How to Remove Your Personal Information From Google

When people search their own name and find a phone number, an old address or a profile they never created, the first instinct is to blame Google. In practice, Google is mostly the messenger. It points to pages other people publish, and the personal information lives on those pages. That distinction decides your strategy. Google gives you tools to hide results, and those tools matter, but the lasting fix is getting the information taken off the source site. This guide covers both, in the order that works best in 2026.

1. How Google search and your data actually work

Two separate systems are often confused.

Search results are links to pages Google has crawled. If a people-search site publishes your profile, Google can list it. Google does not own that profile and cannot delete it from the other site.

Your Google Account data is the activity, location history, searches and saved items that Google stores about you. You manage this in your account settings, and you can delete it or set it to auto-delete. Our piece on what Google knows about you and how to delete it covers that side.

This article focuses on the first system: getting personal information out of what strangers see when they search your name. If you want a quick orientation on what the search shows, start with googled myself, what now.

2. Step 1: Audit what Google shows

Before you request anything, build a list. Search these in a private browser window so personalization does not skew results:

Your full name in quotation marks
Your name plus your city and state
Your phone numbers and email addresses
Your home address
Old usernames you have used

For each result that shows sensitive information, record the URL, a screenshot, and what type of information it shows. Sort them into groups: people-search and broker profiles, social profiles, news or court pages, forums and comments, and old business listings. The group tells you which removal route to use.

3. Step 2: Use Google’s Results about you tool

Step 2a: Open the tool

Google’s Results about you feature lives in your Google Account under the data and privacy settings. You confirm the contact details you want to monitor, such as your phone number, home address and email.

Step 2b: Request removal of specific results

Select a result that shows your information and choose the option to request removal. Google asks what the page shows, such as a phone number, home address, or other identifiers, and reviews it against its policy.

Step 2c: Turn on alerts

Enable monitoring so Google notifies you when new results with your contact details appear. This replaces the habit of re-searching your name by hand.

Step 2d: Track decisions

Keep a record of each request and its outcome. If a request is declined, you can submit it again later if the situation changes, for example if the page owner has since deleted the content.

For a detailed look at the tool and what it covers, see Google’s new tool to delete your personal info.

4. Step 3: Use the legal and policy request forms

Some content falls outside Results about you but is still eligible for removal under Google’s policies. Common categories include:

Doxxing, meaning your private contact details posted to harass or threaten you
Non-consensual explicit imagery
Content that exposes you to fraud, such as financial account numbers
Outdated pages where the source has changed or been deleted
Legal removals that require a court order or a valid legal basis

Each category has its own form. The request-form process is explained in how the Google request form works. Describe the specific harm, give the exact URLs, and attach evidence where required.

5. Step 4: Remove the source page

This is the step that makes removal permanent. Match the route to the type of site.

Source type	What to do
People-search or broker site	Use the site’s opt-out form
Social media post	Delete it, or ask the poster or platform
News article	Contact the editor; expect limited success for accurate reporting
Forum or comment	Ask the moderator or poster to edit or delete
Old business listing	Contact the business or directory owner

People-search sites are the largest category by far. Work through them using how to opt out of the most popular people-search sites, and look at who the biggest data brokers are to prioritize. Major brokers have direct opt-out pages, for example Spokeo and the PeopleConnect suppression page at suppression.peopleconnect.us.

Curious what’s already out there? Wiperts’ 100% Free Diagnosis shows which data brokers are listing your name, home address and phone number. Check your exposure free — it takes about a minute.

6. Step 5: Ask Google to refresh outdated results

If a page was changed or deleted but Google still shows the old snippet or cached text, use the outdated-content request. Google re-crawls the page and updates or drops the result. This is a quick fix after a source site finally honors your opt-out, and it clears the stale entry sooner than waiting for a natural recrawl.

7. Step 6: Repeat on other search engines

Google is the biggest, not the only one. Bing, DuckDuckGo and others have their own indexes and forms. DuckDuckGo draws heavily from Bing, so a Bing removal often helps there too. Our walkthrough on deleting your data from alternative search engines covers each one in turn.

8. Getting help when exposed data is already being misused

If a search result exposes a number or detail that someone is already using against you, shift from cleanup to recovery. Report the misuse at IdentityTheft.gov, which builds a personal recovery plan and generates the reports banks and agencies ask for, and consider filing a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center if money was taken. The Federal Trade Commission also publishes plain-language guidance on freezes, fraud alerts and disputes. Keep copies of every report number, because lenders and credit bureaus will ask for them, and continue requesting removal from search in parallel so that the same data is harder for the next person to find.

9. A quick monthly routine

Once the first cleanup is done, spend ten minutes each month on three checks: open Results about you and review any new matches, search your name and address in a private window, and look through your request log for anything still pending. Resubmit stalled requests, add new addresses or phone numbers to your monitoring list after any move, and note the date of each check so that trends are easy to see.

10. Three scenarios and what to do

Scenario 1: A people-search profile ranks first for your name. Opt out at the broker, then use Results about you to hide the link while the opt-out processes. Re-search in two weeks.

Scenario 2: A forum post from 2014 includes your phone number. Ask the forum moderator to edit it, then request Google removal under the contact-information policy. Search for the number itself to find copies.

Scenario 3: A news article names you in an old, minor incident. Accurate reporting is difficult to remove. Ask the publisher whether they update or anonymize old stories, and request Google removal only if a specific policy applies. Strengthening the results you control can push the page down.

11. What to expect: a realistic timeline

Step	Typical time
Google decision on a removal request	Days to a few weeks
People-search opt-outs	Days to four weeks
Cache and snippet refresh	Days to several weeks
Re-listing at a broker	One to three months
Full cleanup of a typical footprint	Several weeks of steady effort

12. Common mistakes

Requesting removal from Google and never contacting the source site.
Forgetting other search engines.
Submitting vague requests without exact URLs.
Deleting social posts but leaving the profile publicly searchable.
Assuming a hidden result means the information is gone from the internet.
Never checking again after the first cleanup.

13. How Wiperts fits

Hiding results is a recurring job, because brokers re-list and new pages appear. Wiperts scans more than 100 data brokers and people-search sites for your name, submits removal requests to the sources, removes your personal results from Google and Bing, blurs your home on maps and monitors for re-listings around the clock.

Start with the free diagnosis to see what is published about you today.

100% Free Diagnosis: Check Your Exposure

Find out what data brokers have on you. Enter your details in the free scanner on the Wiperts homepage:

First Name
Last Name
Select State
Email Address
Website

Scan Databases Now — no payment is needed to see your exposure report.

14. Key takeaways

Google shows pages other sites publish, so source removal is the lasting fix.
Use Results about you and the policy request forms to hide links while you work.
Repeat the process on Bing and other search engines.
Monitor, because removed profiles often return.

Pick the Wiperts plan that fits your household

Plan	Covers	One-time deep scrub	Then
Individual	1 person	$89	$14/month
Couples (most popular)	2 people	$149	$24/month
Family	Up to 4 people	$199	$39/month

Every plan includes removal of your name, date of birth, salary, home address and phone number from 100+ data brokers and people-search sites, Google and Bing search-result removal, home blurring on maps, and 24/7 monitoring that re-removes your data if it reappears. See plans and start your removal

15. Frequently Asked Questions

Can I remove my personal information from Google?

Yes, in many cases. Google lets you request removal of results that show contact details, certain identifiers, or content that creates real-world risk. Removing the source page is the permanent fix, because Google only indexes what other websites publish.

Does Google store my personal information?

Google stores data tied to your Google Account, such as activity, location history and saved items, which you can review and delete. Separately, search results show what other sites publish. Those two things are managed in different places.

Why does my information still show after I asked Google to remove it?

Google may have declined the request, or the removal may cover one link while copies exist on other sites. The page can also be re-indexed from a different address. Check the source and request removal there too.

How long does Google take to remove a result?

Reviews vary from a few days to a few weeks. Approved results are typically hidden from search soon after a decision, but the source page remains on the internet until its owner removes it.

Will removing results from Google remove them from Bing?

No. Each search engine has its own index and its own request process. Removing a result from Google does not affect Bing, DuckDuckGo or other engines, so submit requests to each one that shows the page.

Is it better to remove the source or the Google result?

Do both when you can. Source removal makes the page disappear everywhere. Result removal helps while you wait or when the owner will not cooperate. Without source removal, the page may return in other searches.

Sources

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