How to remove your personal information from Google: A step-by-step guide

From public records to your Amazon account, old forum discussions, and unfortunate data leaks, there are many ways your personal information can end up on the internet, even if you’re keeping a low online profile.

Is it worth removing your personal information from search sites that often appear at the top of Google search results? The short answer is yes! Removing your data from the Internet is an excellent way to protect your privacy, prevent identity theft, and avoid phishing scams.

The easiest way to delete your personal information from Google search results is to use a data removal service like Incogni. While you can manually search and delete your information from individual sites, the process can be time-consuming and difficult.

How to quickly remove your personal information from Google

1. Sign up for a trusted data removal service. I recommend Incogni, now 55% off.
2. Sign the authorization form granting Incogni permission to request data removal on your behalf.
3. Incogni will scan up to 420+ (2420+ with custom removals) sites to identify your data and send removal requests. On the Incogni dashboard, you can see all the requests that have been sent and how many sites have deleted your data.

How to delete personal information from Google: A detailed guide

While you can rely on automated data removal services like Incogni, you can also manually delete your information from the web. Although this process may take time, deleting your data is easy with Google’s “Results about you” feature. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Find the results about you on Google

First things first, you need to discover what Google knows about you. You can do so by following these steps:

1. Log in to your Google account.
2. Click on your Google Account avatar so a menu pops up.
3. Select “Manage your Google Account,” then go to the “Data & Privacy” section.

   

4. Click “History settings,” and a new page will open up. You’ll see a search bar on the page. Click the three dots on the right side of the search bar and select “Other activity.”

   

5. Scroll down to find “Results about you.” Click on “Manage results about you” and select “Get started.”

   

6. Enter your personal information, such as your name, address, phone number, and email. And Google will notify you if your data appears in its search results.

   

Bonus: You can set up email or push notifications for Google to let you know if it finds your personal information online.

Step 2: Review the search results

If you set up notifications, Google will notify you within a few hours. Check the “Results about you” page if you don't receive a notification.

To review your results:

1. Go to the “Results to review” tab on the “Results about you” page.

   

2. Select a result to learn more about it (what website your information appears on and what information is featured there).

Step 3: Request the removal of the search results

If you find a result that you want to remove, you can ask Google to delete it:

1. Select the checkboxes next to the results you want to delete.
2. Click “Request to remove.”
3. Submit the request. Google will send you a confirmation once the request is sent.
4. You can track the status of your request on the “Results about you” page. You will find it under “Removal requests.”

   

Keep in mind that you won’t be able to remove some results if they’re classified as valuable to the public. This can be the case with government or educational websites.

How to remove personal information from Google manually

You can also delete personal information directly through Google Search. Here’s how:

1. Enter your name and your home city or address into Google Search to find results containing your contact information.
2. Click the three vertical dots next to the title of the search result containing your information.
3. Select “Remove result” and choose the appropriate reason for the removal. For example, “It shows my personal contact info.”

   

4. Finalize the request. Ensure the information you enter in the request form matches what appears in the search result.

Final thoughts

Removing your personal information from Google is essential to keep your data safe. We recommend following the steps in the article and taking control of your privacy today. For comprehensive protection, consider using a data removal service like Incogni to keep your information out of the hands of data brokers.

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