How to delete location and search history automatically on Google

Google now lets you delete your activity history automatically every 3 to 18 months, and here's how to configure this new feature.

Google auto delete location and search history
Google auto delete location and search history

It’s a well-known fact that Google collects location, web, and app activities from users when using Google Search, YouTube, and other services to learn their behavior to accurately serve ads and improve the user experience.

As a result of privacy concerns, Google is now gradually rolling out a new feature that users can select manually to automatically delete location history, web, and app activities from their accounts.

You can always disable the collection of this data, but the new settings should help to have a more personal experience while using Google services, and protecting your privacy a little better.

In this guide, you’ll learn to set how long Google is allowed to keep your data before deleting it. Also, we’ll look at the steps to disable location history, web, and apps activities entirely on your Google account.

How to delete location and search history automatically on Google

Use these steps to delete location and activity history automatically on Google:

  1. Open your Google Account.

  2. Click on Data & Personalization from the left pane.

  3. Under the “Activity controls” section, click the Manage your activity controls option.

    Manage your activity controls
    Manage your activity controls
  4. Under the “Web & App Activity” (or “Location History”) section, click the Manage activity button.

    Manage activity
    Manage activity
  5. Click the Choose how long to keep button.

    Choose how long to keep your data on Google servers
    Choose how long to keep your data on Google servers
  6. Select one of the three options:

    • Keep until I delete manually (default).
    • Keep for 18 months.
    • Keep for 3 months.

    Google autom delete data options
    Google autom delete data options
  7. Click the Next button.

  8. Click the Confirm button.

    Confirm Google data auto-delete settings
    Confirm Google data auto-delete settings
  9. Click the Got it button.

Once you complete the steps, all your web and app activities older than the day you specified will be deleted automatically.

How to disable location and search history on Google

Use these steps to disable location and activity data collection on Google:

  1. Open your Google Account.

  2. Click on Data & Personalization from the left pane.

  3. Under the “Activity controls” section, click the Manage your activity controls option.

    Manage your activity controls
    Manage your activity controls
  4. Under the “Activity controls” section, turn off the toggle switch for Web & App Activity (and Location History).

    Disable Google activity tracking
    Disable Google activity tracking
  5. Click the Pause button.

    Pause Google tracking
    Pause Google tracking

After you complete the steps, Google should no longer collect your activities or locations when using its services.

While the option to disable location and activity data collection has been around for a long time, the ability to delete your history automatically after 3 or 18 months are new features rolling out gradually to users.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].