Clear Chrome History and Google Search History
Deleting history in Chrome involves two separate places. Chrome stores browsing history on the device, while your Google account can store searches you made while signed in. Clear both areas if you want to remove Chrome browsing activity and Google searches.
These steps work in the desktop version of Google Chrome on a PC, laptop, Mac, MacBook, or Chromebook. Before deleting anything, choose the time range carefully. Deleted history may affect suggestions and make it harder to revisit a page later.
Video Tutorial
Delete Browsing History in Google Chrome
Chrome’s browsing history includes websites you visited and can include searches made through search engines in the browser. You can clear the last hour, the last 24 hours, or everything saved in the selected Chrome history range.
- Open Google Chrome.
- Select the three dots in the top-right corner of the browser.
- Select Delete browsing data.
- Choose a date range at the top of the window. Select All time to remove all available browsing history. You can also choose a shorter range, such as the last hour or last 24 hours.
- Review the data types listed in the window. Leave Browsing history selected if your goal is to remove websites and searches recorded in Chrome.
- Uncheck other items if you do not want to delete them.
- Select Delete data.
Chrome will remove the browsing history for the time range you selected. If you only want to clear recent activity, avoid choosing All time.
Remove Searches From Your Google Account
Clearing Chrome browsing data does not necessarily delete searches saved to your Google account. This is especially important if you were signed in to Google when you searched. You can manage these searches from Google.com.
- Go to Google.com in Chrome.
- Make sure you are signed in to the Google account whose history you want to manage.
- Select your profile icon in the top-right corner.
- Select Search history.
- Make sure Search is selected so the page shows your Google searches.
You should now see search activity listed below. From here, you can remove one search, a full day of searches, or your complete search history.
Delete One Search or One Day of Searches
Use the individual delete controls when you only need to remove a specific search. This lets you keep the rest of your history intact.
- Find the search entry you want to remove.
- Select the X to the right of that search.
- To remove every search listed for a particular day, select the X to the right of that day instead.
This is useful when you do not want to clear all history. For example, you can remove a single search suggestion that keeps appearing without deleting your other browsing records.
Delete All Google Search History
If you want to start fresh, delete your entire Google search history from the same Search history page.
- On the Google Search history page, select the available drop-down option for deleting history.
- Choose All time.
- Confirm that you want to delete your full search history when prompted.
After you confirm, Google removes the search history associated with that account for the selected range. If you use more than one Google account, repeat these steps while signed in to each account you want to clean up.
Choose the Right Option Before You Delete
Use Chrome’s Delete browsing data option to clear local browser history. Use Google Search history to remove searches saved to your signed-in Google account. Doing both gives you the most complete cleanup of search-related activity shown in Chrome and Google.
If you only need privacy for a recent search, delete the individual entry or select a shorter time range. If you are handing over a computer or want to remove older activity, choose All time after reviewing the items that will be deleted.
More Google Chrome Tutorials:
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