Are you worried about Facebook saving your search history ? .Do you share a computer with others and have privacy concerns about your search history ? . Don’t worry In this tutorial we are going to show you how to delete the Facebook search history .
Facebook had changed to a new layout. Some of the features has been relocated into different places . Some of these features have been removed from the platform .It’s time to find these features and make things easy .One of these features is the ability to clear the Facebook search history .
Search history is all the things you searched using the top search bar of the Facebook. Yes , Facebook will keep it until you manually clear it. You can erase your Facebook search history individually or as a whole . Unfortunately , Lot of users doesn’t know how to . Here is the step by step guide how to clean your Facebook search history in both new and old Facebook layout.
Video Tutorial
Watch This Tutorial on YouTube .
Why clear Facebook search history
You might ask , If I’m the only person that use my Facebook why should I concerned about the search history ?. Yes , There is a fair reason why you should clear your Facebook search history . As we have mentioned in our “When did someone become your Friend in Facebook” article .Hackers can log into your Facebook account anytime . Once in you account , They can see everything you done in the Facebook platform .Including the things you searched in the Facebook .That is one of the main reasons to clear your search history .
There are many join accounts available in Facebook . But , Why ? .you might ask . Lot of lovers uses single account to prove they don’t have anything to hide. So anything you do in that profile is visible to the other person . Lets say , One person searched a name of the ex lover . That search term will be visible to the other person as soon as he/she click on the search input field . A drop down will appear listing the recent search terms . What will happen if the other person sow that search term ? . Even if your intentions where good , This can lead to many problems .That’s why you need to clear your Facebook search history if you are using a joint Facebook account.
Also sometimes people may use their Facebook in front of others (eg – Work place) . Once you click or tap on the search input field. Facebook will list your recent search terms . If you don’t have anything to hide . Then , you can keep the search history for future reference.But , If you concerned about your privacy , It’s obvious that you need to clean the search history periodically. There are no way to automate this process or avoid Facebook being able to log your Facebook search history . It’s “ON” by default and cannot turn “OFF”.
Why Facebook Keep Search History
Although , You have some benefits keeping the logs of Facebook search history. Such as , You can refer to the search terms in the future when you need to search that term again .But , Have you ever wonder why such feature exists in the first place ? . These search logs are not saved in your computer but saved on the Facebook servers . These search terms can be used for creating customized ads (Personalized ads) for you . Because , more correct ads that can be directed at you means more clicks they get . Thus , More money Facebook can get .That is what Facebook’s main selling point. That’s what advertisers also wants . They wants their Ads to be displayed to the correct people (People who are interested in the products ) . Because , There is a less chance that someone who is not interested in your product or service going to buy or use that product or service . After all . That’s why Facebook is a “Free” platform .Facebook get their money by advertisements . Interested in knowing how this happen ? , Here is a Article from University of Pennsylvania .
Quick Method – Remove Facebook Search history
Facebook Search input
Go to your profile page or your Facebook Home page . Click on the Search input . You will see a drop down list of your recent search terms that you have searched . You can simply click on the cross in front of the search term that you wants to delete . Once you deleted the terms what you want click some where else and then click on the search input again . Now you will see the next set of search terms are listed in that drop down list .You can use the same method to delete these terms . But If you wants to clear all the search terms or search terms for specific period follow the next method.
Remove Facebook Search history with Activity log – Old Facebook
Go to your profile page . Click on the three horizontal dot button … and select Activity log from the drop down menu .
Facebook Activity log filter button
Click on Filter button in the top left of the Activity log page in Facebook.
Facebook Search filters
Scroll down locate and check Search History by clicking on the circle in front of it .If you are looking for a Search History of a specific date , Click on drop down list below Year and select a year then a Month drop down list will appear ,Click and select a month .If you want all Search History, leave the year drop down list as ALL.
click on save changes .
Search History Facebook
Back in the Activity log page (Left side) you can see the dates and the things you have searched in Facebook. Use your mouse wheel to scroll up and down to reach the searched terms or dates you wanted.
Delete search terms Facebook
by clicking on the horizontal dot button … in front of a search and selecting delete , you can delete the individual Facebook search.
clear Facebook search history
But if you wants to get rid of all the Facebook history , Click on Clear Searches . Remember Clear Searches button will clear all the search history not the Facebook search history that you are viewing at the time.
Delete Facebook Search History – New Facebook
Since , Facebook updated the Layout once again in this year (May 2021) .We decided to update this article . This Facebook update relocated and rearranged activity log and many other things .This section is for people who got this update .So , The new layout users can follow this tutorial easily . Here is how to Delete the Facebook search History in the new Facebook layout.
activity log link in new Facebook layout
Go to your Facebook profile and click on the three horizontal dots . Then , Select the “Activity Log” from the drop down list .
In the activity log page , Scroll down the left panel until you see “Logged Actions And Other Activity” . Click on it , A list will appear below it . Click on “Search History” . In the right side panel , You will see the search terms you have entered in to the Facebook search . Click on the three horizontal dots in front of each term and select “Delete” to delete them individually . Or click on the “Clear Searches” link on the top right to clear all the search terms.
New Facebook Activity log filter
If you wants search terms typed in a specific month of a specific year , Scroll up in the left panel and click on “Dates” under the “Filters” label . Select the year you wants from the “year” drop down list and the month in the “Month” drop down list . This will filter out other search terms and allows you to narrow your search term results .
Conclusion
There are many reasons why you should clear your Facebook search history . If you are concern about your privacy , You should do so. You can simply delete the search term by clicking on the cross sign in front of them .But , If you want more customized options , You can use the activity log . This gives you more control over what you are removing from your search history . However , There is no option to avoid Facebook being able to log your search history . Only way is to clear it manually . If you can , periodically clean your Facebook history .
Video Tutorial
Watch This Tutorial on YouTube .
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Facebook saves everything I search ?
Yes , Facebook will save and shows everything you searched using their search .
Is there anyway to prevent it being saved ?
Unfortunately , No . You cannot . Only way is to periodically cleaning your search history as we have mentioned in above section or you can delete the search term by clicking on the “X” next to the search term suggestions .
Does “Clear Searches” will clear all the search history ?
Yes , It will clear all the search terms up to that date .
Disclaimer – The content of this article may change over the time . The methods that we used in this article may or may not work in future . Because , Facebook platform changes all the time . The options and menus may relocated as the Facebook layout changes . In such case ,Please google to find the specific menus and options in Facebook . This Tutorial does not involves any illegal activities nor encourages to do such . All the actions that preformed in this tutorial are totally complies with the TOS of Facebook platform .
Author : Janaka Jayathilake
11/11/2020