If you’ve been searching for videos on TikTok and want to remove your search history, there are a few simple steps you can take. Clearing your search history is easy and can be done right from the TikTok app on your mobile device.
Why Delete TikTok Search History?
There are a few main reasons why you may want to delete your TikTok search history:
- Privacy – To protect your privacy and keep your search activity private
- Relevance – To clear out irrelevant, old or embarrassing searches
- Recommendations – To remove search results that affect your recommendations
- Start Fresh – To start your search experience over with a clean slate
Keeping your search history clear can give you more control over your TikTok experience. Now let’s look at how to actually delete that TikTok search history.
Delete Search History in TikTok App
Deleting your search history directly in the TikTok mobile app is simple. Just follow these steps:
- Open the latest version of the TikTok app on your iPhone or Android.
- Tap on your profile icon in the bottom right corner.
- Tap on the 3 horizontal lines “hamburger” menu icon in the top right corner.
- Choose “Settings and privacy” from the menu.
- Tap on “Content and Activity.”
- Select “Clear search history.”
- Confirm clearing your search history by tapping “Delete.”
That’s all there is to it! All of your past TikTok searches will now be removed from the app. Keep in mind this only deletes your search history within the TikTok app itself.
Delete TikTok Web Search History
If you’ve used TikTok on the web, you can also delete your TikTok search history in your web browser. Here’s how:
Chrome
- Open Chrome and click on the 3 vertical dots in the top right.
- Hover over “History” and click “History.”
- Click “Clear browsing data.”
- Select “Time range” to “All time.”
- Check the box for “Browsing history.”
- Click “Clear data.”
Safari
- Click on “History” in the top menu bar.
- Click “Clear History…”
- Select “all history” from the popup menu.
- Click “Clear History.”
Firefox
- Click on “Library” in the top menu bar.
- Select “History” and click “Clear Recent History.”
- Choose “Everything” for the time range.
- Click the down arrow next to “Details” to expand it.
- Check “Browsing & Download History.”
- Click “Clear Now.”
This will wipe your entire browser history including any TikTok web searches. You can also delete just a portion of your browser history if you don’t want to erase everything.
Turn Off Search History
If you want to prevent TikTok from saving your searches at all, you can turn off search history:
- Open TikTok and tap your profile.
- Tap the 3 line menu and choose “Settings & privacy.”
- Tap “Content & Activity.”
- Toggle “Save Search History” off.
With search history disabled, your searches will not be saved at all going forward. This prevents searches from impacting your recommendations as well.
Clear Watch History
In addition to search history, you may also want to clear your TikTok watch history which affects recommendations:
- Go to your TikTok profile.
- Tap the 3 line menu and choose “Settings & privacy.”
- Select “Content & Activity.”
- Tap “Clear watch history.”
This will wipe your watch history and prevent past videos you’ve watched from influencing your recommended feeds.
Delete Interactions
Beyond just watch and search history, you can also delete your TikTok interactions like comments, likes, shares, and more:
- Go to your profile and tap the 3 line menu.
- Choose “Settings and privacy.”
- Select “Content & Activity.”
- Tap “Clear device activities.”
This will erase all your interaction history including likes, comments, shares, captions, and any other account activities stored locally on your device.
Reset Advertising ID
Resetting your advertising ID helps remove you from targeted ads and recommendations:
iPhone
- Open “Settings” and choose “Privacy.”
- Select “Advertising.”
- Click “Reset Advertising Identifier.”
Android
- Open “Settings” and choose “Google.”
- Tap “Ads.”
- Select “Reset advertising ID.”
Resetting this ID will help remove your profile from being targeted based on past activity.
Precautions When Deleting Search History
Here are some precautions to keep in mind when deleting your TikTok search history:
- Clearing history from the app only deletes it from your device, not TikTok’s servers.
- Consider turning search history off completely if you want to prevent tracking.
- Browser history deletion works best alongside TikTok app history clearing.
- Resetting advertising ID should be done along with clearing histories for best results.
- Deleted search history could still influence recommendations until you refresh the app.
- Avoid searching for inappropriate, dangerous, or illegal content in the first place.
While removing your search history is easy, it’s impossible to remove all trace of activity from TikTok’s systems. But diligently clearing data and turning history off provides more privacy.
conclusion
In summary, deleting your TikTok search history is straightforward right within the TikTok app itself. You can also clear browser history and turn off search saving for more privacy. Combined with resetting your advertising ID, you can gain more control over your TikTok experience and recommendations. Just be aware that some data likely still remains in TikTok’s systems even after deletion. Overall, diligently clearing search history and disabling tracking where possible will give you the most privacy.