3 Simple Ways to Delete Your Google Data

Many of us love to use Google as a web search engine, but the amount of information it stores on its users has become a privacy issue. In fact, many people now want to know how to delete their Google data.

Of course, users have several reasons why they would want to limit what Google knows about them. The company is collecting vast amounts of data from anyone who uses anything in its suite of products.

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Here Are 3 Ways to Delete Your Google Activity

In this article, we’re going to show you how to delete your Google data. As you’ll see, there are three easy ways to do it, including one in which you can automatically set time periods to delete your stuff.

The tech giant has launched an activity suite that allows you to wipe your data in different ways — and money expert Clark Howard likes the move.

“You now have the ability to erase history — or at least the history that Google has on you, for periods of time,” Clark says.

Table of Contents: 

• 1: Delete your Google activity manually (option 1)
• 2: Delete your Google activity manually (option 2)
• 3. Delete your Google activity automatically

Option 1: How to Delete Your Google Data Manually

Here’s the step-by-step process to delete your Google activity manually:

• • 1. On your computer, go to myaccount.google.com and sign in.
    2. On the top left vertical menu, click Data & personalization.
    3. Under “Activity controls,” click Web & App Activity >  Manage Activity.
       • (Here you can also manage your Location History or YouTube History).

From the Manage Activity page, you can scroll through different items and delete them either by day of the week or individually by clicking on the icon. When you do, here’s a screenshot of what it should look like:

Option 2: Here’s how to Delete Your Google Data Manually

• • 1. On your computer, go to myaccount.google.com and sign in.
    2. On the navigation menu on the top left, click Data & personalization.
    3. Scroll down until you see “Activity and timeline.” Click My Activity.
    4. At the top right of the page, click More . and it will open a vertical menu. Click Delete activity by. Here’s a screenshot of what it looks like:

Once you select “Delete Activity By,” you will be able to choose whether to remove items by timeframe.

Here’s what that looks like:

When you’ve input the dates you want to wipe out, click Delete.

Here’s How to Delete Your Google Data Automatically

• • 1. On your computer, go to myaccount.google.com and sign in.
    2. See the navigation menu on the top left and click Data & personalization.
    3. Under “Activity controls,” click Web & App Activity >  Manage Activity.
       • (Here you can also manage your Location History or YouTube History).
    4. At the right of the search bar, click More   Keep activity for. Here is a screenshot of that:

Once you select “Keep activity for,” you will be able to choose whether to remove items by timeframe.

Here’s what that looks like:

When you decide, click Next and Confirm to save your choice.

Conclusion

One thing of note: Google says that some data may expire sooner than the timeframe you chose. But Clark says that may be OK.

“It clears a massive amount of stuff about you. It’s especially important for anybody who may have did things in their teens or 20s that upon reflection are like, “Oops, that wasn’t the best idea,” he says.

Clark likes the automatic setting because “you don’t have to go back and clear things out, it just automatically does it day after day,” he says.

On your My Account page, you may have noticed the Google Password Checkup. Here’s what that’s about and how to protect your login.

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