Thanks to a convenient button that allows customers to remove their most recent 15 minutes of activity, Google Search users on mobile have quickly and easily removed their humiliating or just private searches from the service’s search history. Before finding its way to Android at the beginning of last year, the functionality debuted for iOS in 2021. The search engine giant is working on the same auto-delete setting for browser history in Google Chrome for Android as part of its ongoing effort to persuade people that it takes their privacy seriously.
A new, merged change in the Chromium source contains a feature flag that indicates you may soon be able to tap once to delete your most recent searches (via ChromeStory).
To choose how much of your browser history you want to erase on Android, tap the symbol in the top-right corner of Chrome and choose “History” from the drop-down menu before pressing “Clear browsing data…” Options include all-time, four weeks, seven days, 24 hours, or one hour. You can also take specific websites you’ve visited off your timeline. You can erase your surfing history from the previous hour or the beginning by selecting the option to remove browsing data.
Theoretically, that kind of operating flow presents only minimal difficulty. However, there may be barriers to pure cognitive recollection that prevent you from doing it. You may rapidly press a panic button after searching for something that sounds innocent before realizing how bad the results are: “Having a button to poof away the last 15 minutes of your life on Chrome.” Your secret is safe with us, but it’s also possible that you accomplished more than you’d want to confess in those 15 minutes.
You’d prefer to restrict your searches from being seen by nosy third parties than to completely remove them. You can then start an Incognito tab. Instead, Google can assist you in locking those tabs behind your faceprint or fingerprint sensor.