Google Privacy Checkup is a guided review of privacy choices for your account. It helps you find settings, but completing it is not proof that every Google product, device, or connected company now follows one universal privacy rule. Read what each control actually changes.
Start with the intended account and a goal
Open myaccount.google.com/privacycheckup and check the signed-in email address. Decide whether you want to reduce saved history, change advertising use, or limit what other users see. Those goals involve different settings and do not require the same action.
The checkup’s recommendations can vary by account. Follow the available cards rather than trying to reproduce a fixed number of screens from an older tutorial. If a work, school, or supervised account has fewer options, use its applicable support route instead of trying to bypass the restriction.
Read the effect of each choice
- Saved activity: Check the relevant history control and whether the choice pauses future saving, deletes existing records, or sets automatic deletion. New Search Services History controls are rolling out gradually, so Search-related choices may appear separately from Web & App Activity.
- Advertising: Decide whether activity can personalize ads. Advertising-use controls do not necessarily stop history saving or personalized recommendations.
- Profile visibility: Review the audience for fields in About me. A private field does not make every public comment, channel profile, or previously shared item anonymous.
When a card opens a detailed setting, read its confirmation before accepting it. Cancel if the stated deletion or sharing scope is broader than your goal.
Check the result and the settings outside the checkup
Return to the changed setting to confirm the saved state. Keep a private note of choices you may want to revisit, especially automatic-deletion periods or visibility changes. Do not use a public screenshot containing personal activity as your checklist.
Separately review third-party app access, device permissions, and service-specific public profiles where relevant. Privacy Checkup does not erase information a different provider already copied, remove a browser’s entire local history, or recover account access. If your immediate problem is an unfamiliar sign-in, use the account’s security review rather than treating privacy preferences as incident remediation.
Browse Gmail & Google Account help
References
- Google Safety Center: Privacy settings
- Control what activity gets saved to your account
- Control what others see about you across Google services
- Control what data Google uses to show you ads
Reviewed against the linked official and developer guidance on October 27, 2026. Available options and screen labels can vary by account, device, region, and organization policy.