How to view and control activity in your Google account

Google Account saves information when you use the sites, apps and services of Google. My Activity is the central location online to view and manage the searches you have done, videos you watched and the websites you visited. It is easily possible for you to view and delete your activity by going to ‘My Activity’ and also stop saving the activities at any given time. Here are the simple steps to viewing and controlling activity in your Account.

Viewing Activity

Your activities will be listed as independent items in the chronological order with the most recent one being the topmost one. These activities can also be part of bundles that group together some similar activities.

Take your Android phone or tablet. Go to settings. Under settings go to Google and then Google Account.

Tap on data and personalization you will find at the top.

Tap ‘My Activity’ under ‘Activity and Timeline’.

Now you will view your activity. You can browse through your activity that is organized by date and time.

If you wish to find a specific activity, you can do so with the help of the search bar and filters.

It is also possible for you to view your activity as individual items or bundles. For changing the view, you need to tap on ‘More’ and then choose ‘item view’ or ‘bundle view’.

Stop saving activity

You can control the information that is displayed in My Activity.

On your tablet or android phone, go to ‘Settings’ and then go to Google > Google Account.

On top of the page, you will see ‘Data and Personalization’.

Under ‘Activity Controls’, tap on ‘Manage Your Activity Controls’. Turn off the activity you do not want Google to save.

How to stop saving activity temporarily

When you sign into your Google Account through a private browsing window, your search activity will get stored in that account.

How to see other activity

Know that not all the activities that are saved to your account are displayed in My Activity. For example, when the ‘Location History’ is turned on, that activity is saved to your Maps Timeline.

Here is how you can see the other activities that are saved to your account.

On your tablet or android phone, go to ‘Settings’ and then go to Google > Google Account.

On top of the page, you will see ‘Data and Personalization’.

Under ‘Activity and Timeline, tap on ‘My Activity’.

At the top right corner, tap on the three vertical dots and then go to Other Google Activity.

You can now view the activities you want to see.

How to fix the problem if your activity does not show up?

If the list of activities on your Google search, the sites you visited and the other activities you did do not display in ‘My Activity’, you can check whether you are signed in or if your device is online. You should have turned on the right settings. Also, your activities will be saved only to the default account when you are signed in to multiple accounts.