How to Clear Search History on iPhone

To clear your Safari search and browsing history on an iPhone, open Settings, tap Apps, tap Safari, then tap Clear History and Website Data. Choose a time frame and tap Clear History. This also removes cookies and cached data but keeps your saved AutoFill information. Chrome, the Google app, Siri, and the keyboard each keep their own history, so clear those separately if you use them.

The steps below are for current iOS versions, where Safari’s settings sit under Settings > Apps. On iOS 17 and earlier, tap Safari directly in Settings. This applies to iPhone 12 and iPhone 15 too; the installed iOS version determines the path. You don’t need anything installed, and nothing here deletes your bookmarks or photos.

Clear All Safari History

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Apps, then Safari. Expected result: Safari’s settings page opens.
3. Scroll down and tap Clear History and Website Data. Expected result: a panel asks which time frame to clear.
4. Choose a time frame, such as All history.
5. Tap Clear History. Expected result: your history, recent searches, cookies, and cache are removed, and websites sign you out.

These steps follow Apple’s guide to clearing Safari history. Safari history can be shared through iCloud with your other signed-in Apple devices. Clearing local browser history does not erase records kept independently by websites, other apps, or network operators.

Why Clear Your iPhone Search History?

• Shared or borrowed phones: someone else using your iPhone can see what you searched for in the address bar suggestions.
• Gift and surprise searches: clear a time range, such as the last hour, instead of everything.
• Fixing site problems: clearing cookies and cache can fix pages that load incorrectly or keep old settings.
• Before you sell or give away the phone: clearing history isn’t enough. Erase the whole iPhone instead so all your data is removed.

Delete Specific Sites From Safari History

Use this when you want to remove a few pages without signing out of everything:

1. Open Safari and find History. Depending on the layout, use More > Bookmarks > History, the Bookmarks button > History, or the Start Page’s History button.
2. In History, tap the More button when available.
3. Tap Select Websites and choose the sites you want gone.
4. Tap the Trash button. Expected result: those entries disappear, and the rest of your history stays.

For older layouts without Select Websites, swipe left on an entry and tap Delete. To clear a time range from History, use More > Clear, or Clear directly in older layouts. Choose the range and Safari profile, if offered, then confirm Clear History. Apple’s iOS 26 instructions explain the layout differences.

Clear Cookies and Cache but Keep Your History

Apple also lets you do the opposite. Go to Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced > Website Data, tap Remove All Website Data, then Remove Now. Your history stays, but sites forget your logins and tracking data. For other ways to free space, see how to clear the cache on an iPhone.

To stop sites from storing cookies at all, turn on Block All Cookies under Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced. Apple warns that some sites won’t let you sign in with cookies blocked, so most people are better off clearing cookies now and then instead. If that switch is already on and sites keep signing you out, here is how to allow cookies in Safari on iPhone.

Stop Safari From Saving Searches

• Use Private Browsing: Safari doesn’t keep history for private tabs. See how to turn off Private Browsing on iPhone for switching between modes.
• Hide recent searches: on iOS 18.4 and later, you can turn off Show Recent Searches in Safari’s settings so past searches don’t pop up when you tap the address bar.

Clear Chrome Search History on iPhone

Chrome keeps its own history, separate from Safari. According to Google’s Chrome help:

1. Open Chrome and tap More (the three dots).
2. Tap Delete Browsing Data.
3. Next to Time Range, pick a duration. The default is only 15 minutes, so change it to All time if you want everything gone.
4. Tap Browsing Data to choose what to remove, then tap Confirm.
5. Tap Delete Browsing Data. Expected result: the selected data is removed from Chrome and, if you’re signed in and syncing, from your Google Account on other devices.

Shortcut: type “Delete browsing data” in Chrome’s address bar and tap the action chip. To remove single pages, tap More > History and delete individual entries. Our guide to viewing or deleting your Chrome history covers computers and Android as well. If you want Chrome not to save history at all, open an Incognito tab.

Clear Google App and Google Account Search History

Searches you make while signed in to Google can be saved to your Google Account, not just your phone. In the Google app, tap your profile picture, tap Search history, then tap Delete and choose all time, a custom range, or a single item. You can also manage everything from Google’s guide to deleting your activity, including an auto-delete option so older activity is removed automatically. The auto-delete choices are 3, 18, or 36 months.

Google app while signed out: local app history is separate. Open profile picture > Settings > Privacy & Safety > Clear app history, then confirm Clear all. Google’s iPhone instructions cover both local and account history; Google notes that privacy settings are changing, so labels may differ.

Clear Siri, Dictation, and Spotlight History

Apple’s Siri and Dictation privacy page explains that you can delete the Siri and Dictation transcripts stored on your device by going to Settings > Siri > Siri & Dictation History and tapping Delete Siri & Dictation History. On iPhones with Apple Intelligence, the menu is called Apple Intelligence & Siri.

Spotlight doesn’t have a delete button. Its suggestions come from Siri Suggestions, which you can turn off on the same Siri settings page with toggles such as Show in Spotlight, or per app. Apple lists Show in App Library, Show in Spotlight, Show When Sharing, and Show When Listening. Apple also says that turning off both Siri and Dictation deletes the transcripts stored on your device.

Reset the Keyboard Dictionary

If the keyboard suggests words you’d rather not see, go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Keyboard Dictionary. According to Apple’s iPhone User Guide, this erases only the words you’ve added to the dictionary; it doesn’t erase your other data. Be careful on the Reset screen, because the options above it include erasing the whole iPhone.

What Each Option Clears

Option	What it removes
Safari: Clear History and Website Data	History, recent searches, cookies, and cache. AutoFill stays.
Safari: Remove All Website Data	Cookies and cache only. History stays.
Chrome: Delete Browsing Data	The data types and time range you choose.
Google Account activity	Searches saved to your account on every device.
Siri & Dictation History	Siri and Dictation transcripts stored on the iPhone.
Reset Keyboard Dictionary	Words you added to the keyboard dictionary.

Other browsers work the same way inside their own settings. See how to delete history in Firefox on iPhone or clear history in the Edge iPhone app. To look back at pages instead of deleting them, see how to view your history in the Edge iPhone app.

Troubleshooting

• Clear History is grayed out: Apple says there’s either no data to clear, or Screen Time web content restrictions are blocking it. Check Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions.
• Old searches still show up: the suggestions may be coming from Chrome, the Google app, or your Google Account rather than Safari. Clear those too.
• Suggestions remain after clearing: check whether they are bookmarks, search suggestions, or history in a different app or account. Removing Safari history does not remove every suggestion.
• Chrome only deleted a little: the Time Range defaults to 15 minutes. Change it to All time and delete again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does clearing history sign me out of websites?

Yes, if you use Clear History and Website Data in Safari, because it also clears cookies. Deleting individual sites from the History list doesn’t sign you out.

Will clearing Safari history delete my passwords or bookmarks?

No. Apple says clearing history doesn’t change your AutoFill information, and bookmarks and saved passwords stay put.

Can I browse without saving history?

Yes. Use Private Browsing in Safari or an Incognito tab in Chrome. Neither saves your history on the iPhone. Check any Close All Tabs option in the confirmation panel; clearing history is not a reliable substitute for reviewing open tabs. See how to close all open tabs on iPhone.

Why is Clear History grayed out?

Either there’s no history to clear, or Screen Time restrictions are on. Check Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions.

How do I clear search history on Android?

The steps are different. See how to delete your Android search history.

Using a tablet instead? Our iPad history-clearing guide covers Safari’s sidebar and the separate Chrome and Google controls.