How To Remove Personal Information from Google

Follow this guide to remove your personal information from Google in just a few steps. We take you through the entire process of making a request to remove information, like your name, phone number, and address, from Google’s search engine. 

But remember, removing your personal information from Google will only remove it from Google Search. Your personal details can remain online on the original webpage, including data brokers and people search sites that collect your data from multiple sources and sell it to anyone who wants it. We tell you more about these sites below and how to opt out of them. 

What Information Can You Remove from Google?

Google allows users to request the removal of personal information that puts their privacy and safety at risk. Any personal information used with malicious intent for doxxing, criminal activity, etc., can be deemed a violation of Google’s policies and removed at your request. 

Some of the information and personal data you can remove from Google includes: 

• Contact information (physical address, phone number, and email address). 
• Personal financial information (credit card and bank account numbers).
• Confidential personal ID numbers (social security numbers).
• Explicit or intimate images of you or minors. Note: Previously, Google only allowed users to request the removal of non-consensual explicit images. In a recent policy update, Google now lets users request the removal of explicit images that they no longer want to appear in Google Search. For instance, if you uploaded an explicit image of yourself on a site and then deleted it, but the image has been reposted somewhere else, you can request that it be removed from Search. 
• Images of handwritten signatures.
• Personal medical records.
• Private documents. 
• Confidential login credentials.

How To Remove Personal Information from Google

Removing your personal information from Google Search is simple. Here are a few ways you can do it, whether you’re on your desktop, Android, or iPhone.

Via Google Search

Here’s how you can remove your personal information directly from Google Search. 

1. Google yourself

When you perform a search on Google, you’ll see a list of search results. Locate the result you want to remove. 

2. Click on the three dots beside a Google result

Select the three dots next to the Google Search result you want to remove. 

3. Request to remove the result

Click “Remove result.” This will initiate the request to remove this information from Google Search results. 

4. Choose a reason for the removal

After requesting removal, Google will ask for more information. The next page lists reasons why you may want this result removed. 

Choose the qualifying reason why Google should remove this information and click the blue arrow to proceed. 

5. Confirm your information

To finish the request submission, Google needs more information. 

First, they want to know your Gmail address. If you sign in, this gets populated automatically. 

You also need to input your name and contact information. You can choose to submit a phone number, home address, or email address. 

Click “Continue.” 

6. Send the removal request

Lastly, you will see information explaining how the request works. If your request is approved, the result will be removed. 

Click “Send,” and you are finished.  

After you send the request, Google will send you a confirmation email. The email includes a link to view your open requests and track final decisions on whether the search results will be removed. 

Via an online form

You can also use the Request to Remove Personal Information form to submit a personal information removal request. Here are the steps to do it. Keep in mind this can also be done the same way in the Google app.

1. Start the removal request

From Google Help Center, click “Start removal request” to begin the removal process. 

2.  Explain why you are requesting removal

Next, choose the reason why you want information or online content to be removed. It must violate Google’s personal information policies to be considered and processed. 

Google will show you a list of options, including:

• Content contains nudity or sexual material.
• Content contains your personal information.
• Content is on a site with exploitative removal practices.
• Content shows a person under 18. 

Choose the second option, “Content contains your personal information,” to proceed. 

Select your country of residence.

Click ‘Next.” 

3. Identify what personal information you want to be removed

Google will ask you to indicate what information you want to remove. This includes personal information like your name or address, ID numbers, financial information, etc. 

Click “Next.” 

4. Enter additional information

For Google to locate and remove your personal information, you’ll need to provide more details about the request. 

For example, if you selected “Bank account or credit card number,” here is what you would see:

Enter your financial information. Every selection includes a question about whether this content is being shared with malicious intent. Answer “Yes” if you believe it is. 

Click ‘Next.” 

5. Finish entering personal information

After identifying the reason for the data removal request, Google requires more details to investigate the case properly. 

Enter basic personal information on the next page, like your name, email, etc. 

6. Provide details about the content you want removed 

Google will also ask for as many details as possible about the online content you want removed. This includes specifics like the content URL, Search result page URLs, search terms, and any relevant screenshots you can provide. 

After entering this information, agree to the terms and conditions and click “Submit.” 

You will receive information about the request in your email with a link to track any open requests.

Via “Results about you” dashboard

Google recently rolled out a new dashboard where users can find out if their contact details are showing up in Google Search results without having to conduct the search themselves. Users can then request Google to remove those results right from the dashboard. 

Google can also notify you if more results appear about you on Search in the future. 

To remove your contact information from Google Search, go to the ‘Results about you’ dashboard and follow the steps below.

1. Click “Get started”

From the ‘Results about you” dashboard,’ click “Get started.”

2. Click “Next”

In the pop-up screen that appears next, Google will walk you through how the dashboard works and what you need to do. 

Read the instructions, and click “Next” and “Next” again.

3. Fill in your contact information

In the ‘Find results about you’ form, fill out your personal contact information. 

Then, click the check box at the bottom to confirm that the personal contact information you filled out belongs to you. 

Click “Continue.” 

4. Choose how you want to be notified

You can ask Google to notify you whenever it finds more contact information about you on Search. 

There are two ways Google can notify you:

• Email
• Push notifications.

The email option is selected automatically. You can deselect it if you don’t want to receive email notifications. You can also select the push notification option if you would like to get alerts through the Google app.

After you select your preferred notification option, click “Save.”

Google will now see if the personal contact information you entered matches any results that appear on Google search. 

Click “I’m done.” 

5. Request to remove your results

Any results that Google finds will appear in the “Results to Review” tab, where you can request their removal from Search. 

Click the checkbox beside the results you want to remove.

Then, click “Request to remove.” 

After you make a removal request, Google will review it to ensure it meets its policy requirements. This includes making sure the information you shared matches the information that appears on Google Search and that the information isn’t on a site owned by an educational or government institution.  

Google says it will not share the information you filled out with anyone. It also won’t use it to personalize your experiences across Google products. 

Why Is My Personal Information Still Online?

If your data removal request was submitted correctly, but your personal information remains online, it could be due to a few reasons, including: 

• Google has not finished their investigation.
• Google deemed the information to be legal and not a violation of policy.
• The information is in a news article or public record.

You can check the request from Google in your Google profile. They will state the final decision clearly so you can quickly identify why your personal information is still online.

However, even if your information is removed from Google Search results, it will remain online on the original website where it was published. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to remove it without directly contacting the webmaster of that site. To find out who the website owner is, look for contact details on the website or the whois.com tool. 

Although Google cannot remove personal data from the original website where it was posted, not having your information appear in Search makes it harder for people to find it. 

Where can people find my personal data even if it’s removed from Google? 

Data broker websites are one of the reasons your personal data is still online. Data brokers collect people’s personal information and sell it to other companies or individuals, including advertisers, law enforcement agencies, employers, landlords, and even hackers. 

Having your personal information on data brokers erodes your privacy. It can also lead to harassment, stalking, doxxing, lost employment opportunities, higher insurance premiums, scams, identity theft, and other cybersecurity risks. Read more about data brokers in our comprehensive data broker guide. 

Data brokers can access all types of personal information about anybody with an online presence. Common data sources include public records, social media platforms (such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and TikTok), and purchase history from retailers. 

To stop data brokers from trading in your personal information, you can use a data broker removal tool/service or find data broker websites manually to opt out (make sure to do this repeatedly – data brokers relist your information as soon as they collect more of it).

You can follow our DIY opt-out guides for step-by-step instructions on how to do so. Or, join DeleteMe now. 

FAQs

Below are answers to popular questions about removing personal information from Google. 

How do I remove my personal information from Google searches?

There are three ways you can remove your personal information from Google searches: 

1. Through Google Search results. Click the three dots beside a Google Search result with your personal information and select “Remove result.” Next, give a reason why you want the result removed and confirm your personal information. Google will then explain how the process works. Click “Send.” You’ll get an email confirmation from Google. 
2. Through an online form. Go to the Request to Remove Personal Information form and fill out the required details, specifying what information you want removed and why. 
3. Through the ‘Results about you’ dashboard. Go to the ‘Results about you’ dashboard and fill in your personal contact information. Choose if you want Google to notify you when more results about you are found on Search. Note that this option is for removing contact information only. 

Removing information from Google Search will not remove it from the site where the information is published. This means that people will still be able to find your personal information, just not through Search. 

How do I remove my personal information from the internet?

To remove your personal information from the internet, you first need to find all the places where it appears online. This can include social media platforms, blogs, educational institution and employer sites, data brokers and people search sites, forums, etc. 

Then, figure out how to remove your information from these sites. For example, if your personal information appears on a site you can control (like your blog or social media profile), it’s probably only a matter of editing or deleting your profile/posts. 

With data brokers and people search sites, you must send opt-out requests (read our opt-out guides to learn how).

Sites owned by someone else are the hardest to remove data from and usually require contacting the website owner directly. 

You can also remove personal information from Google Search by submitting a removal request to Google. However, this will only remove your information from Search (i.e., you’re submitting a request for the de-indexing of the page), not the actual site your data lives on. Your personal information will also still appear on other search engines. 

Does Google allow the removal of personal information?

Yes, Google allows the removal of personal information under certain circumstances, for example, if the information puts you at risk of criminal activity or doxxing. 

Why does my personal information show up on Google?

Your personal information shows up on Google because it lives somewhere on the internet. Whether it’s a social media post, data broker profile, or a news article, if it references your name (or other personal information), it will likely appear on Google Search when someone looks you up. 

How many times has my name been Googled?

It’s impossible to know how many times your name has been Googled. The exception is if hundreds of people search for your name online, in which case your name might appear as a search term (or keyword) in keyword search tools with a monthly search volume beside it. 

Can you remove all traces of yourself from the internet?

No. It’s practically impossible to remove all traces of yourself from the internet. The reason why is that not all sites might comply with your requests to remove your personal information. Certain types of data, like public records, are also publicly available and cannot be removed (with few exceptions). 

How long does it take for Google to remove personal information?

Google does not specify how long it takes them to remove personal information, only that they need to evaluate the removal request first. This is to ensure that Google does not limit easy access to useful information, for example, in news articles. 

How do I remove my name and address from the internet?

To remove your name and address from the internet, you first need to find out where this information appears online. 

Then, you can make removal requests to sites directly (you can typically find contact information on the site itself or use a whois.com tool). Note that there is no guarantee your information will be removed or the site owner will even respond. 

If your name and address appear on data broker and people search sites, you can make opt-out requests. Follow our opt-out guides to learn how.

Sometimes, you may have filled out your real name and address on a social media profile or another online account. If possible, go back and remove this information. 

You can also ask Google to remove your name and address from Search. However, this will only remove your information from the search engine itself, not from sites your data lives on.

Does Google have all my information?

Google has whatever information you’ve shared with it while using its products and services. You can learn how to delete Google data in our step-by-step guide.