For many, that level of personalization makes using the platform easier. There are others, however, that view this as an invasion of privacy. Such users like to retain control over how much of their search history is saved and when it’s deleted. Also: The best Android phones right now More than that, however, is other third-party entities can use that stored information to keep tabs on your online activity. This can be problematic if you accidentally search for the wrong thing, only to then find the related ads to fall under the category of, “Why am I seeing this?” I’ve witnessed other people’s eyes go wide when an add pops up on their phones they either shouldn’t or didn’t want to see. This can be intrusive. You don’t want that. Also: How to clear the cache on your Android phone or tablet Everyone should be concerned about their privacy. Although you might not wind up with your identity stolen, you do risk many third parties using your search history to their advantage. Fortunately, Google makes it possible to not only manually delete that data but also set devices to auto-delete the search cache. You might not think you need such a feature, but trust me when I say these types of intrusions are only going to get worse. I’m going to walk you through the process of both – manually deleting that search cache and configuring Android to auto-delete saved data.
How to manually clear the Google search cache
What you’ll need: To do this, you’ll need an Android device that is connected to your Google account. I’ll be demonstrating on a Pixel 6 Pro running Android 12 with the April security patch applied. Also: How to enable Notification History on your Android This process should work the same on most modern Android devices. If, however, you find the instructions don’t apply to your device, it might take a bit of research to discover how it’s done on an older version of Android. Let’s get to work.
Auto-deletion setup
If you prefer to have things done automagically, Google has made it possible to set the cache to be auto-deleted. To do this, go back to the same place you ran the manual deletion and tap the Auto-delete (Off) entry. In the resulting window, tap to enable Auto-delete activity older than and then, from the drop-down, select the date range to be deleted. Also: How to clear the cache on your iPhone If you need to delete more than that, tap Search history. In the next window, tap Verify at the bottom of the screen. After a successful verification, you should then see a Delete drop-down. Select the time frame for which you want to delete (today, custom, or all-time) and Android will empty the cache for that specified range. You will not be prompted to okay the deletion, it will just happen. Once deleted, that cache is gone. You can choose from three months, 18 months, and 36 months. Once you’ve made your selection, tap Next and then tap Confirm to finish the setup. Also: How to clear the Opera browser cache And that’s all there is to deleting your Google search cache (either manually or automatically). If you’re concerned about your online privacy, consider this a must-do. And remember, since you can only set auto-delete for a minimum of three months, you might want to regularly go back to the screen and manually delete your cache (to keep your Android device from saving cached items that are not more than three months old).
