Clear your search history in three places on a Samsung Galaxy tablet
Your Samsung Galaxy tablet stores search history in three separate locations: your web browser, your Google account, and the tablet's built-in search function. Clearing one does not clear the others, so you may need to repeat these steps in each place depending on what you want to remove. The fastest method is to clear your browser history first, since that is where most searches are recorded.
The steps differ slightly depending on which browser you use — Samsung Internet, Google Chrome, or Firefox — but the principle is the same on all of them. You will find the history-clearing option in the browser's settings or menu, usually under a "Privacy" or "History" section.
Key Takeaways
- Browser history, Google account search history, and Samsung tablet search history are stored separately and must be cleared individually.
- In Samsung Internet, open the menu (three lines), tap Settings, then Privacy, then Delete browsing data and select the time range and data types you want to remove.
- In Google Chrome, tap the three dots in the top right, select History, then Clear browsing data and choose your time range.
- To clear Google account search history across all your devices, visit myactivity.google.com on a computer or phone and delete items from there.
- The Samsung tablet's built-in search (the search bar on your home screen) can be cleared by opening Settings, searching for "Search," and selecting the option to clear search history.
Clear history in Samsung Internet browser
Samsung Internet is the default browser on most Galaxy tablets. To clear your search and browsing history, open the app and tap the three horizontal lines (the menu icon) in the bottom right corner of the screen. Scroll down and tap Settings.
In Settings, tap Privacy. You will see an option called Delete browsing data. Tap it. A window will appear asking you to choose what time period to clear — you can select "All time," "Last 24 hours," "Last 7 days," "Last 4 weeks," or "Last 3 months." Below that, checkboxes will show you what types of data can be deleted: browsing history, cookies, cached images and files, and saved passwords. Check the boxes for the data you want to remove, then tap Delete.
Clear history in Google Chrome
If you use Google Chrome instead, the process is similar but the menu location is different. Open Chrome and tap the three dots in the top right corner of the screen. Tap History, then tap History again (it appears twice in the menu).
At the top of the history list, tap Clear browsing data. A window will open with options for the time range — "All time," "Last 24 hours," "Last 7 days," "Last 4 weeks," or "Last 3 months." Select the time period you want to clear. Below that, make sure the checkbox next to Cookies and site data and Cached images and files are checked if you want to remove those as well. Tap Clear data to finish.
Clear your Google account search history across all devices
Your Google account keeps a separate record of everything you search for using Google Search, regardless of which device you use. This history is stored on Google's servers and syncs across your phone, tablet, and computer. Clearing it from your tablet only clears the local copy — to remove it completely, you need to visit Google's activity page.
On your tablet, open a web browser and go to myactivity.google.com. Sign in with the Google account you use on your tablet. You will see a list of your recent searches and web activity. To delete individual searches, tap the trash icon next to each one. To delete everything from a specific date or time period, tap the three dots in the top left, select Delete activity by, and choose the date range you want to remove.
If you want to stop Google from recording your searches altogether, tap the three dots again and select Auto-delete activity. You can set it to delete activity older than 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months automatically.
Clear search history from your tablet's home screen search
Samsung tablets have a built-in search function on the home screen — the search bar at the top that lets you search for apps and contacts. This search also keeps a history of what you have typed. To clear it, open Settings on your tablet and use the search bar at the top to search for "Search." Tap Search settings or Search history (the exact name varies by tablet model and Android version).
You should see an option to Clear search history or Delete search history. Tap it, and the search history will be removed. This does not affect your browser history or Google account history — it only clears what the home screen search remembers.
What gets cleared and what does not
When you clear browsing data in your browser, you remove the list of websites you visited and the searches you performed in that browser. However, this does not delete the actual websites or pages from the internet — it only removes your local record of visiting them.
Clearing browser history also does not automatically clear your Google account search history. If you searched for something using Google Search (the search engine itself), that record is stored separately in your Google account and will remain visible on myactivity.google.com unless you delete it there. Similarly, clearing your Google account history does not clear your browser's local history — you have to do both.
Passwords and autofill information are usually stored separately from history. If you want to remove those, make sure the checkbox for "Cookies and site data" or "Passwords" is checked when you clear browsing data. Some tablets also store login information in the system settings rather than in the browser, so you may need to clear that separately if you want to remove saved passwords completely.
Why you might want to clear search history
Clearing search history is useful if you share your tablet with other people and want to keep your searches private. It is also a good practice if you are selling or giving away your tablet — clearing all search, browsing, and account history before handing it over removes any personal information you do not want the next user to see.
Some people clear their history regularly for privacy reasons, even if they do not share their device. Clearing cookies and cached data can also free up storage space on your tablet, though the amount is usually small unless you have been using the same browser for years without clearing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does clearing my browser history delete my Google account history?
No. Your browser history and your Google account history are stored in two different places. Clearing one does not affect the other. You must visit myactivity.google.com and delete your Google account history separately if you want to remove it.
Will clearing my search history delete my saved passwords?
Only if you check the box for "Passwords" or "Saved passwords" when you clear browsing data. By default, most browsers do not delete passwords when you clear history. If you want to keep your passwords but remove your search history, leave that checkbox unchecked.
Can I clear history from just one website instead of all of them?
Most browsers do not have a built-in option to clear history from a single website. You can delete individual history entries by long-pressing them in your history list, but clearing all history at once is the standard method. If you want to hide your activity on one site, you can use your browser's private or incognito mode for future visits.
What is the difference between clearing history and using private browsing mode?
Private or incognito mode prevents your browser from recording history in the first place — nothing is saved while you are in that mode. Clearing history removes records that have already been saved. Private mode is useful if you want to browse without leaving a record; clearing history is useful after you have already browsed normally.
If I clear my history, can someone recover it?
Clearing your browser history removes it from the normal view, but a determined person with technical knowledge might be able to recover deleted data from your tablet's storage. If you are concerned about privacy or security, factory resetting your tablet before giving it away is more thorough than clearing history alone.