How to remove your search history on Facebook

Martin Brinkmann
Mar 19, 2015
Updated • Jan 4, 2018
Companies, Facebook
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Whenever you search on Facebook, information about that search is saved in a search history that Facebook maintains for all of its users. While you don't get access directly to the storage, you get the next best thing.

The information is displayed in the activity log, a mix of first and third party information related to your account either directly (things you did on Facebook) or indirectly (things others linked you with on Facebook).

As far as the recording of searches is concerned: those are only visible to you, for instance when you click on the search form on the site in form of recent searches on Facebook.

It is possible to delete your search history on Facebook to remove all past searches from it. This can be useful if others have or demand access to your Facebook account (a jealous significant other for example) or if you want to start with a clean slate and remove recent searches suggested to you.

facebook clear recent searches

To remove your searches on Facebook using a desktop system, do the following:

  1. Open the Facebook website in a browser of your choice.
  2. Click on your name once the page has loaded.
  3. Click on View Activity Log on the profile page that opens up.
  4. There you need to click on the more link under Photos, Likes and Comments.
  5. Select Search from the expanded list.
  6. Click on Clear Searches in the interface to remove them all. There does not seem to be a way to remove only select searches.

When you click on the clear searches link, a confirmation prompt is displayed.

Are you sure? Your search history helps us show you better results when you search. Remember, only you can see your searches.

You need to click on clear searches again to remove the searches from Facebook.

clear searches

The search page should show up blank after the operation as all searches have been removed from the history and no recent history is shown when you search on Facebook.

The activity log on Facebook is a great location to control your account as it displays information about your actions on Facebook but also when others included you in their actions on the site.

Summary
How to remove your search history on Facebook
Article Name
How to remove your search history on Facebook
Description
Find out how to delete the history of your searches on the social networking site Facebook.
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Comments

  1. Andres said on June 24, 2015 at 9:04 am
    Reply

    Cannot do that anymore :(…

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on June 24, 2015 at 9:33 am
      Reply

      Why not, the option is still there.

  2. Ray said on March 20, 2015 at 11:07 am
    Reply

    If you do have a jealous significant other, deleting the search history on Facebook will only alleviate the problem and certainly will not solve it

  3. zeomal said on March 20, 2015 at 9:31 am
    Reply

    You can also remove searches using the Android app by clicking on the gear icon while attempting a search.

  4. Jorg said on March 19, 2015 at 9:36 pm
    Reply

    It is important to note that, even after cleaning your searches, you won’t be at a clean slate. When you start typing, some stuff you have searched in the past will still be recommended to you. Thread carefully.

    1. roy said on March 29, 2015 at 10:21 pm
      Reply

      but thats the problem…how cn i get rid of thing…things pop up and it can be embarrasing?

  5. Nebulus said on March 19, 2015 at 8:39 pm
    Reply

    You can also go to “Home”, click on the search bar inside Facebook, and the first row that appears is called “Recent searches”; to the right you have a link called “Edit” that brings you to the same page from your screenshot (where you can clear your search history).

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 19, 2015 at 8:44 pm
      Reply

      Good point, thanks for mentioning it.

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