Almost everyone uses Google services in some capacity, be it the search engine, cloud storage, or YouTube. And, for every service you use, a history of your Google activity is stored.

Considering Google is the most popular search engine, your activities are also saved to your account. But how do you access your Google activity history? And how can you delete all your activities across several Google services?

Types of Google Activity Stored

If you use a smartphone along with Google services, there are several activities that are being tracked by Google.

Here's a brief snapshot of the types of activities Google stores:

  • YouTube history.
  • Google search history.
  • Map history.
  • Location history.
  • Device access or usage history (for Android).

Having your usage data prompts you to recall what you were searching for and helps you spot unauthorized use in some cases.

It is worth noting that the same steps used to manage your Google activity apply whether you are using a mobile or a desktop web browser. Furthermore, you can control and manage your Google activity through the Google app. You can also control the data you sync, another useful management option.

How Do You Access Your Google History?

To get started, go to the My Activity page of your Google account.

google account my activity home

Here, you can access all your activity across multiple Google services and choose to search for something specific. If you scroll down, you will find all your recent activities and can filter them based on the product/service you use.

google account recent search activity

What You Need to Know Before Deleting Your Google Activity History

There are a few things to note before you start deleting all your Google activity history.

  • Once you delete your Google history, you cannot recover it.
  • Even if you delete the history, newer activity on your Google accounts and services may be automatically recorded.
  • Even if you are not logged in, some Google apps may track your activity on the device itself.
  • You can choose to auto-delete your Google history, stopping it from recording to begin with.
  • You can choose to disable activity tracking.

Considering you cannot recover your history, it may be a good idea to perform a backup of your data.

You need to think twice if you really need a history of your Chrome activity, Android device usage, Google search, or your YouTube search history. If you haven't deleted your Google activity history before, at times, it can be useful to look back through.

How to Back Up Your Google Activity History

Here's how to make a backup of your data, something you may wish to do before deleting your Google activity log.

  1. Head to your Google account management page. Select Data & privacy from options on the left.
    google account management page
  2. Next, scroll down to find Download your data.
    google account activity download your data
  3. Select Download your data. Now, select which services you want to back up your activity for. By default, everything is selected; if you do not need all the data, you can deselect your options. Once you're ready, hit Next step, at the bottom of the page.
    google account activity download your data selection
  4. You will be asked to choose the file type, method, frequency, and destination for your Google activity backup. You can choose to directly get the backup in your Google Drive account or get a download link via email, among other options.
    google account activity data backup options

The Google activity log backup can take several days, depending on the volume of data. If you're a heavy Google service user, as many of us are, you may be surprised at the amount of data you receive. Don't delete your Google activity log until you've received the full backup.

How to Delete All of Your Google Activity

You can easily delete any of your Google activities or all of it in one go. Google provides granular levels of settings to make it convenient.

Here is how you can delete all your activity.

Delete One Activity At a Time

When you go to the My Activity page, you will find all your recent activities listed. You can delete an item that you want to remove from your activity history, no matter whether it's Google search history or device access data. All you need to do is click on the X button, and it will be deleted.

google activity feed delete entry

Delete All Your Activities Within a Time Range

On the My Activity page, you can choose to delete all your data specified by a time range. Use the delete button as shown below.

You can also filter your activity if you do not want all your activity history to disappear. The available options let you choose a specific time range or everything. Go with what you think is the best for you.

google activity delete data specific timeframe option

Deleting the search activity or any other Google history will not ask for an additional confirmation; your data will be instantly deleted as you proceed.

Delete Google Search and Device Access Activity

From the My Activity page, you can also select the Web & app activity option, which gives you a detailed look into specific apps.

google activity web and app option

Scroll down to find Manage activity and proceed to delete all the search history or just the device access history. You can also choose to delete individual searches if you want.

google activity web and app activity options

Auto-Delete Activity

You can auto-delete each category of activity listed on your My Google Activity page.

google activity auto delete option

Suppose you click on Web & app activity; you need to head to the auto-delete option (which is disabled by default) and then choose the time range of activity you want to be deleted automatically.

google activity auto delete timing options

You can auto-delete activity older than 36 months. To delete more recent activity, you need to follow the other steps mentioned above.

How to Disable Google Activity Tracking

If you do not want your Google activity to be stored, you can choose to pause the type of activities saved to your account.

Do note that if you disable all the activity tracking, you cannot access any of your history when you enable it again, and you will also lose personalized recommendations. To do that, you will have to visit My Activity and then click on any of the activities that you want to disable tracking for. You can also turn off activity and delete your previous Google activity log, too.

google activity controls turn off location history
  • Web & app activity: Disables saving your search history and your device access history.
  • YouTube history: Disables saving your recent YouTube search history and videos watched.
  • Location history: Prevents storing your device location data.

Once you toggle any of those off, you will see an additional confirmation with further information. If you are comfortable with that, go ahead.

Manage Your Google History to Keep Tabs on Your Activity

While you may find an overwhelming amount of data in your activity history, it helps you keep tabs on what you do online and recall something that you were searching for.

Usually, people do not take time to review their activities or manage them, but if you are conscious about your privacy, it is a good habit to delete or check your history regularly.