How to Turn Off the Personalized Search

Stop the personalized search function when you perform Internet searches.

When you use Google to perform Internet searches, the search engine conglomerate can provide customized search results based on your location and some of your preferences. Creating a Google account is one way you achieve customized searches. Google also uses cookies to track your Internet search history. However, if you don't want to receive the personalized Google search results, you can turn off the feature and then your search results may be very different.

Instructions

1. Sign in to your Google account, if applicable, by clicking the "Sign In" link in the top right corner of a Google search page. Enter your Gmail email address and your password.

2. Click "My Account" to navigate to your Google account. Select "Web History."

3. Select "Pause Web History" to stop personalized searching temporarily. Select "Clear Entire Web History" if you wish to remove all of the history Google has collected about your searches.

4. Restart personalized history by accessing the "Web History" area of your account again and clicking "Resume Web History."

Tips & Warnings

• If you do not have a Google account, turn off personalized searches by clearing the cookies in your Internet browser. For most browsers, simply open a "tools" tab and find the "privacy" menu. Click "remove cookies" to clear your cookie cache.

References

• Google: Personalized Search: Turning off Search History Personalization