How to remove your personal information from Google search results
Google's free Results about you tool finds search results that show your home address, phone number or email and lets you ask Google to remove them. It hides the result from Google Search only; the page itself stays online until the site that published it takes it down.
By the editors of ProtectYour.com Last reviewed 5 min read
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Key takeaways
- Go to Results about you (myactivity.google.com/results-about-you), enter your name and contact details, and Google will look for results that show them.
- Tap Request to remove on each result. Google tracks each request as in progress, approved or denied, and says approval can take a few hours to show in Search.
- Removal from Google is not removal from the internet. Most of these results are people-search sites, so opt out at the source too.
- A separate form covers ID numbers, bank and card numbers, signatures, medical records, logins, doxxing and explicit images.
What Google will and will not remove
Google does not remove a result just because you dislike it. Under its personal information removal policy, it will consider removing results that show:
- Your home address, phone number or email address (the Results about you tool handles these).
- Confidential government ID numbers, such as a Social Security or tax ID number.
- Bank account or credit card numbers.
- Images of your signature or of ID documents.
- Private records such as medical records.
- Confidential login details, such as usernames and passwords.
- Doxxing: your personal information posted alongside threats or calls for harassment, or a large amount of aggregated personal information with no legitimate purpose.
- Nude or sexual images of anyone under 18, which anyone can report.
Google says it weighs the public interest, so results about newsworthy topics can stay up even when they include personal details. It also says it sometimes denies requests for pages from government and educational institutions and from newspapers. Court records, property records and news articles about you are the usual examples.
Step by step: using Results about you
Results about you lives in your Google Account. Google's help page for the tool describes the process:
- Sign in to your Google Account and open Results about you. Choose Get started.
- Enter your name and the details you want Google to watch for: phone numbers, email addresses and home addresses. You can add nicknames and a maiden name, and more than one address.
- Turn on notifications if you want an email or app alert when a new result with your details appears.
- Open the To review tab. Each match shows the website and which of your details it contains. Choose Request to remove, or Mark as reviewed if you are happy for it to stay.
- Watch the status of each request. Google sends a confirmation email and shows each one as in progress, approved, denied or undone.
You can also start a request from any search result: open the three-dot menu next to it (About this result) and pick the removal option.
Free step
Google says some of these features are rolling out to people over 18 in certain markets. Requests for a child go through a separate, more detailed form linked from the same help page.
For ID numbers, financial details and doxxing: the removal form
Anything beyond contact details goes through Google's removal request form. You list the exact URLs, and Google says only the URLs you list are reviewed, so collect every one first. Screenshots help Google find the content on the page. You can submit for yourself or have a representative submit for you.
If an exposed number is a Social Security number or a bank or card number, the search result is the least of the problem. Freeze your credit (see how to freeze your credit) and call the bank. If the exposure is part of identity theft, report it at IdentityTheft.gov for a recovery plan.
Why the information is still online afterwards
Google is clear that it removes results from Search, not pages from the web. The information "still exists on the source web page," in the words of its help page, and can still be found on the site itself, through links, on social media and through other search engines. An approved removal usually stops the URL from appearing for any search, though in some cases Google hides it only for searches that include your name.
Where each fix works
| Fix | Hides it on Google | Removes it from the site | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Results about you | Yes, once approved | No | Free |
| Opting out at each people-search site | Eventually, once Google re-crawls | Yes | Free, but slow |
| A data removal service | Eventually | Yes, for the sites it covers | Paid |
Most of what Results about you finds will be people-search sites such as Spokeo, Whitepages and TruePeopleSearch. Do both jobs: ask Google to hide the result, then opt out at the source using our guides to Spokeo, Whitepages and TruePeopleSearch, or the full list in how to remove your info from data broker sites.
When a page has already changed
If a site has already deleted your details but Google still shows the old snippet, use Google's Refresh Outdated Content tool. It asks Google to re-crawl the page so the stale text drops out.
If you would rather not do the opt-outs yourself
Google's tool is the free half of the job. The other half, getting listings deleted at dozens of broker sites and re-checking when they come back, is where a removal service earns its fee. Start with a free scan so you can see how many sites list you before you pay anyone.
Want a picture of the rest of your exposure? The 5-minute self-check covers accounts, devices and credit, and the privacy hub has the rest of our guides.
Common questions
Can I remove my address from Google for free?
Yes. Google's Results about you tool, in your Google Account, finds search results showing your home address, phone number or email and lets you request their removal at no cost. It hides the result on Google only; the website keeps the information until you opt out there.
How long does a Google removal request take?
Google says approved removals can take a few hours to be reflected in search results. Each request shows a status of in progress, approved, denied or undone in Results about you.
Will Google remove a news article about me?
Usually not. Google says it weighs the public interest and may keep newsworthy content, and that it sometimes denies requests for pages from newspapers and government or educational sites.
Does removing a result from Google delete it from the internet?
No. Google says the information still exists on the source page and may be found through the site itself, links, social media or other search engines. Contact the site, or use its opt-out, to delete it there.
Your next step
If you want a paid toolAffiliate link
Optery
Best for: People who want their address and phone number off people-search sites without doing dozens of opt-outs by hand.
Not for: Anyone willing to do the opt-outs themselves for free, or whose main worry is public records: no service can remove those.
Visit OpteryRelated guides
- How to remove your info from data broker and people-search sitesPeople-search sites publish your address, phone number and relatives for anyone to find. You can remove most listings yourself for free. It takes a few hours, and it needs repeating.
- Optery vs DeleteMe vs Incogni: which data removal service is worth paying for?All three file removal requests with data brokers and repeat them. Optery is the one to start with if you want to see proof before paying; DeleteMe is the long-running, people-staffed option; Incogni sends the widest automated requests, including to marketing brokers you can never search.
- How to remove yourself from SpokeoSpokeo's free opt-out page is spokeo.com/optout. You paste the URL of your listing, give an email address, and click the confirmation link. Spokeo says requests are processed in 24 to 48 hours, and no ID or payment is needed.
- California's Delete Act and DROP: one request to every data brokerDROP, the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform run by California's privacy agency, lets a California resident send one free deletion request to every registered data broker. Since August 1, 2026, brokers must check it at least every 45 days and delete what they hold, with exceptions for public records and data covered by other laws.