Facebook’s search history can go back quite a long time, depending on the privacy settings and options chosen by each individual user. While Facebook doesn’t explicitly state how far back their search history goes, examining the available settings can give us a good idea of what to expect.
Basic Search History
In basic terms, Facebook’s search history will include searches done by a user while logged into their account. This means any searches done from the main search bar at the top of Facebook will be included in the history. So if you’ve been actively using Facebook for many years, your search history could potentially go back over a decade or more.
Facebook’s Help Center mentions your ability to manage and view search history from the last 90 days. But this doesn’t mean the search history is limited to just the past 90 days. The search history seems to go back indefinitely, as long as the account has been active.
To view your basic search history:
- Click on the search bar at the top of Facebook
- Click on the icon that appears beside the search bar
- Select “See All”
This will display your recent searches over the past 90 days. But there doesn’t appear to be any limit to how far back your search history goes as long as you’ve been actively using your account.
Off-Facebook Activity
Beyond your basic search history, there is also what Facebook calls “Off-Facebook Activity”. This tracks your activity across devices and websites outside of Facebook itself.
Off-Facebook Activity can potentially go back many years, showing a long history of your activity across the internet. This data is collected based on sites that share data with Facebook through business tools like Facebook Pixel and social plugins.
To view your Off-Facebook Activity:
- Go to Settings & Privacy
- Select Settings
- Go to Your Facebook Information
- Select Off-Facebook Activity
This will display a list of apps, websites and businesses that have shared your activity with Facebook. You can clear all or part of this history if you wish. But unless you take action to clear it, this Off-Facebook Activity can provide a very extensive search history covering many years.
Downloadable Data
The most complete view you can get of your Facebook search history is by downloading your data archive from Facebook. This will contain your entire search history for as long as your account has been active.
To download your data archive:
- Go to Settings & Privacy
- Select Settings
- Go to Your Facebook Information
- Select Download Your Information
It can take a few days for Facebook to compile and prepare your downloadable archive. Once ready, you can open it and navigate to the section called “search_queries.json” to find your complete search history.
Factors That Determine Search History Length
While Facebook search history can potentially go back indefinitely, there are some factors that determine exactly how far back an individual user’s history will go. These include:
- Account age – The longer you’ve had your Facebook account, the farther back the search history will go
- Account activity – If there are long gaps of inactivity, your search history may be broken up
- Deleted searches – Manually removing individual searches shortens your history
- Clearing history – Using the “Clear History” option will wipe portions of your search history
- Privacy settings – Restricting Off-Facebook Activity can limit your history length
In addition, minor factors like logging in from multiple devices can also result in a search history that is not entirely contiguous. But in most cases, regular Facebook users can expect a search history spanning many years in the past.
How to Clear Search History
If having an extensive search history on Facebook concerns you, there are steps you can take to clear or limit your search history. Options include:
Clear recent searches
- Click the search bar and select “See All”
- Click “Clear Searches”
- Confirm by selecting “Clear”
This will clear your basic search history for the past 90 days.
Limit Off-Facebook Activity
- Go to “Off-Facebook Activity”
- Toggle the switch for each website/app to the “Off” position
- For any you want to keep, choose “Keep Connected”
This will stop these sites from continuing to add to your Off-Facebook Activity history.
Clear History
- Go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Select “Settings”
- Click “Your Facebook Information”
- Select “Clear History”
- Choose desired range to clear
This will wipe portions of your Facebook search history based on the range you select.
Download Data Archive
- Download your data archive from Facebook
- Open the “search_queries.json” file
- Delete the contents of this file
- Upload the modified archive to Facebook
By replacing your archive with one containing an empty search history file, you can completely wipe your Facebook search history.
Conclusion
In summary, Facebook search history has the potential to go back as far as the age of your account, depending on privacy settings and user actions. Typical active users can expect a search history spanning many years. While not directly visible through Facebook’s interface, this extensive history is retrievable by downloading your data archive. If you wish to limit this history for privacy reasons, actions like clearing recent searches, disabling Off-Facebook Activity sharing, and deleting your search history file can help truncate your search history on Facebook.