How to clear your Facebook search history from the Facebook Android app

To clear your Facebook search history from the Facebook Android app:

- Open the Facebook app
- Tap the search bar at the top of the screen
- Tap Edit
- Tap Clear Searches
- Tap Confirm

How to clear your search history for the Twitter Android app

To clear your search history in the Twitter for Android app:

- Tap the magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the home screen.  (If you don't see it, scroll up.)
- Tap the search bar, where it says "Search Twitter."
- Tap the X to the right of where it says "RECENT."
- Tap CLEAR to confirm that you want to clear the recent searches.

How to clear your Twitter search history

Twitter stores your recent searches, and brings up a list of them when you click or type in the search bar.  You can easily erase any saved searches if you want.  Here's how to do it from your web browser:

- Click in the search bar area at the top of your Twitter page
- Select Clear All

How to clear your Facebook search history from your web browser

Facebook stores your search history, presumably for autocomplete reasons.  Unless someone else is logged into your Facebook account (or looking over your shoulder) they shouldn't be able to see your search history,  but you can still erase it if you want to.  Read on to see how to clear your Facebook search history from your web browser.

- Log in to your Facebook account

- Click on the magnifying glass in the search bar (at the top of the screen)

- Click Edit

- Click Clear Searches

- Click Clear Searches again to confirm

How to stop Google from tracking your search history

Whether you know it or not, Google may be tracking your search history.  If you are logged into your Google account and are using Google as your search engine, there's a good chance Google is keeping a log of every search you make.

Luckily, it's easy to disable this web search logging.  To start, go to http://history.google.com.  (You may be prompted to log in, even if you've already done so.)

The Web & App Activity page will load.  If under the "Get More out of Google" heading you see a link labeled "Get started," then Google is not currently set to save your search history.  However, you can follow the steps below if you like just to verify that the search logging is disabled.

Click on the menu icon in the upper left corner (the three horizontal lines).  On the menu that appears, click on Activity Controls at the bottom.

If search logging is enabled, you will see this on your screen:

Click on the blue slider bar.  A confirmation window will pop up asking if you're sure you want Google to stop tracking your searches.  Select Pause.  The slider bar will turn gray, and you'll see this displayed:

Now you've stopped Google from keeping track of your search history.  However, any previous searches that were tracked are still saved.  To delete the stored search history, go back to http://history.google.com.  (You may be asked to log in again.)

Any searches that have been stored will be displayed on this page.  Check the box to the left of any items you wish to erase, and then click Delete at the top of the screen.  When the confirmation window loads, click Delete again.

How to clear your YouTube history

YouTube is a great website for watching videos, and countless people use the site every day.  What some people may not realize is that if you are signed in to YouTube while you watch videos, a list of all of your viewing history is saved on the site.  This history may not bother some people, but for privacy's sake others may want to clear it out.  This article will guide you through clearing your YouTube history.

In order to clear your history, you have to be logged in.  Go to YouTube.com and click on the blue "Sign in" button in the upper right corner.  Enter your YouTube username or email address and your password, then click the "Sign in" button.  Once you are logged in, click on the settings button (the one with the three horizontal lines) in the upper left corner of the screen.

A sidebar menu will appear along the left side of the screen.  Click on History.  Your viewing history will now be displayed on the screen.  You can see what videos you've watched, starting with the most recent.  If you want to watch a specific video again, just click on it.

To remove a specific video from your history, click on the X to the right of the video.  That video will be removed from the history list.

If you just want to clear your entire YouTube history, click on the "Clear all watch history" button above the list of videos.  A window will pop up asking if you're sure you want to erase your history; click on "Clear all watch history" again.  All videos in your history will be erased.

YouTube offers another option that you can use to manage your viewing history, called "pause watch history."  By pausing your history, you can prevent videos that you watch from appearing in your history.  To pause your history, click on the "Pause watch history" button on your history screen.  To resume having your history recorded, go back to that screen at any time and click on the "Resume watch history" button.

(Originally published on Helium.com, November 2012; updated March 2015.)