Delete Google's search suggestions in three ways
Google shows you suggestions as you type in the search box — these come from your own search history, popular searches, and what other people search for. You can remove individual suggestions one at a time, clear your entire search history at once, or turn off suggestions altogether. Which method you use depends on whether you want to keep some history or start fresh.
The fastest way is to highlight a suggestion with your arrow keys and press Delete or Shift + Delete on your keyboard — this removes just that one suggestion without touching anything else. If you want a deeper clean, you can wipe your entire search history from your Google account settings, which stops Google from suggesting things based on what you've searched before.
Key Takeaways
- Press the down arrow key to highlight a suggestion, then press Delete to remove that single suggestion from appearing again.
- Go to myactivity.google.com to see and delete your entire search history, which stops Google from basing suggestions on your past searches.
- Turn off search suggestions in Google Search Settings by unchecking "Show suggestions" — this stops Google from showing you any suggestions at all.
- Deleting a suggestion removes it from your account across all your devices, not just the one you're using right now.
Remove one suggestion at a time with your keyboard
When you start typing in the Google search box, a dropdown list appears below. Move to the suggestion you want to remove by pressing the down arrow key on your keyboard until that suggestion is highlighted in blue. Once it's highlighted, press Delete (on Windows) or Shift + Delete (on Mac).
That suggestion disappears from the list immediately and won't show up again when you type the same letters. This works on Google.com on your computer, and on the Google app on your phone — though on phones you usually long-press the suggestion instead of using Delete.
This method only removes suggestions based on your own search history. It won't remove popular searches or suggestions based on what other people search for, because those aren't tied to your account.
Clear your entire search history from Google Account
If you want to wipe out all the suggestions Google pulls from your past searches, you need to delete your search history. Go to myactivity.google.com in your web browser and sign in with the Google account you use for searching.
On the left side, click Delete activity. A panel opens on the right. At the top, you'll see a dropdown that says "All time" — leave it there. Below that, make sure only Search is checked (uncheck anything else like YouTube or Chrome if you don't want to delete those). Then click the blue Delete button at the bottom right.
Google will ask you to confirm. Click Delete again. Your entire search history is now gone, and Google won't have past searches to base suggestions on anymore. This change takes effect on all your devices that use this Google account.
Turn off search suggestions completely
If you don't want to see any suggestions at all — not your own history, not popular searches, nothing — you can disable suggestions in your Google Search settings. Go to google.com/preferences in your web browser.
Scroll down until you see a section called Search Settings. Look for the option that says Show suggestions and uncheck the box next to it. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the blue Save button.
From now on, when you type in the Google search box, no dropdown suggestions will appear. You'll still see results once you press Enter, but the live suggestions as you type will be gone. This setting applies to Google.com on your computer, but the Google app on your phone has its own separate settings.
Turn off suggestions on your phone
On the Google app for iPhone or Android, open the app and tap your profile picture in the top right corner. Tap Settings, then Search Settings. Look for Show suggestions and toggle it off. The change takes effect immediately.
If you use Safari on iPhone or Chrome on Android to search Google through the web browser instead of the app, the suggestions setting from google.com/preferences applies there too — you don't need to change it separately.
What gets deleted and what doesn't
When you delete a single suggestion by pressing Delete, you're only removing that one phrase from your search history. When you delete your entire search history from myactivity.google.com, you're removing every search you've ever done on that Google account — but only searches, not your YouTube watch history, Gmail, or anything else.
Turning off suggestions in settings doesn't delete anything — it just stops Google from showing you suggestions going forward. Your search history is still stored in your account. If you turn suggestions back on later, they'll start appearing again based on your past searches.
Deleting a suggestion or your history doesn't affect what other people see. It only changes what appears on your own devices.
Why Google shows you suggestions
Google pulls suggestions from three places: searches you've done before (stored in your Google account), searches that are popular right now, and searches that other people commonly do. The suggestions based on your own history are the ones you can remove. The popular and common searches will still appear because they're not tied to your account.
If you're signed out of your Google account, you'll still see popular and common suggestions, but not suggestions based on your personal search history. If you want to search without any of your activity being stored, you can use Google in Incognito mode (on Chrome) or Private Browsing mode (on Safari), though you'll still see popular suggestions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will deleting a suggestion remove it from all my devices?
Yes. When you delete a suggestion from your search history, it's removed from your Google account, so it won't appear on your phone, tablet, or any other device you use with that account. The change takes a few minutes to sync across all your devices.
Can I delete suggestions on my phone the same way as my computer?
On the Google app, long-press a suggestion and tap "Remove" from the menu that appears. On a mobile web browser, the Delete key method doesn't work the same way — it's easier to go to myactivity.google.com on your phone and delete your history from there instead.
If I turn off suggestions, will Google still track my searches?
Turning off suggestions only hides the dropdown list while you type — it doesn't stop Google from storing your searches in your account. Your search history is still saved. To stop Google from storing searches, you'd need to delete your history regularly or use Incognito mode when you search.
Why do I still see suggestions after I deleted my search history?
The suggestions you're seeing are popular searches or searches other people do, not your personal history. These can't be removed because they're not based on your account. Only suggestions that come from your own past searches can be deleted.
Does clearing my browser cache delete Google suggestions?
No. Clearing your browser cache removes temporary files stored on your computer, but Google suggestions are stored in your Google account, not your browser. You need to delete your search history from myactivity.google.com to remove suggestions based on your past searches.