# Can I delete my Gmail search history? — Adinand Email Cleaner Last reviewed: October 10, 2026. HTML version: https://adinandemail.com/answers/delete-gmail-search-history **Yes. The Gmail app on Android and on iPhone each has a Clear search history button in its settings, and Google says that clearing it there removes "all your email searches" across all devices.** On a computer, Gmail's help describes deleting a recent search from the search box rather than a single clear-all. Behind both sits a Google Account setting, Web & App Activity, which is what saves the searches in the first place ([*Search in Gmail*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6593), read 10 October 2026). ## In the Gmail app on Android

Google's steps, from the Android version of the page ([*Search in Gmail, Android*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6593?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid), read 10 October 2026):

  1. Open the Gmail app and tap Menu at the top left.
  2. Tap Settings, then General settings.
  3. At the top right, tap More.
  4. Tap Clear search history, then Clear.

It sits under General settings, not under an individual account, so it is easy to miss if you go looking in your account's own settings.

## In the Gmail app on iPhone and iPad

The path is different ([*Search in Gmail, iPhone & iPad*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6593?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS), read 10 October 2026): open the Gmail app, tap Menu, then Settings; under "General" tap Data privacy, and at the bottom tap Clear search history. Google's list of iPhone settings names the same control, "Clear search history", among the app's options ([*Change your Gmail settings, iPhone & iPad*](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6562?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS), read 10 October 2026).

## On a computer

The computer version of the search page gives a shorter routine: open Gmail, click the search box, and "Your most recent search may show." Then "On the right, in the search result, click Delete." (the *Search in Gmail* page above). That removes a suggestion you can see. The page does not describe a button in Gmail on the web that clears every saved search at once; for that, Google points to your Google Account, below.

## Where the history is kept, and how to stop it

Google's explanation, the same on all three versions of the page: "The words you use to search and browse in Gmail are saved. This feature improves suggestions in your future searches. To use this feature, on the "Activity controls" page, turn on Web & App Activity." Two lines follow: "If you clear your search history in Gmail, all your email searches are removed across all devices", and "You can also clear your search history from Google servers."

That last step happens in My Activity, at [myactivity.google.com](https://myactivity.google.com/). Google's activity page describes filtering by product and deleting the results, deleting everything for All time, and an Auto-delete option under "History settings" in the Data & privacy section of your Google Account ([*Delete your activity*](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/465), Google Account Help, read 10 October 2026). It also says you can turn a history setting off, or choose "Turn off and delete activity". Two notes from that page: "Some Google products don't save activity in My Activity", and it does not name Gmail among the products in the filter, so we cannot tell you exactly how Gmail searches are labelled there. Check the product list on your own account.

Before switching Web & App Activity off, note that it is a Google Account setting, not a Gmail one: it sits under "History settings" in Data & privacy (the *Delete your activity* page above), so read what it covers on that screen first.

## What clearing does not touch

Clearing search history removes the searches, not the emails they found. Your messages, labels and filters stay where they are; if a saved search has turned into a filter, that is managed separately on [editing or deleting a Gmail filter](https://adinandemail.com/answers/delete-a-gmail-filter). And if the reason for clearing is that you are handing the phone on, removing the account itself is the stronger step: [removing a Gmail account from a phone](https://adinandemail.com/answers/remove-gmail-account-from-phone).

Related: [Gmail search operators](https://adinandemail.com/answers/use-google-search-operators) · [Searching Gmail's Trash](https://adinandemail.com/answers/search-gmail-trash) · [Editing or deleting a filter](https://adinandemail.com/answers/delete-a-gmail-filter) · [Removing Gmail from a phone](https://adinandemail.com/answers/remove-gmail-account-from-phone)