Here’s How To Clear Your TikTok Search Bar In Just A Few Clicks

No matter how old you are, no matter where you live, there are two words in the English language that instantly strike fear into people’s hearts when uttered out loud: Search. History. You could spend your days researching innocent questions like “new season Bridgerton when” and “how to make Threads account” and still freeze in your tracks when confronted with the possibility of your innermost private thoughts being exposed. Our searches on TikTok can be pretty embarrassing, too, but luckily the app makes it so easy to clear your search history so that you never have to worry about anyone finding your “rizz meaning” and “what is an ingredient household” queries again.

Back in the day, we only had to worry about remembering to clear our Google search history before letting someone else use the family computer. But now that apps like TikTok have their very own search histories, we have so many caches to clear to avoid a seriously embarrassing breach of privacy. IYDK, the TikTok search bar can be accessed by tapping the magnifying glass icon on the top right corner of the FYP. Your three most recent searches will appear underneath the bar, with an option to “See more” below that. Sure, you can delete searches individually by tapping the X beside each search, but if you’re looking for a way to wipe all your humiliating, side-eye-worthy searches at once, here’s what you need to know.

The first thing you’ll need to do is open the TikTok app and navigate to the search bar. Then, underneath your recent searches, tap “See more” and brace yourself for the self-inflicted cringe you’re about to experience. Scroll to the bottom of the list — I do it while I peak through my hands, but that part isn’t required — then tap “Clear all.”

From there, you’ll receive a pop-up asking you to confirm that you want to delete your history. Your searches can’t be recovered once they’ve been deleted, per the message, so keep that in mind in case there’s something actually useful that you may want to refer back to.

When you’re ready, tap the “Clear” button, and voila: you’re free from your own embarrassing thoughts. At least, until another TikToker becomes an overnight sensation and you need a crash course on everything there is to know about them, that is. But now that you know how to clear your history, you can pretend you’ve been following the creator’s rise to fame from the start. After all, lying about our search histories has been a time-honored tradition since the beginning of the internet, and who are we to break that cycle?