How to remove personal information from Google

What information can you remove from Google?

You can remove a lot of your personal information and sensitive data from Google search results. But note that you can only remove personally identifiable information (PII).

You can also ask Google to blur the images of your home on Google maps.

However, there is some information you just can’t remove.

Google has specific policies and procedures in place for handling requests to remove personal information — and Google’s alternatives have them too. Web search engines assess each removal request on a case-by-case basis and might remove your information if it is outdated, inaccurate, or violates the  engine’s policies.

8 ways to remove personal information from Google

Check out the eight best ways to remove your information from Google search results. 

1. Use Google’s “Results about you” tool

In late 2022, Google introduced the “Results about you” tool for finding out what personal information shows up on Google search and asking for its removal. If Google finds your personal information like your home address, phone number, or email address in its search results, you can ask the engine to stop displaying the respective search results.

Google redesigned the tool in 2025, so now you can use it to request the search engine to run regular checks for your information and let you know if it shows up in search results.

To use “Results about you,” follow these steps:

• 1. 1.Go to Google’s “Results about you” webpage.
  2. 2.Click the “Get started” button.
     
  3. 3.Type your name into the search box and click “Continue.”
     
  4. 4.In the next window, add your personal information (home address, phone number, and email address) and click “Continue.”
     
  5. 5.Confirm the details you added by checking the box “I confirm that the info I’ve added belongs to me.” You can also toggle on the switch next to email notifications to get an alert if Google finds results about you in the future.
     
  6. 6.Click “Done” to proceed. The search for your information can take up to 6 hours.
     
  7. 7.Once the search is completed, you’ll either be informed about zero mentions of your personal information in search results, or a list of mentions, which you can then request to be removed.
     

Keep in mind that this tool does not find images or videos with you in them, so it won’t alert you to their existence online either.

2. Fill out Google’s content removal form

If you have a specific search result in mind that you want Google to remove, you can request removal straight away, without using the “Results about you” tool. For instance, if you know that someone posted your picture or video without your consent, your best option is to request Google to remove it (if the person who uploaded it won’t):

1. 1.Visit Google’s “Report a problem” webpage for filling out the personal content removal request form.
2. 2.Select the reason you’re requesting personal content removal, choose your country of residence, and click “Next.”
3. 3.Depending on which reason you selected, you will be taken through a few more steps in the form, designed to gather all information necessary for removal. You might be asked to provide additional information regarding the case (for example, upload screenshots of the content you want Google to remove), so have it all ready. Finally, click “Submit.”

Google support will let you know if the request was granted and if it was, a removal timeline will follow.

3. Contact the website owner

Google doesn’t own websites and doesn’t store any content — it only displays it. Even when Google removes a website or image from their search results, the original content remains online. This means users can still access it by entering the direct URL, discovering it via social media links, or finding it through other search engines.

That’s why the most effective way to remove unwanted search results about you is to contact the owner or the administrator of the website that is hosting the content and ask them to completely remove your information.

You can contact the website owner in three ways:

1. 1.Use the “Contact us” link. Look for a “Contact us” link or an email address on the website, typically on the homepage. 
2. 2.Use Google’s “whois” option to find out who owns the website. Go to google.com and search for “whois www.websitename.com.” You’ll likely find the owner under “Registrant email” or “Administrative contact.”
3. 3.Contact the hosting company. The “whois” search also tells you who hosts the website. If contacting the owner proves impossible, try the hosting site.

If you have an issue with the quality of the information about you on the website, you can ask the owner or admin to update it and make it more accurate instead of removing it altogether.

But if the website owner already removed your information like you asked, you can request Google to take the outdated information off its search by sending a webpage removal request.

4. Seek legal help

If the information you seek to remove is sensitive, harmful, or violates the law or your rights (for example, constitutes defamation or copyright infringement), and the owner refuses to remove it, you have two options:

• Send a legal removal request to Google. Go to Google’s “Report content for legal reasons” page and ask the engine to block, limit, or remove access to this content. Click the “Create a request” button and follow the instructions to fill out the reporting form. 
• Report the website. You can report the website to its hosting provider, domain registrar, Microsoft, and law enforcement or governmental bodies. For guidance, head to our blog post on how to report the website.

The entities you report to will review your request and respond with their decision.

5. Delete your social media accounts or set them to private

To restrict what others can discover about you on the internet, you can delete your social media profiles that contain your photos, videos, and posts revealing information about your personal or professional life.

Deleting your social media profiles will significantly limit the amount of data that search engines like Google can index. If you want to take it a step further and minimize your online presence even more, take a look at our tips on removing yourself from the internet.

If you don't want to take the extreme measure of deleting your social media accounts, you can at least adjust their privacy settings to maximum privacy.

6. Delete online accounts you don’t use any more

It’s surprisingly easy to forget about old accounts we’ve abandoned over the years, but these sites can still be displaying your personal information. To better protect your privacy, take some time to delete the accounts you’re no longer using, for example:

• Social media profiles
• Discussion forums
• Shopping websites
• Online dating sites
• Email accounts
• Job-search sites
• Gaming platforms
• Information sites
• Personal blogs

The rule of thumb is to delete the online account you haven’t used in 6-12 months. However, experts suggest reviewing your accounts quarterly or biannually to catch inactive accounts that may pose security risks.

7. Regularly monitor your online presence

You should routinely check what the internet knows about you by searching your name across different search engines and reviewing the results. When you find outdated, inaccurate, or sensitive content about yourself, you can take action right away to make sure that unwanted information doesn’t linger online and put you at risk.

8. Use a data removal tool

Another effective way to prevent your information from appearing in Google search results is to use a data removal tool. Data brokers collect and sell personal details like your full name, address, and phone number on their sites. These sites often appear in Google searches, which means your information is easy to find.

Data removal tools like Incogni can help you remove your details from these sites by sending removal requests to hundreds of data brokers on your behalf and following up to ensure compliance. They also provide ongoing monitoring to prevent your information from resurfacing online. By addressing the problem at its source, these tools help keep your private information off Google and out of the wrong hands.

How to remove personal information from Google for free

Most of the methods for removing personal information from Google don’t cost anything, including: 

• Google’s “Results about you” tool and content removal forms.
• Contacting website owners directly to request content removal.
• Adjusting privacy settings on your social media accounts.
• Deleting unused online accounts across various platforms.
• Regularly monitoring your digital footprint through search engines.

You can handle these removal strategies yourself using Google’s built-in tools and direct communication — the only price you’ll have to pay is your time and effort.

Why remove personal information from Google?

Having your personal details easily accessible through Google search puts you at unnecessary risk. When your information is readily available online, you become more vulnerable to identity theft, harassment, cyberstalking, and various scams. Cybercriminals can use details like your name, address, or phone number for phishing attacks or financial fraud.

Removing personal information also helps protect your reputation and gives you more control over your privacy. Outdated or inaccurate information in search results can damage your professional image, while excessive personal details online make unwanted contact from strangers much easier. 

What are the risks of leaving personal information online?

You should be aware of what information is accessible via Google, otherwise you are risking your privacy and security:

• Identity theft. Cybercriminals might use your information available on Google, like your name, birthdate, home address, or social security number, to steal your identity, open fake accounts, or carry out financial fraud.
• Stalking and harassment. The more personal details you have available on the web, the easier it is for a criminal to contact you, stalk you, or harass you to extort money or intimidate you.
• Data breaches. The more personal information you provide on websites and social media platforms, the higher the risk for this information to end up in the wrong hands. You can never be sure if an online platform hosting your content will not suffer a data breach that will put your data at risk.
• Targeted advertising. Online platforms collect your data to offer you targeted ads. If you aren’t interested in receiving them, provide only minimal data about yourself or none at all.
• Phishing attacks. If cybercriminals obtain your information, they might use it in a spear phishing attack. They might craft an email, such as a Google security alert, or a message using your information to make it more convincing and trick people you know into clicking malicious links, downloading malware, or sharing sensitive information.
• Reputation damage. Having inaccurate, unflattering, or outright defamatory information about yourself online can damage your reputation in the eyes of your peers and professional contacts.

You should regularly monitor your personal information online and take the appropriate steps to remove the unnecessary data from Google search results or websites and online platforms hosting it.