What Google Knows About You and How to Review It
Google keeps a record of what you search, watch and, depending on your settings, where you go. Most of it can be reviewed in a few minutes.
By Siddharth ShankarUpdated October 11, 2026A Google account can hold your search and app activity, ad personalization settings and, if you enabled it, location history. You can review these in your Google Account under My Activity, Web & App Activity, My Ad Center and Privacy Checkup. Auto-delete can be set to 3, 18 or 36 months, and Google Takeout lets you download a copy of your data. This guide covers your own account, not what appears about you in Search.
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Two different questions hide inside "what does Google know about me?". One is about the data in your own Google account. The other is about pages on the internet that mention you. This guide is about the first. If you want the second, read about Google's Results About You tool.
What lives in a Google account
Depending on the products you use and the settings you chose, your account can hold:
- Search and browsing activity, if activity saving is on
- YouTube watch and search history
- Location data, if you turned on a location history feature
- Ad personalization preferences
- Saved passwords, payments and contacts
- Email, calendar, photos and documents
The data you generate is your own footprint, and it is separate from public search results. It is private to you in the sense that it sits behind your login, but it is still personal data worth reviewing, especially on shared or old devices.
The places to look
Google gathers its controls in your Google Account. The pages relevant to a review are:
- My Activity: a list of items saved to your account that you can search, filter and delete.
- Web & App Activity: a setting that controls whether searches and activity across Google services are saved.
- Auto-delete: an option to automatically remove older activity after 3, 18 or 36 months. We could not confirm the default for every account.
- Location Timeline: Google states that Timeline data is stored on your device, and the feature starts turned off.
- My Ad Center: a page for controlling personalized ads.
- Privacy Checkup: a guided review of settings.
- Takeout: a service that exports a copy of your data.
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A 15-minute review
1Open your Google Account
Sign in at your account page and look for the data and privacy section.
2Open My Activity
Scan the recent items. Delete anything you do not want stored, or filter by product to find where activity comes from.
3Check Web & App Activity
Decide whether you want activity saved. If you keep it, choose an auto-delete period of 3, 18 or 36 months.
4Look at location settings
Confirm whether Timeline is on. If you never wanted location stored, make sure it is off.
5Visit My Ad Center
Turn personalized ads on or off and review the topics you have signaled.
6Run Privacy Checkup
Follow the guided steps, then export a copy with Takeout if you want a record before deleting.
What an account review does not do
Your account settings control your data inside Google's services. They do not remove pages about you from Search, and they do not touch data brokers. For search listings, see how to remove personal information from Google Search. Google can only remove results from its own search index, and the source page stays online. We explain that distinction in removing from Google versus removing from the internet.
Why it matters for your footprint
A long activity history is a detailed account of your interests and routines. If someone takes over your account, it becomes an asset to them. Strong sign-in protection, as in how to prevent identity theft, protects that history. Reducing what is stored also reduces what a future breach could reveal.
Sources
- Google Account Help: Manage your Google data with My Activity (My Activity; auto-delete after 3, 18 or 36 months)
- Google Maps Help: How Google keeps your Timeline data private (Timeline off by default; opt in)
- Google Account Help: How to download your Google data (Google Takeout exports a copy)
Frequently asked questions
Can I see everything Google knows about me?
Google Takeout exports a copy of data from many Google products, and My Activity shows saved activity. Neither covers pages about you on the wider internet.
Is location history on by default?
Google states that Timeline starts turned off and its data is stored on the device. Check your account to see the current setting.
How does auto-delete work?
You can choose to remove activity older than 3, 18 or 36 months. Newer activity stays until the period passes.
Does deleting my Google activity remove me from search results?
No. Activity settings affect your account data. Search results come from the public web.
Should I turn everything off?
Not necessarily. Review each setting and keep the ones that are useful. Fewer stored records reduce risk, but may reduce convenience.
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- Shows which sites leaked it, when, and what leaked
- We do not store the email you check
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