How to Do a Google Account Privacy Checkup in 10 Minutes

Google has a free Privacy Checkup tool that shows exactly what data is stored and lets you delete or limit what Google collects about you.

In this guide (4 steps):

1.Open Google Account Privacy Checkup
2.Review and adjust your activity settings
3.Review personalized ads settings
4.Delete stored data you no longer want

Open Google Account Privacy Checkup

~19s

On your phone or computer, go to myaccount.google.com. Sign in if you are not already. Tap or click "Data & Privacy" in the left sidebar. Scroll down and tap "Take the Privacy Checkup." This starts a step-by-step guided tour of every category of data Google collects about you, with options to change settings at each step.

Review and adjust your activity settings

~39s

The checkup walks you through Web & App Activity (your Google search history, Maps activity, and app interactions), Location History (a timeline of everywhere you have been with your phone), YouTube History, and Voice & Audio Activity. For each one, you can turn it off entirely, set it to auto-delete after 3, 18, or 36 months, or review what is currently stored and delete specific entries. Most people choose to keep these on auto-delete after 18 months as a balance between privacy and Google's personalized features still working well.

Quick Tip

Turning off Location History stops Google Maps from building a timeline of your movements. Your Maps app will still work for navigation — it just will not remember where you have been.

Review personalized ads settings

~25s

In the Privacy Checkup, you will also see "Ad settings." Google shows you the topics and demographic categories it uses to decide which ads to show you. You can remove topics you find intrusive, or turn off "My Ad Center" personalization entirely. This does not reduce the number of ads you see — it just makes them less targeted to your interests. Some people prefer random ads; others prefer ads related to things they have searched for.

Delete stored data you no longer want

~22s

After the checkup, go to myactivity.google.com to browse or delete your specific past activity. You can delete today's searches, a specific day, or all activity in a category. Google also lets you download a copy of all your data before deleting it — go to myaccount.google.com → Data & Privacy → "Download your data" to get a copy of everything Google has stored.

You Did It!

You've completed: How to Do a Google Account Privacy Checkup in 10 Minutes

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Google collects data about your searches, the places you have been, the videos you watch on YouTube, and your voice commands to Google Assistant. Most of this is used to personalize ads and improve Google products. The company provides a Privacy Checkup tool at myaccount.google.com that walks you through exactly what is stored and gives you direct controls to limit, pause, or delete any of it. The checkup takes about 10 minutes and leaves you feeling in control.

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