Facebook does keep track of your search history and saves it to your account. This allows Facebook to provide personalized recommendations and advertising based on your interests and search behaviors. However, there are ways to clear your Facebook search history or turn it off.
Does Facebook save your search history?
Yes, Facebook does save your search history by default. When you search for something on Facebook, whether it’s for a page, group, event, person, or hashtag, that search term gets added to your search history. This history gets connected to your account profile.
Facebook says they use your search history to “provide recommendations for people, Pages, groups, Marketplace items and more” and to “personalize your experience.” So if you’ve been searching for cooking pages or events in your city, Facebook will try to show you more related content.
Where does Facebook store your search history?
Your Facebook search history is accessible in a few places:
- On your profile under “Search history”
- In the “Your Information” section under “Your ad preferences”
- In the “Off-Facebook Activity” section
You can view, manage, and clear your search history from any of these locations in your Facebook settings.
How long does Facebook keep your search history?
Facebook stores your complete search history for about 6 months. After that, some searches may still be visible but not your full history.
Here are the detailed time frames:
- Search history on your profile – up to 6 months
- Search history in Ads Preferences – 18 months
- Search history in Off-Facebook Activity – 1 year
So even if you clear your main search history, some of those searches may still be visible to Facebook for ad targeting purposes for up to 18 months.
Can you delete Facebook search history?
Yes, you can delete your Facebook search history in a few ways:
- Go to your profile, click the down arrow at the top, and select “Search history.” Click “Clear Searches.”
- Go to “Settings & Privacy” then “Settings.” Click “Your Facebook Information” then “View.” Under “Your Information,” click “Your ad preferences.” Click “Ad interests” then “Advertisers you’ve interacted with.” Click “Clear History.”
- Go to “Settings & Privacy” then “Settings.” Click “Your Facebook Information” then “View.” Click “Off-Facebook Activity” then “Clear History.”
Clearing your search history from any of these locations will delete the searches from your account profile. However, as mentioned above, some of the data may still be saved by Facebook for advertising purposes.
How to stop Facebook from tracking search history
If you want to prevent Facebook from saving your search history at all going forward, there are a couple options:
- Turn off search history. Go to “Settings & Privacy” then “Settings.” Click “Your Facebook Information” then “View.” Under “Your Information,” turn “Search History” off.
- Use Facebook in an incognito or private browsing window. Facebook won’t be able to connect your searches to your profile.
- Log out of Facebook when searching. Again, the searches won’t be linked to your account.
Even with search history turned off though, Facebook may still use your searches for advertising purposes but they won’t be visible or saved to your account.
Does Facebook search history go away?
Facebook search history will automatically expire and disappear from your account after about 6 months. However, as mentioned above, some data may be retained by Facebook for 18 months for ad targeting purposes.
The only way to permanently delete Facebook search history is to manually clear it yourself using the steps outlined earlier.
Is Facebook search history private?
Your Facebook search history is not private by default. It is connected to your account profile. You can view it, Facebook can view it, and anybody who gets access to your account could potentially see your search history.
However, your search history is not public or visible to other Facebook users or friends in your network. Only you and Facebook can see it by default.
If you want to keep your searches more private, you can turn off search history, use private browsing, or log out of Facebook.
Conclusion
In summary:
- Facebook does save your search history by default
- Search history is used to personalize recommendations and ads
- You can view search history in your account settings
- Data is kept for 6 months on your profile, 18 months for ads
- You can delete search history manually at any time
- Turning off search history or using private browsing prevents tracking
- Search history is not public but connected to your account
So in general, if you are concerned about privacy, it’s best to periodically clear your Facebook search history and restrict Facebook’s ability to track your searching behaviors.