Anyone wishing to protect their online privacy and clear their browsing history from Google may be interested in this quick guide which walks you through the process of clearing and deleting your Google search history and how to effectively manage your account Google by deleting your search activity directly from Google’s servers.
Your search history is saved by Google each time you are logged into your official account google account in any browser and is saved both in your local browser and offsite remotely on the official google servers.
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To delete or clear your search history from your Google Account
Many people regularly clear their search history from their browser but forget to delete it from their Google Account.
1. First go to https://myaccount.google.com/ website in your favorite browser
2. Log in to your google account if you are not already logged in
3. Navigate to Data Privacy section listed on the left side of the main menu page
4. Scroll down the page to Story settings
5. Click My activity
6. Click the Wipe off and select the option you want to use: Last Hour, Last Day, All Time, or a custom range.
7. A pop will appear with a small section of your history. If you are happy with your choice, select blue Wipe off button at the bottom right of the pop-up to delete and clear your Google search history.
It is also possible to permanently disable Google’s ability to capture your search activity by going to the Activity Controls section in History Settings as shown in the image below. Once you deactivate it, you prevent Google from registering “Your activity on Google sites and apps, including related information such as location, to provide you with faster searches, better recommendations, and more personalized experiences in Maps, search, and other Google services”.
A few optional settings are also available, allowing you to include Chrome history and activity from sites, apps, and devices that use Google services and voice and audio activity. “When you speak to Google services, Google uses its audio recognition technologies to process your audio and respond to you. For example, if you tap the microphone icon to perform a voice search, Google’s audio recognition technologies translate what you say into words and phrases that search finds in an index to give you the most relevant results.”
In fairness to Google, they allow you to delete your Google search history and other data that may be related to your browsing habits. However, there are several options for each specific area that Google collects data from you, such as web and app activity, location history, and YouTube history.
Personalization of Google advertising
Be sure to take a good look at all the options available in the History Settings section and customize them to your exact privacy requirements. You can also choose whether advertising is personalized based on your interests and brand preferences.
Sharing your personal information with others
While you’re tweaking, your Google search history is also worth mentioning that you can change what personal information you’ve saved in your Google account and how it’s shared with others visibly across Google services. Just in case you show something you’d rather keep private. Google also offers the ability to adjust your payment methods, subscriptions, and linking devices. Provide a prominent place for all your privacy settings.
If you want to know more about each of them and how they can be used, sign in to your official Google account by going to https://myaccount.google.com/ and carefully reviewing each option. Remember that once you’ve cleared your Google search history, it’s also worth deleting any history that may be hiding in your favorite browsers.
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