Anyone who’s used Instagram knows how much of a rabbit hole scrolling through the app can be. One minute you’re liking your best friend’s puppy pic, and the next you find your fingers scrolling down the photos of someone you casually met years ago. But here’s the thing: Instagram keeps an ongoing log of all the accounts you’ve looked at and the hashtags you’ve searched for.
That means every account you’ve visited (even if you didn’t actually interact with it), is logged and stored. And while it may not be possible to hide your Instagram search history, you can do the next best thing and simply delete it.
Whether you’re tired of scrolling through all those old hashtags or don’t want to be reminded by someone’s account you used to be friends with every time you open Instagram, taking the time to actually clear and refresh your search history just makes sense.
That’s why it’s worth clearing your Instagram search history from time to time. Fortunately, like most digital things these days, it’s not hard. Keep in mind that once you delete your search history there’s no way to recover it. Ready? Let’s roll:
How to Clear Your Instagram Search History on Your Phone
- Start by opening the app on either your iOS device or Android device
- Tap your Settings profile, and then tap Security
- Tap Clear Search History for iPhone users or Search History for Android users
- Tap Clear All to delete your history
- Tap it again to confirm
If you’re using a mobile browser, the steps are slightly different:
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How to Clear Your Instagram Search History on Your Browser
- Open Instagram on your mobile browser
- Open your account and click on the Settings icon
- Scroll down and click Privacy and Security
- From there, click View Account Data
- Click Search History, click View All
- Click on the Clear Search History and click it again to confirm
And that’s it! Just to make sure, open your Instagram account and tap the magnifying glass to see if any prompts pop up in your search bar. They shouldn’t, but if they do, simply follow the steps to delete your history again.
Keep in mind that clearing your Instagram search history is temporary, and that searches you clear may reappear in your history after you search for them again.
Dealing With Suggested Searches
Note: You’ll still see suggested accounts and searches to follow, but these aren’t actually encouraged by your past Instagram searches — it’s mostly based on the accounts you currently follow and your past activity, which can include the posts you’ve liked and the accounts you’ve interacted with.
These suggested searches also changed depending on your Instagram habits, so the searches you’re served today will likely change tomorrow. Unfortunately, there’s no way to hide your suggest accounts (yet), but at least you can rest a little easier knowing your Instagram search history is clean and clear.