Access & control activity in your account - Computer (2024)

When you use Google sites, apps, and services, some of your activity is saved in your Google Account. You can find and delete this activity in My Activity, and you can stop saving most activity at any time.

About my activity

My Activity is a central place to view and manage activity such as searches you've done, websites you've visited, and videos you've watched.

How activity works

To personalize your experience, your activity on certain Google services like Search, YouTube, or Chrome, can be saved as data to your account. This activity helps make your experience on Google faster and more useful.

The kinds of activity that show up in My Activity can include associated info like location, and can depend on which Google products you use, and which Activity controls are turned on.

When activity gets saved to your account

Activity is saved when you're signed in to your Google Account.

Your Activity controls control most of the activity that's saved to your account.

Find & view activity

Your activity is listed as individual items, starting with the most recent.

Find activity​

  1. Go to your Google Account.
  2. On the left navigation panel, click Data & privacy.
  3. Under "History settings," click My Activity.
  4. To access your activity:
    • Browse your activity, organized by day and time.
    • To find specific activity, at the top, use the search bar and filters.

Get details about activity

To view details about an item: At the bottom of the item, select Details. You'll find the date and time of the activity and why it was saved. You might also get location, device, and app information.

Delete activity

Learn how to delete past searches, browsing history, and other activity in My Activity. You can also set up automatic deletion for older activity.

Require an extra step to view your full history on My Activity

To strengthen your privacy on shared devices, you can choose to require an extra verification step to view your full history on My Activity.

  1. Go to activity.google.com.
  2. Above your activity, select Manage My Activity Verification.
  3. Turn Extra Verification on or off.

Turn off & delete activity

You can control most of the information in My Activity.

  1. Go to your Google Account.
  2. On the left, click Data & privacy.
  3. Under "History settings," click an activity or history setting you don't want to save.
  4. Under the setting you don’t want to save, select Turn off.
  5. Follow the steps to turn off the setting, or choose toTurn offor Turn off and delete activity.
    • If you choose Turn off and delete activity,follow the steps to select and confirm what activity you want to delete.

Tip: Some activity isn't included in My Activity.

Stop saving activity temporarily

You can search and browse the web privately.

Tip: If you sign in to your Google Account in a private browsing window, your search activity may be stored in that account.

Fix problems

Your activity doesn't show up

If your searches, websites you’ve visited, or other activity don't appear in My Activity, make sure that:

  • You're signed in. Activity is saved only when you're signed in to your Google Account.
  • Your device is online. Any offline activity won't show up in My Activity until your device connects to the Internet.
  • The right settings are turned on. Review your Activity controls to make sure you're saving the kinds of activity you want to.
  • You're signed in to only one account. If multiple accounts are signed in to the same browser or device at the same time, your activity might be saved to the default account.

Note: Some Google services don't support saving activity to your account.

You find activity you don't recognize

You might find these types of unfamiliar activity in My Activity.

Activity from websites & apps that use Google services

Some websites and apps use Google services, like Search, Maps, or Ads. If you visit these websites and apps while signed in to your Google Account, your activity might show up in My Activity. If you use a shared device or sign in with multiple accounts, you may find activity from another signed in account.

Some websites and apps might share certain activity with Google.

Learn more about .

Predicted activity

Sometimes Google predicts what you'd like to view next and serves this content to you.

  • For example, if YouTube autoplay is turned on, My Activity might show videos that were played automatically based on what you've watched.

Other unfamiliar activity

You might find unfamiliar activity if:

  • You’re signed in to multiple accounts on the same browser or device at the same time.
    • Activity from another signed-in account might be saved in My Activity.
  • There’s an activation you didn’t intend and Google Assistant detects it.
  • You didn't sign out of a shared device, like a public computer.
  • Your device is set to a different date and time.
    • Activity from this device might appear with an incorrect date.
  • Someone accessed your account without your permission.

If you think activity on your account was done by someone else, take steps to help keep your account secure.

View other activity

Not all of the data that's saved to your account shows up in My Activity. For example, if you've turned on Location History, that data is saved to your Maps Timeline instead.

To find other kinds of activity that are saved to your account:

  1. Go to your Google Account.
  2. On the left, click Data & privacy.
  3. On the "History settings," click My Activity.
  4. Above your activity, in the search bar, click More Access & control activity in your account - Computer (1) Access & control activity in your account - Computer (2) Other Google Activity.
  5. Below the activity you want to view, select your option.

Learn more about the information we collect and why.

To view and control other account information, open your Google Account.

Need more help?

Try these next steps:

Post to the help community Get answers from community members

Protect Your Identity Online

Get step-by-step visual guides on the tools and practices that will help you protect your personal information with Google's Online Security Guidebook.

Access & control activity in your account - Computer (2024)

FAQs

How do I turn off Google activity controls? ›

Turn Web & App Activity on or off
  1. On your Android device, open your Settings app Google. Manage your Google Account.
  2. Tap Data & privacy.
  3. Under "History settings," tap Web & App Activity.
  4. Turn Web & App Activity on or off.
  5. When Web & App Activity is on: ...
  6. When you turn Web & App Activity off:

How do I delete all my Search history on my activity? ›

Delete all activity
  1. On your Android phone or tablet, go to myactivity.google.com.
  2. Above your activity, tap Delete .
  3. Tap All time.
  4. Tap Next. Delete.

How do I automatically delete my activity? ›

Delete your activity automatically
  1. On your computer, go to your Google Account.
  2. At the left, click Data & privacy.
  3. Under "History settings," click an activity or history setting you want to auto-delete.
  4. Click Auto-delete.
  5. Click the button for how long you want to keep your activity Next. Confirm to save your choice.

Can anyone see my Google Search history if I delete it? ›

Once you delete it from your device, it's typically removed from your local storage and cannot be accessed by your ISP. However, if your ISP has previously stored your browsing history, deleting it from your device will not remove it from its records.

How do I turn off Google controls? ›

How to disable voice commands
  1. Open the Google App on your phone.
  2. Tap on your profile picture in the top right corner.
  3. In the following dropdown menu, select Settings. ...
  4. Under the Popular Settings section, select Hey Google & Voice Match​​​​​​.
  5. Tap on the Hey Google toggle to disable voice commands.
Apr 17, 2024

Is it good to turn off Google activity? ›

Chrome: In the Web & App Activity card, under Subsettings, there's a checkbox for including Google Chrome history and activity from sites, apps, and devices that use Google services. We suggest disabling this—it seems unlikely that it would improve your Internet experience sufficiently to warrant the privacy intrusion.

Does deleting my activity delete everything? ›

Steps for Deleting All Your History Using Your Computer or Android Phone. On your computer, go to myactivity.google.com. Above steps deletes most Google Products for Web & App Acvitity and History. However, it does NOT delete everything from ALL Google products.

Is it better to delete or clear history? ›

If you want to keep your device more private and keep your browser running smoothly, quickly clearing your device's browser history can help. There's no fixed or recommended time for deleting your browsing history, cache, and cookies. It's all relative to your system's storage space and personal preferences.

What happens when you delete activity? ›

Once any activity is deleted, the data is permanently removed from the server and cannot be restored.

Is deleted history gone forever? ›

Even after you delete your browsing history, your search history can still be viewed if you were signed into your Google account and had search history collection enabled.

How to permanently delete internet history? ›

Delete your Google search history and activity on your mobile device
  1. On your Android or iOS device, go to myactivity.google.com on a browser.
  2. Tap Menu > Delete activity by.
  3. Below “Delete Activity” tap All time.
  4. When asked which services to delete your activity from, make sure the Select All box is ticked.
Jan 21, 2024

Is deleting search history suspicious? ›

If someone is checking your Internet history, please be aware that if you delete the entire history including usernames and passwords, the person may become suspicious. To avoid this you may only want to delete the information for the Websites you visited.

How do I turn off activity tracking on Android? ›

On your Android phone, open the Settings app. Allow. At the bottom, tap Profile. Under “Tracking preferences,” turn Track your activities on or off.

How do I turn off activity in settings? ›

Turn Web & App Activity on or off

Tap Data & privacy. Under "History settings," tap Web & App Activity. Turn Web & App Activity on or off.

How do I stop Google from tracking my activity? ›

Turn "Do Not Track" on or off
  1. On your Android device, open Chrome .
  2. To the right of the address bar, tap More. Settings.
  3. Tap Privacy and security.
  4. Tap Send a "Do Not Track" request. Tip: If you are part of the Tracking Protection test group, follow the “Tracking Protection” instructions.
  5. Turn the setting on or off.

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