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Gemini and Google Search’s AI Mode use different privacy controls. Manage Gemini chats in Gemini Apps Activity (also labeled Keep Activity), while AI Mode and Search use Search Services History, My Activity, and Search personalization settings. Turning off future saving does not delete records already stored, so deletion and retention settings must be handled separately.
This guide shows where each control is, what it changes, what it cannot change, and how to remove AI Mode searches from both places where they may be recorded.
Which Google privacy control does what?
The names can look similar because several Google products write activity to different histories. Use this map before changing a setting.
| Control | Main scope | What you can do | What it does not do by itself |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini Apps Activity / Keep Activity | Chats and interactions in Gemini apps | Review chats, delete selected items or a time range, set auto-delete, or stop future saving | It does not erase Search or AI Mode history, and it does not stop Gemini from processing a prompt needed to answer it |
| Search Services History | Activity across Search, AI Mode, Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate, and News | Clear stored Search-related activity or turn future history saving off | It does not remove every copy of an interaction from product-specific views immediately |
| My Activity | A searchable account-wide activity view | Filter by date, product, or keyword; delete one item, a range, or all visible activity; set automatic deletion | It is not a replacement for the AI Mode history menu or Gemini Apps Activity controls |
| AI Mode history | Searches and conversations made in AI Mode | Delete one AI Mode item or all AI Mode history | For complete removal, the matching Search or My Activity entry may also need deletion |
| Personalized Recommendations in Search services | Personalized recommendations and personalized AI responses in Search | Turn Search personalization on or off | It does not make every result context-free; location, language, device type, recent searches, and saved items can still affect results |
Google is changing menu labels and rolling out settings in stages. If a label differs slightly, look for the equivalent activity, personalization, or history control in your Google Account’s Data & privacy area.
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Manage Gemini chat history
Gemini’s chat-saving control is called Gemini Apps Activity in some interfaces and Keep Activity in others. It controls whether future Gemini activity is retained in the account activity history used for features such as personalization and AI improvement.
Open Gemini Apps Activity
- Open your Google Account and go to the privacy controls for Gemini, or open Gemini Apps Activity directly from the account’s activity settings.
- Authenticate if Google asks you to confirm the account.
- Review the list of Gemini conversations. Use the product, date, or item controls shown on your account; labels can vary during the rollout of newer interfaces.
Delete individual chats or a time range
- Select the specific conversation or activity item you no longer want stored.
- Choose the delete command and confirm it.
- For a broader cleanup, choose the available date-range option and select the period to remove. Check the summary before confirming, because a range can include more Gemini activity than a single visible chat.
Deleting existing activity and stopping future saving are separate operations. If you only delete today’s chats, later Gemini conversations can still be saved while Keep Activity remains on.
Set Gemini auto-delete
Google documents an 18-month default for Gemini Apps activity auto-delete in 2026. Depending on the account and rollout, additional choices can include 3 months or 36 months. Open the auto-delete setting, choose the shortest period that fits your needs, and save the change. The selected period governs future cleanup; it is not a substitute for manually deleting older records you want removed now.
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Turn Keep Activity off
- In Gemini Apps Activity, select the control labeled Keep Activity or the equivalent setting for Gemini Apps activity.
- Choose the option to turn it off and confirm the change if prompted.
- Read the confirmation screen carefully. It explains whether the change applies immediately and whether existing activity remains available for separate deletion.
With Keep Activity off, future Gemini activity is not saved to that activity history for personalization or AI improvement. Google’s privacy notice still makes an important distinction: “Even if your Keep Activity setting is off, Google still uses your chats to respond to you and help protect Google, our users, and the public, including with help from human reviewers.” Turning the setting off therefore does not prevent prompt processing, safety checks, or every form of retention required for those purposes.
What turning off Gemini activity changes—and what it does not
- Changes: new Gemini activity is not placed in the Gemini Apps Activity history used for the documented personalization and AI-improvement functions.
- Does not change: Gemini must still process a prompt to produce an answer and to help protect Google, users, and the public.
- Does not automatically change: activity saved by Search, AI Mode, Maps, or another Google service under that service’s own history controls.
- Does not erase: chats already listed in Gemini Apps Activity. Delete those records separately.
Control Search and AI Mode personalization
Search personalization is separate from Gemini chat history. The relevant account path is Google Account > Data & privacy > Personalization settings. Find Personalized Recommendations in Search services and change its setting.
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What this Search setting controls
When enabled, the setting can contribute to personalized recommendations and personalized AI responses in Search, including AI Mode experiences that use Search personalization. Turning it off reduces that account-based personalization; it does not turn Search into a completely context-free system.
Google can still use current context such as your location, language, device type, recent searches, and saved items to tailor results. Those signals are distinct from the Personalized Recommendations switch, so seeing contextual results after turning personalization off is not necessarily a sign that the change failed.
AI Mode Personal Intelligence
AI Mode’s Personal Intelligence can reference previous searches and activity stored in Search Services History to provide suggestions tailored to your tastes and preferences. Google documents this feature for users 18 and older who have Search history and personalized recommendations enabled. The documented memory experience is currently available in the United States in English; availability can differ by account, language, age eligibility, and rollout status.
Inside AI Mode, you can manage remembered details conversationally:
- Say
Remember [detail]to ask AI Mode to retain a preference or fact. - Say
Forget [detail]to request removal of a remembered detail. - Ask
What do you know about me?to inspect the information AI Mode is using for personalization. - Provide an updated detail when an old preference is no longer correct.
These conversational commands address AI Mode’s remembered personalization. They do not replace deletion of the underlying Search or AI Mode history entries.
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Delete AI Mode searches completely
AI Mode activity may be visible in an AI Mode-specific history and in broader Search activity. To remove an interaction as completely as the available controls allow, check both locations.
- Open AI Mode in Google Search.
- Select AI Mode history.
- Delete one item, or open the history menu and choose the option to delete all AI Mode history.
- Open Search history or My Activity for the same Google Account.
- Search by the date, product, or keyword associated with the interaction, then delete the corresponding Search activity.
- Refresh both views after deletion and check again later if the item was recently removed.
Google says a deleted AI Mode search can remain visible in My Activity temporarily and is auto-deleted there in less than 24 hours. “Deleted” in the AI Mode view therefore does not always mean that every related listing disappears instantly.
When one interaction creates two history entries
If an interaction starts with an AI Overview and then moves into AI Mode, Google says two history entries may exist. Delete the AI Mode entry and the related AI Overview/Search entry in My Activity or Search history. Removing only one can leave the other visible.
How to verify a cleanup
- Check AI Mode history for the exact conversation or search.
- Check My Activity with the relevant date and product filters.
- Allow the documented synchronization window—less than 24 hours for the temporary My Activity persistence Google describes—before assuming a deletion failed.
- If the item remains after that period, confirm that you are viewing the same Google Account and that you deleted both the AI Mode and Search records rather than only one.
Use My Activity for broader cleanup
My Activity is the account-wide place to inspect and remove activity across Google products. It supports filtering by date, product, and keyword, which is useful when you remember a topic but not the exact AI Mode conversation title.
Delete selected records
- Open My Activity for the Google Account that contains the records.
- Use the date, product, and keyword filters to narrow the list.
- Select an individual item, a date range, or the option to delete all matching activity.
- Review the confirmation summary and complete the deletion.
Google says deleted activity will not be used to personalize the Google experience, subject to limited legal or business retention exceptions. That qualification means account deletion controls are not a promise that every legally required or operational copy disappears at the same instant.
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Set My Activity automatic deletion
Google documents automatic-deletion choices of 3, 18, or 36 months for My Activity in 2026. Choose the period in the automatic-deletion control, review which activity types it covers, and confirm. This setting applies to the activity covered by My Activity; Gemini Apps Activity has its own retention control, so configure both if you use both products.
Understand Search Services History
Search Services History covers activity across Search, Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate, and News. It can be cleared or turned off separately from Gemini Apps Activity.
Turn Search Services History off
- Open your Google Account’s Data & privacy settings.
- Find the Search Services History control.
- Turn the setting off and confirm the choice.
When Search Services History is off, future activity is still processed to provide responses and keep Google services safe. Google states that this future activity is not used to train its generative AI models unless you provide feedback. Turning the history setting off also does not erase activity already stored; use the clear or delete controls for existing records.
Clear Search Services History
Use the clear-history option in the Search Services History controls for the available date range, then review My Activity for related entries. Because Search Services History spans several products, clearing it can affect more than AI Mode searches. Narrow the date and product scope when you want to remove only a specific period.
Choose the right combination of settings
| Your goal | Controls to use | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Stop new Gemini chats from being saved to Gemini history | Turn off Gemini Apps Activity / Keep Activity | Prompts are still processed for answers and safety; other services may save related activity |
| Remove Gemini chats already stored | Delete items or a date range in Gemini Apps Activity | Turning Keep Activity off alone does not delete old chats |
| Reduce personalized Search and AI responses | Turn off Personalized Recommendations in Search services | Location, language, device, recent searches, and saved items can still influence results |
| Stop new Search-related history from being saved | Turn off Search Services History | Future activity is still processed for responses and safety |
| Delete an AI Mode conversation | Delete it in AI Mode history, then remove the matching My Activity/Search record | Deletion can take less than 24 hours to propagate to My Activity |
| Use a shorter automatic retention window | Set Gemini auto-delete and My Activity auto-delete independently | The available choices and labels can differ by account rollout |
| Remove remembered AI Mode preferences | Use Forget in AI Mode or ask what is remembered, then review related history | Conversational memory controls do not replace history deletion |
Common problems and practical fixes
“I turned off Gemini activity, but a chat is still listed.”
Turning off Keep Activity controls future saving; it does not remove existing records. Open Gemini Apps Activity and delete the chat or the relevant date range.
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“I deleted AI Mode history, but My Activity still shows the search.”
Google documents temporary persistence of deleted AI Mode searches in My Activity and says they are auto-deleted there in less than 24 hours. Delete the matching My Activity/Search record manually when available, then allow that synchronization window to pass.
“Personalized results still appear after I switched recommendations off.”
The recommendation setting does not disable all contextual tailoring. Check whether the result could be explained by current location, language, device type, recent searches, or saved items.
“I cannot find Personal Intelligence in AI Mode.”
Check the documented eligibility conditions: the feature is for users 18 and older with Search history and personalized recommendations enabled, and the memory experience is documented as available in the United States in English. A missing control can also reflect staged rollout or account-specific availability.
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Review whether the interaction began as an AI Overview and continued in AI Mode. Google says that path can create two history entries. Check both AI Mode history and My Activity/Search history.
“I disabled every history switch. Is Google no longer processing my prompts?”
No. Gemini and Search must still process requests to return answers and maintain safety protections. History controls govern saving, personalization, and related uses; they do not make the services unable to receive or evaluate a prompt that you submit.
A privacy check you can repeat
- Decide whether your priority is deleting existing records, preventing future saving, reducing personalization, or all three.
- For Gemini, review and delete Gemini Apps Activity, set its auto-delete period, and decide whether to keep Keep Activity on.
- For Search and AI Mode, review Personalized Recommendations in Search services and Search Services History.
- Delete AI Mode items in AI Mode history and then check My Activity for matching Search or AI Overview records.
- Set My Activity auto-delete independently of Gemini’s auto-delete setting.
- Recheck the account after the relevant propagation period, especially when a deleted AI Mode item briefly remains in My Activity.
The key distinction is operational: deletion removes stored records you select, while an activity switch changes what is saved going forward. Gemini and Search/AI Mode each require their own review, and turning off personalization does not remove every contextual signal used to tailor results.
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