msn as my internet i tried to use the tips for internet explorer but this did not clear up the history for msn only I.E……please help me if anyone can =)
HI…
4 ALL THOSE WHO USE FIREFOX N WANNA DELEAT GOOGLE SEARCH HISTORY….
THIS IS THE PLACE..
JUST DO AS TOLD ABOVE AS TOLD ABOVE.
THANKS MAN
I have a Mirar toolbar, and I want to clear what i search, but I don’t know how. Can anybody teach me?
if your using Safari just select ” Reset Safari” under the Safari menu
Thanks a lot.I got rid of a burden.
Hey! ure the best
thnx
Thanks so Much!!! It totally worked!!!
Where does Google search store these on your computer?
That is – what directory would it store this info in, so I can add it to my automatic wipe list?
You can use Free Internet Window Washer to clear Google search history. For Internet Explorer, you can click ‘Wash Settings’ and switch to ‘Browsers’ and check all options on ‘Internet Explorer’. Switch to ‘Applications’ page and check ‘Google Toolbar’ and click ‘OK’ button. Then click ‘Wash Now’ to wash the google search history. You can download the software at http://www.eusing.com/Window_Washer/Window_Washer.htm.
i m feeling so much relaxed after getting rid of the problem of clearing history of previously used websites.
Thanks again to all supporters.
Why would you leave out instructions for Netscape? I don’t get it.
My google search bar is some times going hidden and I have to reinstall google bar to get it again. Any solution to get my google search history back without reinstall ?? Pls help me..
[...] Monish says… My google search bar is some times going hidden and I have to… [...]
thank u very good
to delete drop-down search history from google in in netscape 8 just highlight the search, hold shift and press delete…simple right
just simply puttin together what numbers 27 and 31 say for your ease
thanks a lot! you saved my ass i had a couple o hundred things lol i dunno wat i would have done without u guys
Thanks a lot for this valuable artical .
Thx! Now i can search for sex and porn all the time
Why is it that when I searched for Wedding Rings, I now see in the drop down box
Wedding cake
Wedding gown
Wedding photographer
Wedding plannner
I didn’t search for Wedding cake or Wedding gown or the others.
Thanks Steel Shot! .. that question u answered for Jason clearing the search using Safari really helped me out a lot.
This tutorial was very helpfull to me. I was trying to solve a problem for about an hour and only your clear explanations help doing it. Ist well done, pragmatic, great job. Thank you.
thnx alot man…thnx
note for people trying to delete the search box on Safari:
when you go to Autofill > other forms > Edit look through the whole list – I found google listed under .com, .co.uk, .fr, etc, and if you don’t remove them all the drop down isn’t completely cleared.
thanks for the info, it really helped ^_^
Hi, What if my ‘content’ tab is locked by the administrator for the laptop I used. Any way to clear the search history in the serach box?
THanks
Thanks dear!!!
thanks for teaching me stuff.
THNX A LOT,YOU’RE A GREAT STUFF!
just a simple things.. even my childs also know about it.
what to do if access to control panel is denied
i cant delete search history in this way beacause access to control panel is denied
After selecting the item you want deleted in the Google search bar, click SHIFT + DELETE and each item will be deleted.
Just clicking DELETE won’t work in MSN.
With MSN, I haven’t found an application cleaner yet that works with deletion of Google Search tracks.
The ONLY thing that works is hitting the SHIFT key along with the DELETE key after each item to be deleted is highlighted.
What about Safari? I really like safari, but no one mentions how to set google privacy with this browser. How can I stop the address-history from showing up every time I type in an address?
Hey thanks dear, it is a breather. I need not worry abut curious onlookers
this is pretty good. cheers guys
thank you very much for the information………..i was in a dep problem ……..
thank u so much guys u probably saved my life!!! litteraly!!!! ill tell all my frends about you too!!!!!!!!
You guys do a wonderful job! Keep up the good work!!!b
This simply doesn’t work on my computer!
I have explorer 7 and Firefox and cannot delete individual items from the history in either!
Can anybody help me?
still not able to clear google search history when using the netscape browser. you show for internet explorer and firefox and msn but not netscape?
ok i know a faster way for fire fox just hit shift ctrl delete and it should delete all stuff if not when the window pops up press all of the buttons
guys i don’t understund what i do with simple google in firefox i delet everithing bun in simple google ihaven’t understund !!! please help meeeeeeeeee!!!
please help meee now!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Could someone please tell me how to permanently remove google as my homepage, I can not get my homepage from work to stay on. Everytime I go on my hopepage google pops up. HELP!!!
ur website was of gr8 help, i found ur website on google search, im very thankfull to u people for helping me a gr8 way…keep it up
Thanks. really appreciate it. The ironic thing is I found your article through google. Well ironic to me. And for “carmen” just assign a diff page as your homepage.
Ive Been reading this crap for 15 minutes now and I cant figure out if your trying to sell somthing or help me clear my google search history i could have installed a new hard drive by now thanks for all the bull
Umm..Sorry Don, nothing being sold…that’s just a regular blog post you are reading
I’m not sure why you have any confusion there.
dude.. u have saves my life!!!!
thanks for info i needed that
To remove from iMac using Safari select: Safari/Reset Safari.
This will erase browsing history, empty the cache, clear downloads and autofill, remove cookies, passwords and Google search names
[...] Clear Google Search History to Maintain Your Privacy [...]
hey thanx for the information buddy..
thanks iv been saved form embarassment
Thanks man. It helped.
This would have hepled me if I was on one of our other computers. How do you clear it while using Safari though? PLEASE HELP!!! Merci.
You can also use Shift + Delete on Firefox to clear specific auto-complete history.
Thanks for the advice on how to clear the drop down bar….
Getting fed up of the girlfreind nagging, ” You been loking at porn again ” Cheers.
For some reason this didn’t help me at all. I have a gmail account, but I don’t use the Google as my home page. I have never downloaded any of the google desktop features, but I still see the suggest, even for google mail.
Please help!
Hi all,
This worked great as I tried & get results instantly. Onething it even worked in deleting e-mail logging history too.
thanks again to all u there..
Thanks u very much for Help
thnkyou very much
it is working
thanks for advice
Greetings,
I’m a parent and I’ve found some really scary searches(concerning child pornography) in the google toolbar… Can anyone help me find out the date and time those searches were made? I’m using XP and Iexplorer 6.
Thaks in advance.
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I’ve read all these posts and still do not have a clear idea on how to clear the history. I want to clear the ‘suggest popular search’ history from the Google toolbar; that is the new toolbar that appears on IE. I have tried ‘delete history’ and that only deletes the immediate history. I have tried deleteing my browsing history, removing Google toolbar from my computer, washing programs, I have even follwed the instructions on the Google website – nothing works. Even after deleting the history the ‘suggest popular search’ will still display previous searches. For example type an ‘s’ in the Google toolbar and all previous searches beginning with an ‘s’ will appear. Sure, you can turn this feature off, but someone else can easily turn it back on and look at what searches have been made. How do I rid my computer of entries that pop up in the ‘suggest poular search’ history of the Google toolbar? Please help!!!
Thank youn so much for letting me know procedure of clearing google search box.
is it at all possible for items to appear in the google search history if noone really searched this terms?
I LOVE YOU GUYS. YOU SAVED MY LIFE
For Netscape 8.04, holding down “Shift” and pressing “delete” for every search term that gets displayed on the search drop-down box worked for me.
Your article is a lifesaver. Thanks alot!!!!
I was dying to find out how to erase all that stuff.
Ok, I have Netscape 8.13.
I tried to SHIFT-DELETE saved search terms in the Google Search Box….it deletes them….but when I load up Netscape the next time, they are all there again. Can someone please inform me of how to permantly delete the terms?
Thanks!
GOOGLE SAVES SEARCH HISTORY ON EVERY SEARCH EVER DONE THROUGH GOOGLE !!!! ALONG WITH YOUR IP ADDRESS !!!
IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU CLEAR YOUR HISTORY
Thanks again guys! I was able to erase my searches – your tips worked so well it cleared all 36 hours of my weekend searches! No more evidence of my double life! Thanks!
I am trying to delete the search history from the google homepage on Safari, but when I get to the “autofill” tab under “preferences,” the “edit” button next to “other forms” is completely inactive (I can’t click on it at all). Does anyone know how I can fix this problem?
J
Thanks.
how I can remove / delete the contents of search box of boogle
nothing works i’m using safari and want to just clear all searches. i tried the auto fill one and the edit button wasn’t avalible to click on. then i tried shit-delete in the google searchbar and nothing happened
……….
thanks for help
this is need full site
abhishek
I have firefox on my mac and when I go to google.com and click on th left of the bar it only shows all my searches and no options bar or any thing!!! Please help!!!!
some guy & Josh
I’ve got the exact same problem as you.
When I try to delete history in google search box on Safari and when I get to the “autofill†tab under “preferences,†the “edit†button next to “other forms†is completely inactive – I can’t click on it.
PLEASE HELP ME
Resetting everything on Safari doesn’t work either…
hw do i stop my searches 4rm appearin with the new V 7.054
what about macs?
Well
Me and my dad are planning a suprise party for my mum and we have been typing things into google like ‘caterars around [where we live]‘ and my mum uses the apple MAC laptop most days and we don’t want her to see it.. is there any way to delete the history off google, because we use Safari!
PLEASE HELP
thanx alot……
hey for mac users go to safari prefereces and autofill and change the option over thre it will work good luck
thanks you are of great help….
thanks, it helps lot
Thank you Google for the useful information. You are incredible. Keep it up.
In need to clear the Google search history on the home page… I have safari and I have no idea how to clear the history. Please help me.
Great Goodness What a Blessing too FIND!!!!!!
Im having problems deleting my the history on my computer even after going into tools and internet options and clearing my history. But for some reason websites still appear when you got to type in the address bar. Please help im trying to clear the adress history before i sell my labtop. Thank you.
Safari>Preferences>Autofill…
Tick off “Other forms” THEN click “Edit”… Delete all….
Might want to tick off everything as well, Edit delete/remove…
Then Security tab, Show cookies, delete…
This will clear some prefs savings, user name login stuff…
Also > user library > Safari… Delete Histoty.plist… (if you are curious open it this text edit…)
i found this really useful;..
just when your on the main google web page or if your just typing things into the web address bar,
all you do is highlight the link by putting your mouse over it, but not clicking it and then holding down shift and pressing delete. always works on any browser. =]
x
How can I clear the google searches from the search engine area in latest edition of firefox/mac?
If you are using safari, if you click on “Safari” in the toolbar then go down to Reset Safari… It will reset it to the way that it was when you first started using it and also clear the google entries.
How do you do this in MSN?
ll the browser, and Google Toolbar or Firefox Googlebar to cut it out! Complete Article : Click Here And the link Google Tutor is quiet cool site to know the way you wanna us
hello plz tell me how to remove seach item in my google search bar plz tell me
Thaanks… it’s not the stuff that i WANT to hide, though I confess that this would be the way to do that, i’m now successfull in deleting all the irrelevant search words i typed in…
THANK YOU FOR THIS TIP.
i.e. deleting search history. Took me an hour to find your page.
THANK YOU FOR THIS TIP.
how to claear search history
THANKS FOR THE ADVICE USED IT WELL>
thank you so much for this article! I was starting to get a headache looking through these bs “help” pages for the past couple of weeks for this exact information.
thanks again!
The tutor i cannot thank u enough! Because im using a family pc where everyone can catch me out. Thanx a million
I don’t get it. Nothing is there, and nothing works as described. I click on the Google logo, and there is no “clear history” option. I highlight a search item and hit delete, and nothing happens.
I have been trying to delete Google history for months, and it ain’t happenin’ for me. The help is no help. What’s up?