Ron Amadeo
Google is finally releasing a “delete history” feature, which will erase the last 15 minutes of searches, for the Android Google Search app. “Delete History” was announced at Google I/O 2021 in May and reached the iOS app two months later, but for some reason it took almost a year to come to Android. It’s finally rolling out now, according to a statement Google gave to The Verge over the weekend.
To clear the last few minutes of your search history, open the Google Search app from the app icon (other entry points, such as the search bar widget, will not display the correct UI), tap your profile picture in the top right corner, and you should see a new “delete last 15 minutes” option at the top of the popup menu. If you don’t see the setting yet, try swiping the app away from recent apps and reopening it, which will load the latest configuration from the cloud.
Clearing your search history is similar to clearing browser history, but Google stores search history in your account in the cloud. As the app explains, Google search history keeps track of “the things you search for, the results you click, and the stories you read” while using the Google app or Google.com. Google also records your location, plus audio recordings if you do a voice search. The search terms are of course used to show more relevant ads, but also for future search predictions and to display content in Google Discover.
The search history control is located under the “Web & App Activity” feature. In the app, you can manage this setting by tapping the “search history” button just above the new “delete last 15 minutes” option, or you can go to myactivity.google.com in a browser. Web and app activity can be turned off completely, or you can set the system to “automatically delete” your data older than three, 18, or 36 months.
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