Android users can now delete their more recent questionable search history

In addition to your browsing history, your search history might also be something that could bring about some embarrassment, especially if you lend someone your phone. The good news is that if you’d rather not have anyone see your more recent searches, you’re in luck because Android users will now be able to delete it.

For those who might have forgotten, it was back in Google I/O in 2021 that Google announced a new feature that would allow users to delete the past 15 minutes of their search history, so if there is anything sensitive or potentially embarrassing you just searched for, you can delete that.

At Google I/O 2021, Google announced it'd roll out an option to delete the last 15 minutes of your search history. This rolled out on iOS in July 2021 but was said to come to Android later. Well, it appears to now be rolling out!

Thanks to @panduu221 for the tip! pic.twitter.com/gdtAa1pIFo

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) March 18, 2022

Oddly enough, the feature was launched on iOS devices first and now it looks like almost a year later, it is finally available for Android, according to a tweet by XDA’s Mishaal Rahman. . We suppose better late than never, right? In a statement to The Verge, Google spokesperson Ned Adriance said:

“We’re currently rolling this feature out on the Google app for Android and expect it to be available to everyone using the app in the next few weeks. We’re continuing to explore ways to bring this helpful feature to other surfaces.”

Google already allows users to delete their search history, but it was more of a bulk delete where users could choose between 3, 18, or 36 months. In some cases, having your old search history around isn’t a bad thing, so this feature will let you delete some of your more immediate searches.