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Google keeps a screenshot of your Android searches -- here's how to delete them

It's not as bad as it sounds, but still.

Jason Cipriani Contributing Writer, ZDNet
Jason Cipriani is based out of beautiful Colorado and has been covering mobile technology news and reviewing the latest gadgets for the last six years. His work can also be found on sister site CNET in the How To section, as well as across several more online publications.
Jason Cipriani
2 min read
Watch this: How to delete Google search screenshots from your Android device

The Google search app has gone through some visual tweaks recently. Odds are your feed has either already updated or it will very soon. When it happens, you'll also find a section where your account history is put on display. More specifically, your search history, complete with screenshots of the search results and any web pages you visit.

Don't worry, these records aren't synced between your devices (…yet), but nonetheless, it's a bit creepy to open up the app and see screenshots of what you looked at.

On the flip side, it could be convenient to visually look through previous searches to reference a page.

This same feature doesn't appear to be live on iOS as of this writing, but should that change we will update this post with directions for both platforms. 

As GHacks showed, you can delete or disable the feature with relative ease. 

Delete screenshots

delete-screenshots
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

To delete individual screenshots, you'll need to open the Google app and tap on the History icon. A horizontal list of searches from the past seven days is visible. Swipe up on any stack of screenshots to get rid of them.

Alternatively, tap the blue button (with a number in it) to view individual screenshots related to a search. Swipe up on any respective card to delete it.

Disable altogether

disable-google-search-recents
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET

If you'd rather Google didn't do this for you, you can turn it off. 

In the Google app, slide out the menu and tap Settings > Accounts & Privacy. Slide the switch next to Enable Recent to the Off position.