How to stop Google from tracking you: the 2026 settings

Google's privacy controls are not in one place, and they keep moving. In 2026 the setting most guides tell you to turn off, Web & App Activity, stopped being the one that covers your Google searches. If you followed a checklist a year ago, it is worth ten minutes to go through the current one.

Short answer: to stop Google from tracking you, open your Google Account, go to Data & privacy, and turn off Search Services History, Web & App Activity, Timeline and YouTube History, then turn off Personalized ads in My Ad Center. That stops most saving to your account. It does not stop collection that is not tied to your account.

What "tracking" means in a Google account

Google keeps several separate records about you, each with its own switch. There is no master toggle. Turning one off leaves the others running, which is why a single switch never feels like it worked.

Here is the full set as of October 2026, checked against Google's own help pages.

How to stop Google from tracking you, step by step

Do these signed in to the Google account you use every day. If you have more than one account, repeat for each.

1. Turn off Search Services History. Go to your Google Account, select Data & privacy, and under "History settings" open Search Services History. Select Turn off, then choose Turn off and delete activity if you also want the backlog gone. This is the switch that covers your Google searches and Maps activity. Google's help page for the new setting says it copied your earlier Web & App Activity choice, so if that was on, this is on. Google is moving accounts over gradually. If you do not see the setting yet, your search history is still controlled by Web & App Activity in step 3.

2. Turn off Personalized Recommendations in Search services. In Data & privacy, open Personalization settings and turn it off. This is separate from history. It controls whether Search, feeds and AI answers are tailored using what your account already holds.

3. Turn off Web & App Activity. Same "History settings" list. Select Turn off, then Turn off and delete activity. If you prefer to leave it on, at least clear the box labeled "Include Chrome history and activity from sites, apps, and devices that use Google services." Per Google's Web & App Activity page, that box is what lets Google save activity from sites and apps that partner with it to show ads, and your Chrome history if you sync it.

4. Check Timeline. Timeline, formerly called Location History, is off unless you opted in. It is managed in the Google Maps app, not on a computer. Tap your profile picture, then Your Timeline, then More > Location & privacy settings. If it says "Timeline is on," tap it and choose Turn off and delete activity. Google's Timeline instructions also cover the encrypted backup, which you delete separately.

5. Turn off YouTube History. Open YouTube History from the same list, or from the Controls tab at myactivity.google.com, and select Turn off. Your recommendations will get less tailored, which is the point.

6. Turn off Personalized ads. Go to myadcenter.google.com, and next to "Personalized ads" select Off. According to My Ad Center help, this also turns off personalized ads on sites and apps that partner with Google, and deletes the ad topics and brands you had customized.

7. Set auto-delete on anything you leave on. Each history setting has an Auto-delete option of 3, 18 or 36 months. Pick 3. Then visit myactivity.google.com, select Delete, then All time, to clear what is already stored.

8. Decide on Gemini. If you use Gemini, open Gemini Apps Activity and turn off Keep Activity. Google's Gemini privacy notice says chats are still held with your account for 72 hours when it is off.

Check that it worked

Do not take the switches on trust. Run this check a week after you change them.

1. Use Google as you normally would for a week, signed in.
2. Open myactivity.google.com. With everything off, no new searches, Maps lookups or videos should appear after the date you made the change.
3. If something new is there, select Details under the item. Google shows the date, the time and why the item was saved, which tells you which setting is still on.
4. In the search bar at the top, select More, then Other activity. This lists records that live outside My Activity.
5. Open myadcenter.google.com again. "Personalized ads" should still read Off.

One thing to expect: turning off Timeline or deleting it does not remove location saved elsewhere. Google states that your account "may still save location data" as part of Search Services History or Web & App Activity, though that general-area location is deleted after 30 days.

What the settings don't stop

This is the part most checklists leave out, and it is documented by Google itself.

Data not tied to your account. In September 2025 a federal jury in San Francisco found Google liable for invasion of privacy and intrusion upon seclusion in Rodriguez v. Google, and awarded $425,651,947 to a class of about 98 million users. Those users had turned off the Web & App Activity sub-setting from step 3, and Google still collected data about their use of third-party apps through its analytics code. In a January 2026 order, Judge Richard Seeborg refused to undo the class and noted that Google had rewritten its Activity controls page after the trial. It now reads: "regardless of these settings, Google can collect and use data that is not associated with your account." Google argues this data is pseudonymous, and it filed a notice of appeal with the Ninth Circuit in September 2026.

Your IP address. Google's location policy says any site, "including google.com, may be able to infer and use some information about your general area from your IP address." No account setting changes that.

Signed-out use. The Web & App Activity page says "your experiences and ad results may be customized using your activity even if you're signed out." Signed-out ad choices are stored per browser at adssettings.google.com, so you have to set them on each device.

Other websites. Sites that use Google's ad and analytics services send Google information about your visits. Chrome's own Incognito notice says so, which is one reason Incognito mode is less private than its name suggests.

Ads based on the moment. With Personalized ads off, Google still shows ads based on your current location, the page you are on and the search you just typed.

Regulators have been here before. In September 2023, California's attorney general announced a $93 million settlement over allegations that Google told users turning off Location History would stop it storing their location, while it kept collecting location through other sources.

Reduce what reaches Google at all

Settings limit what Google saves. These steps limit what it receives.

1. Block third-party cookies in Chrome. Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Third-party cookies and choose Block third-party cookies. Or use a browser that blocks cross-site trackers without being asked.
2. Stop syncing Chrome history to your account. Google saves Chrome history to your account only if you are signed in to Chrome and syncing history. Turn off history sync in Chrome's settings.
3. Delete your phone's advertising ID. On Android, go to Settings > Privacy > Ads and tap Delete Advertising ID. Apps that ask for it then get a string of zeros. On iPhone, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking and turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track.
4. Trim location permissions. Set Google apps to use location only while in use, or not at all, in your phone's app permissions.
5. Search signed out, or search somewhere else. A search you never send to Google needs no setting.

Two things the settings never touch: your inbox and your IP

Auto-delete and the history switches do not apply to Gmail, Drive or Photos. Google said so when it introduced default auto-delete in 2020, and none of the history settings above list them. Your inbox holds receipts, bank notices and sign-up confirmations for nearly everything you do, so it is worth a separate look at how private Gmail really is.

This is where we come in. Secria Mail keeps every message in your mailbox under zero-access encryption, with keys that are created on your device and only reach our servers encrypted. There are no ads and no profiling, tracking pixels are removed automatically and senders never see your IP address. For the IP problem, Secria VPN puts its own address in front of yours and keeps no activity logs, so Google sees the VPN server's location instead of your home connection.

Frequently asked questions

Does turning off Web & App Activity stop Google from saving my searches? Not once your account has the 2026 settings update. After it, Google searches and Maps activity are saved under Search Services History, and Web & App Activity covers other services such as Assistant and Google TV. Turn both off.

Does Google track you in Incognito mode? Incognito stops Chrome from saving history on your device. Websites you visit, including Google's, can still see your activity, and if you sign in to your Google account in that window your searches can be saved to it.

How do I stop Google from tracking my location on iPhone or Android? Check Timeline in the Google Maps app and turn it off, turn off Search Services History and Web & App Activity, then set location permission for Google apps to "while using" or "never" in your phone settings. Google can still estimate your general area from your IP address.

If I delete my Google activity, is it really gone? Google says deleted activity is first removed from view and from personalization, then deleted from its storage systems. It also says it may keep certain data longer for limited business or legal purposes.

Does a VPN stop Google from tracking me? A VPN hides your IP address, so Google sees the VPN server's location instead of yours. It does not hide what you do while signed in to a Google account. Use it with the settings above.

The settings are worth the ten minutes, and the one-week check tells you whether they held. For the parts no setting reaches, try Secria for free.