You can delete one search at a time from Google, Bing, or most other search engines, but the steps differ slightly by platform
Deleting a single search from your history is straightforward on most search engines, though you need to know where to look. Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and others all store your searches — but they also all let you remove individual ones without clearing your entire history. The process takes about 30 seconds once you know the steps.
The reason you might want to delete one search instead of all of them is practical: you may want to keep your search history for convenience (so Google remembers you searched for "best running shoes" last month) but remove something you'd rather not have stored, like a health question or a search you made by accident.
Key Takeaways
- On Google, you go to myactivity.google.com, find the search in the list, and click the trash icon next to it.
- On Bing, you sign into your account, go to your search history settings, and delete individual searches from there.
- Deleting one search from your history does not delete it from Google's servers if you are signed in — it only hides it from your account.
- If you are not signed into your search engine account, your searches are not stored in a way you can delete them individually later.
How to delete a search on Google
Go to myactivity.google.com in your browser and sign in with the Google account you use for searching. You will see a list of your recent activity — searches, websites you visited, videos you watched, and more. The list is organized by date, with today at the top.
Find the search you want to delete. You can scroll through the list or use the search box at the top to find it faster. Once you find it, hover your mouse over that item and a trash icon will appear on the right side. Click the trash icon. Google will ask you to confirm, and once you do, that search is removed from your activity.
The search will no longer appear in your Google search history or in your autocomplete suggestions. However, Google still has a record that you performed that search — deleting it from your activity only removes it from your account view.
How to delete a search on Bing
Sign into your Microsoft account and go to account.microsoft.com/privacy. Look for the section labeled "Search history" or "Activity history." Click on it to see your recent searches.
Find the search you want to remove and click the X or delete button next to it. Bing will remove it immediately. Like Google, this deletion only removes the search from your account — Microsoft retains records of your searches on their servers.
How to delete a search on DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo does not store your search history by default, even if you are signed in. If you have chosen to save your searches by creating a DuckDuckGo account and enabling search history, you can delete individual searches by going to your account settings and finding the search history section.
However, most DuckDuckGo users do not have search history enabled, which means there is nothing to delete — your searches are not stored in the first place. This is one reason some people prefer DuckDuckGo: the default behavior is to keep no history.
What happens when you delete a search from your account
When you delete a search from your history, you are removing it from your personal account view. It will no longer appear when you go back to check your activity, and it will not show up in autocomplete suggestions when you start typing in the search box.
The search engine company still has records of the search on their servers. Deleting it from your account does not erase it from their databases. If you want to prevent a search from being stored in the first place, you can use private browsing mode (called Incognito in Chrome, Private in Firefox, and InPrivate in Edge) — searches made in private mode are not saved to your account history.
Why you might not see all your searches to delete
If you are signed into your search engine account, your searches are stored and you can delete them individually. If you are not signed in, your searches may still be stored on your device (in your browser history) but not in your account, so you cannot delete them from myactivity.google.com or similar pages.
You can check whether you are signed in by looking at the top right corner of Google's homepage — if you see your profile picture or email address, you are signed in. If you see a "Sign in" button, you are not. Searches made while not signed in are not tied to your account and cannot be deleted through your account settings.
Deleting searches from your browser history instead
If you want to delete a search from your device itself (not just from your search engine account), you need to clear your browser history. In Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari, you can press Ctrl+H (or Command+H on Mac) to open your browser history, find the search engine result page, and delete it.
Deleting from your browser history removes the record from your computer or phone, but it does not remove it from your search engine account. To fully remove a search, you may need to delete it in both places: from your search engine account (using the steps above) and from your browser history.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I delete a search from my Google account, can Google still see it?
Yes. Deleting a search from your activity only removes it from your account view. Google's servers still have records of the search. If you want to prevent Google from storing a search in the first place, use Incognito mode.
Can I delete searches from my phone the same way?
Yes. On your phone, open Google.com or Bing.com, sign in, and go to your activity or search history settings. The steps are the same as on a computer, though the layout may look slightly different depending on your phone's browser.
What if I delete a search by accident?
Once you delete a search from your account, you cannot undo it through the search engine's interface. However, if you deleted it very recently, you might be able to recover it by checking your browser's undo function (Ctrl+Z) if you have not closed the page.
Does deleting one search affect my other searches or recommendations?
Deleting a single search may slightly affect personalized recommendations, but the impact is usually minimal. Search engines base recommendations on your overall search patterns, not individual searches. If you want to significantly change your recommendations, you would need to delete many searches or clear your entire history.