How to Clear Search History on Instagram – 2 Best Ways

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If you’ve lost your phone or wish to end certain friendships and prefer not to be reminded of your recent search history, there’s no need to worry. You can delete your Instagram search history more quickly than you might expect.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to delete specific information about a particular account from the most recent searches on your device or if you want to clear the entire search history.


Let me show you exactly how to clear search history on Instagram.

  • Via Instagram desktop – log in to the Instagram website, click “Search”, and from here, you can clear the search history;
  • Individual searches on the mobile app
    1. Click the search icon
    2. Tap on the search bar and
    3. Click “X” next to the search result you want to remove from the search history
  • Clear the whole search history via the mobile app
    1. Go to your profile page
    2. Click hamburger menu
    3. Choose “Your activity”
    4. Select “Recent searches”
    5. Click “Clear All”

How to Clear Search History on Instagram?

Delete Instagram Search History from Your Desktop View

Allow me to guide you through the steps to do this from your own Instagram app or website. You can delete recent searches in just a few taps from your profile icon.

Just click the Search button located at the top of the page:

search button instagram

Once you click right here, you will see a visible recent search history. If you wish to delete recent searches, you can do so easily here.

Clear Search History on Both iPhone and Android

Once you have opened your Instagram app, tap on the search icon located at the bottom of the screen.

search icon

After tapping the search icon, you will now see a list of images on the search history page. Here, you can view the exact terms you have previously searched for, as well as the Instagram names of the accounts and all the hashtags you have searched for:

search history

Here, by the end of your various searches on Instagram, you will notice a vertical row of small X symbols. By tapping on these symbols, you can delete your Instagram search history one entry at a time.

delete search history

OK, now go ahead and tap the cross symbol; all the specific searches will vanish from your search history page.

Completely Clear Your Instagram Search History

If you prefer to delete your entire search history with just a few taps, you can tap on your Instagram profile icon located at the bottom of your profile page.

From this point, you can tap on the upper-right corner directly onto the three horizontal lines, also known as the hamburger menu/menu icon.

instagram hamburger menu

A new menu will appear, where you can tap on the activity status button.

your activity

This step will be followed by the display of a new menu bar with settings, where you can tap on the recent searches button.

recent searches

The final step in this thread is to click the Clear All button, which is highlighted in blue in the upper-right corner.

clear all

Disabling Instagram Search History

One thing is certain: there is no way to completely prevent Instagram from saving your search history.

Unfortunately, Instagram does not offer an incognito search option like Google Chrome does, meaning you cannot search without leaving a trace in your search history.

Given these circumstances, you may find yourself in a situation where you need to manually clear your search history.

Privacy and Restricting Users from Viewing Your Stories

As you may know, you have likely granted your app access to some of your data.

This means that every geolocation tag you have created on the Instagram site or app, every time you have tagged other users, or entered a search term, is recorded by the app.

Don’t worry; this is not a security issue. Your account data is safe. This information is simply used to track specific aspects of your account activity and your interactions with your friends’ accounts.

Out of sight, out of mind. Just as we prefer to delete search history items related to a person or account we no longer want to encounter, you can also take steps to enhance your own privacy.

If you truly feel uncomfortable being watched or spied on for any reason—I won’t judge, I promise—you can easily remove that person’s ability to view your story.

Here’s how you can do that in just a few taps. First, let’s tap on the hamburger menu icon.

hamburger menu

From here, you can tap the settings icon.

Now, from this point, it’s time to tap the privacy button.

privacy instagram

Once you enter the Privacy option, simply tap on the Story icon.

story privacy

Now, you can tap the Hide story button. You will see a list of all your followers. Begin typing the name of the account from which you want to hide your story.

hide story from

Conclusion

Instagram has not yet developed a feature that allows users to easily delete search history from their browser or permanently hide these items, whether logging in from the website or the app.

Instagram searches will stay visible each time you enter an item in the Instagram search bar.

You can quickly and easily clear Instagram search suggestions in just a few taps and permanently delete searches on Instagram.

For both iPhone and Android users, you will need to do this manually with a few taps from the hamburger icon located in the top right. Remove everything you do not wish to see any longer in the search section.

FAQ

Can I restore a deleted search from history on Instagram?

Sadly, you can not. Once you have tapped on the cross symbol, it is not possible to bring back an old search item.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eIf you visit the same accounts or hashtags immediately after the clear search, they will be saved once again in the history list.

How can I see all searches?

Once you have tapped on the search bar, you will be offered to see your most recent searched items. In the top right section, you will see highlighted in blue the button See All.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eThis will allow seeing the entire search history, from the most recent searches to the oldest ones.

Can I delete my Instagram search history without Internet access?

You can. Even if you don’t have Internet access and attempt to clear your search history on an Android or iPhone, they will be deleted.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eOnce you connect to the internet again, they will still be removed, as you have already tapped unconnected to clear search history items.

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Mell

Mell is one of the Stream Mentor's co-founders and a versatile content writer. She's helping other streamers get their visuals right, set the right panel, use the right lighting, install overlays properly and boost the stream quality to a great extent.

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