Privacy and Security Clear Recent Device Search History in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to clear device search history under Recent in Windows Search for your account in Windows 11.

Windows Search lets you search from your taskbar to find what you’re looking for, whether it’s on your device, in the cloud, or on the web.

Windows Search saves your recent search history locally on your device by default to help you find things faster. For example, you might discover that an app is ranked higher in your results if you’ve searched for it before.

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EXAMPLE: Device search history under "Recent" in Windows Search

Starting with Windows 11 build 26100.4770 (24H2), Microsoft is reorganizing Windows Search settings under Settings > Privacy & security under a “Search permissions” settings page and a “Searching Windows” settings page. Microsoft is beginning to roll out a change that brings those two settings pages together so you can easily access to all the Windows Search settings under a single settings page via Settings > Privacy & security > Search. The page is refreshed with a new modern visual for you to clearly browse the settings and control your experiences inside Windows Search, with the items listed in a better order.

1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on Privacy & security on the left side, and click/tap on Search on the right side. (see screenshot below)



3 Under Search history, click/tap on the Clear device search history button. (see screenshots below)


4 You can now close Settings if you like.





1 Open Windows Search (Win+S).

2 Hover over a Recent item you want to clear, and click/tap on its X button. Repeat for any other recent search history items you want to clear. (see screenshot below)




That's it,
Shawn Brink