Your Google location history tells the story of your life. It knows where you’ve been and where you’re going, and in many cases, it helpsGoogle Mapsand other Google apps suggest destinations you may be interested in visiting. However, not everyone may be comfortable with Google knowing so much about them. Every once in awhile, you might want to delete your Google location history. You may even want to manage your Google location history so that it deletes automatically, or you might even pause your location history so no new data is recorded.

In this article, we will show you how to delete and manage your Google location history. We show how to delete all of your location history and how to delete data only for a selected range or a single day. In most cases, it’s as simple as opening the Google Maps app on your iPhone or Android and going to settings — but really, it shouldn’t take more than a few clicks. Here’s how to delete and manage your Google location history.

How to delete Google location history

If you’re using an iPhone, you’re able to delete all your Google location history by doing the following:

Step 1: Open the Google Maps app. Once the app has opened, tap yourAccount Circlein the top right corner of the screen.

Step 2: TapYour Timeline. Then, tapMore(in the top right corner), followed bySettings.

Step 3: Scroll down and tapDelete All Location History. Tap the “I understand and want to delete” box, and then tapDelete.

If you’re using an Android device, here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: Open Google Maps. Again, tap yourAccount Circlein the top right corner.

Step 2: Go toYour Timeline >More.

Step 3: Next, tapSettings and Privacy. From there, scroll toLocation Settingsand tapDelete All Location History. Follow the on-screen instructions to execute the delete.

Of course, if you don’t like doing this kind of thing on a smartphone, you’re able to delete all your Google location history on a web browser.

Step 1: Type or pastegoogle.com/maps/timelineinto your browser’s address bar.

Step 2: Once on your Google Maps timeline, click theSettingsicon (it looks like a cogwheel).

Step 3: ClickDelete All Location History. Check the “I understand and want to delete all Location History” box, and then clickDelete LocationHistory.

How to automatically delete Google location history

A spring cleaning of location data every now and again is fine, but you may prefer to automatically delete your Google location history. Luckily, you can do this easily. Regardless of whether you’re using an iPhone or an Android, all you have to do is go toGoogle Maps > Account Circle > Your Timeline > More > Settings(Settings and Privacyfor Android)> Automatically Delete Location History.

Having clickedAutomatically Delete Location History, you should then choose eitherKeep for 18 MonthsorKeep for 3 Months. After choosing one of these options, clickNext. Then tap the “I understand that my data will be deleted” box before tappingConfirm.

After you’ve done this, your Google location history data will be deleted periodically, either every three or 18 months. you may also go back toAutomatically Delete Location Historyin Google Maps’ settings and choose theKeep Until I Delete Manuallysetting.

How to delete a day or range of Google location history

Instead of deleting all of your Google location history, you may only want to delete a range of your history or perhaps specific dates or locations. This can all be done with a minimum of fuss.

Here’s how you delete a range. For either iPhone or Android, go toGoogle Maps > Account Circle > Your Timeline > More > Settings(Settings and Privacyfor Android)> Delete Location History Range. After tappingDelete Location History Range, you then select the start and end dates of the range, then tapDelete.

To delete a specific date from your Google location history, you simply follow the same path. However, after tappingYour Timeline, you need to tap theCalendaricon in the top right of the timeline screen. Next, tap the date you’d like to delete, then tap theMorebutton, followed byDelete the Day.

Alternatively, you can delete a specific location from your location history by doing the same as above. You pick a particular date from theYour TimelineCalendar, then you tap on one of the locations you visited on this date. Once you’ve done that, tap theTrashicon in the top right corner of the screen.

How to switch off Google location history

Finally, if you don’t want Google Maps to ever record your location, you can pause Google location history so that it stops saving your data.

Here’s how you do this on iPhone and Android. First, go toGoogle Maps > Account Circle > Your Timeline > More > Settings(Settings and Privacyfor Android)> Location History Settings. You then need to tapLocation Historyso that the blue slider switches off.

This stops Google Maps from saving visited locations to your timeline. However, it doesn’t stop Google Maps from tracking your movements. To do this, you’ll need to turn Location Services off. You can do this by going toGoogle Maps > Account Circle > Your Timeline > More > Settings(Settings and Privacyfor Android)> Location Services is On. This will bring you to your smartphone’s location settings, where you can switch off the permission for Google Maps.

Managing location history with Google Maps Timeline

Google Maps Timeline is a newer feature made available on Google Maps. You can access it from the Maps appor by visiting this linkand selectingManage Your Timelineon any computer.

The Maps Timeline is an easy way to see your location data through the passage of time as it tracks your devices with Maps and shows where you were, also allowing you to pick specific days in the past see where you were.

That makes Timeline a useful method to delete location history for a specific span of time in the past, especially if you’re not worried about the location data before or after that span of time. In the Google Maps app, you can go to your profile, chooseYour Timeline, and selectShow Calendar. Pick a day, see your location data, and then selectMore(also the three-dot menu icon, depending on your platform), then chooseDelete Dayto remove it. You can also edit your Timeline to change the places you visit and the activities/photos Google has listed based on the data it’s collected from your devices.

Timeline directly taps into your location history, so if you turn location data off, Timeline will stop working for that period.