Remove personal information from Google

To remove personal information from Google, you ask Google Search to stop showing the specific pages that expose it. You do that with the Results about you tool, with the Remove result option on a listing, or with the personal information removal form, depending on what the page shows and where you live. Google removes the result from Search only. The page itself stays online until the site that hosts it takes it down, so a complete job always has two halves: the search result and the source.

Most guides stop at the first half. They tell you where to click and leave you with a result that disappeared for one search engine while the same page sits on a people-search site, in a forum thread and in the cache of another search engine. This guide covers both halves, in the order that works: find what is exposed, file the right request for each type of data, deal with the source, handle the data brokers that republish you, and know what to do when Google says no.

Everything about Google's tools below is described as of the Google help pages and announcements we read for this article, and each one is named where it matters. These tools change often, and some features are rolling out market by market, so check the live page before you rely on a detail. This is information, not legal advice.

What Google will remove and what it will not

Google's own help page, Remove my private info from Google Search, sets the scope, and it is narrower than most people expect. Google says you can ask for removal of contact details such as your address, phone number or email, confidential government ID numbers, bank account or credit card numbers, pictures of your signature or ID, private records such as medical records, and confidential usernames and passwords. The page also covers doxxing content, which Google defines in two ways: a URL with your personal information alongside explicit or implicit threats, or a URL with a significant amount of aggregated personal information and no legitimate purpose.

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Three limits matter more than the list. First, Google removes content only from Search results, not from the website that hosts it, and its help page says so plainly. Second, Google weighs public interest, so newsworthy content may stay up even when it contains details that look private. Third, a removal can be full, where the page no longer appears for any search, or partial, where it no longer appears for searches that contain your name or another identifier you gave. Partial removal is the quieter outcome and it is more common than people think when a page has some legitimate reason to exist.

Over 10 millionpeople have used Results about you, per Google in February 2026

600+data brokers reached by one free California DROP request

Zeropages deleted from the web when Google drops a result

Google's announcement post of February 10, 2026, the DROP page on privacy.ca.gov and Google's removal help page, all read for this article.

What does not qualify

Google's Results about you page lists the conditions. The result has to show your personal information, and a request may be denied when you can remove the information yourself, such as on a page you own: content you control, such as your own social media profile or your personal blog, is better fixed by editing or deleting it. And Google generally will not remove results from educational or government institutions or from newspapers, which it considers valuable to the public.

That last point is the one that surprises people most. A home address inside a court filing, a council planning record or a news article is the hard end of this work. Those cases usually need a different argument, aimed at the publisher or at a court, not at the search result.

Find out what is actually exposed before you file

Search yourself the way a stranger would, then write down every URL that shows something you want gone. A removal request is reviewed URL by URL: Google says only the URLs you provide are reviewed, so a vague complaint about "my address being online" achieves nothing. The audit is what turns a worry into a list of requests.

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Work in a private browsing window so your own history does not shape the results. Search your full name, the name with your city, the name with your employer, any maiden name or nickname, and each phone number, email address and street address you use, in quotation marks. Check the Web results, then Images, Videos and News. Look at the second and third pages: people-search listings and forum posts often sit there, not on page one.

What to record for each result

For each URL, note four things in a simple list: the exact address of the page, what it exposes (address, phone, ID number, family names, a document image), who owns the site if you can tell, and whether you control it. That list decides the route. Pages you control go in one pile, pages that show contact details or ID numbers in another, pages that threaten or aggregate your details in a third, and everything else in a fourth.

Save a screenshot of each page with the date visible. Google says screenshots help it locate the content, and that you can edit them so that only your face is visible. Never share screenshots of sexualized images of anyone under 18.

Use Results about you to find, monitor and request removal

Results about you is Google's own dashboard for this job, and it is the right starting point for contact details and, where available, government ID numbers. According to Google's help page, it checks whether your home address, phone number or email address appears in Search results and lets you request removal. You reach it by signing in through the Google app or on the web. Google's February 10, 2026 announcement says that over 10 million people have used the tool.

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Availability is not uniform. The help page says some features are rolling out to users over 18 in certain markets, and it does not list the countries. The February 2026 announcement says the government ID capability was rolling out in the U.S. first, with Google working to bring it to more regions, and names no other country or date. If you cannot see an option, that is the likely reason, and the removal request form described in the next section is the fallback.

Set up the monitoring profile

Open Results about you and select Get started. You enter your name and the details you want monitored: phone numbers, home addresses and email addresses, and, where the ID feature is available, government ID numbers such as a Social Security number, passport number or driver's license number. You can add more than one of each, plus nicknames and maiden names. Google says it checks regularly, that you can be notified by email or in the app, and that after you turn notifications on you typically get an alert within a few hours about matching results.

Google also says it does not share this information or use it to personalize your experience across other Google products. If you decide you no longer want it checked, Settings has a "Remove all personal info" option that stops monitoring and deletes what you entered.

1. Open the To review tabSelect a result Google has matched to the details you entered.
2. Choose Request to removeOr choose Mark as reviewed if you do not want to request removal. Google generally will not remove results from newspapers or from educational and government institutions.
3. Confirm by emailGoogle sends an email confirming the request.
4. Track the statusUse the Removal requests section. The statuses are In progress, Approved, Denied or Undone.

If a request is approved, Google says the URL either stops appearing for any search, which it describes as most common, or stops appearing only for searches containing your name. If it is denied, the reason appears on the Results about you page and in an email. If you select Undo, the URL can reappear, but Google says it may not return if someone else's removal of the same URL was approved.

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Request removal from a listing or the removal form

You do not need the dashboard to ask for removal, and you need the form for anything the dashboard does not cover. There are two ways in: the Remove result option on the listing itself, and the standalone removal request form.

Remove result on a listing

Sign in, search for your name, and open About this result from the More option next to the listing. Choose Remove result, then the personal information option and Contact Info. Complete the reporting steps, submit, and enter your name and contact details exactly as they appear on the page. One contact type per request is enough, and you do not need separate requests for the same URL. Adding a city or street address to your search can help surface the pages that carry contact details.

The detailed removal request form

The form takes the URLs of the pages with your information and the type of information, and it can be filed by you or by a representative. Use it for government ID numbers, financial account numbers, images of a signature or ID, private records, confidential logins, doxxing content, a result about a minor, and any case that does not fit the dashboard. Give the exact address of each page, not the address of a site's home page, and add the search query that surfaces it when that is useful.

Write the request in plain terms: what the page shows, why it is private or harmful, and why there is no public interest in it staying in Search.

Outdated listings and changed pages

Sometimes the problem is not that the page exposes something, but that Google still shows an old version of a page that has changed or disappeared. Google's refresh outdated content tool is for a page or image removed from a site that still appears in Search with a stale description or cached copy. If the live page has already been updated, Google says you do not need to submit a request. If the content was deleted but still appears, you submit a refresh request with the page URL, or for an image, the image address, and you can check status in Search Console.

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Doxxing and explicit imagery have their own routes

Two kinds of exposure are not just private information: doxxing and non-consensual explicit imagery. Both have dedicated paths in Google's policies, and both are worth handling first if they apply to you, because the harm is immediate.

Doxxing content

Google describes doxxing content as pages that combine your personal information with threats, or pages that aggregate a significant amount of your personal information with no legitimate purpose. The request goes through the detailed form.

Do not wait for the removal to start protecting yourself. While requests are pending, change what can be changed, such as passwords and privacy settings, tell your employer, a school or a building manager if your address is out, and keep a dated record of every page and message. Removal from search lowers the chance that a stranger finds the page. It does not stop people who already have it.

Explicit and intimate imagery

Google's policy on explicit imagery lets the person depicted request removal of real nude, sexual or intimate images and videos of them, fabricated sexual content that identifies them and was shared without consent, and results that link their name to unrelated pornographic sites or ads. Representatives can file on someone's behalf. Google says it does its best to find and remove duplicates of sexual imagery from Search, and the form lets you opt out of that duplicate removal. Anyone can also report nude or sexual images of people under 18.

This is where the source half matters most. Google removes the search result, but the image stays on the hosting site and on other platforms until each one acts. If this is your situation, our leaked content removal service works the sites and hosts alongside the search requests.

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Which route fits which type of information

Match the data to the route, not the other way around. The mistake we see most often is sending an address to the form meant for IDs, or fighting a news article through a dashboard that will never offer removal for it. The scenario below shows how the routes combine. It is a scenario with invented parties, not a case.

A worked scenario

A woman, call her Alex, finds four results when she searches her name with her city. One is a people-search listing with her address and phone number. One is a forum thread where a stranger posted her workplace and street. One is her own old blog post with her phone number in the footer. One is a local newspaper article that mentions her street in a planning dispute.

The sequence: she edits her own blog post first, since Google will not remove content she controls. She then requests removal of the people-search listing through Results about you, and the forum thread through the detailed form with a doxxing description because the post aggregates workplace and home address with no stated purpose. She asks the people-search site to remove the listing at the source. For the newspaper article, no Remove result option appears, because the source is a newspaper. She decides whether a request to the publisher is worth making, and in the meantime she does not file a doxxing claim that the facts do not support. Four results, four different routes, one list.

Government IDs, financial and medical data

Government ID numbers, bank and card numbers, signature or ID images and private records such as medical records are all named in Google's policy. If you are in the U.S., Results about you can monitor for ID numbers where the feature has reached you. Otherwise use the detailed form. If a page contains a live credential, such as a password or card number, act on the credential itself at the same time: change it, cancel it, or ask the issuer to reissue it. A removed search result does not make an exposed number safe again.

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Family members, employers and photos

Google's list does not include "the names of my relatives" or "my employer" as categories, so these are judged under the doxxing and private-information policies, or under local law. A listing that names your family alongside your address in an aggregated profile is a stronger case than a news mention of your employer. Photos of you are not covered by the private information list unless they fall under the explicit imagery policy or show a signature or ID. A photo posted by a friend or a site is a source-level request first.

Remove it at the source: site owners, hosts and your own accounts

Search removal is a patch. The page is still there, and Google's help page says the content may still be reachable through links, social media or other search engines. The durable fix is at the source, and it usually runs through the person or company that publishes the page.

Content you control

Start with your own accounts, old blogs, forum accounts, comments and tagged photos. Delete or edit what you can, tighten public privacy settings, and remove your phone number and address from any page you publish. Then request a refresh in Google Search for the deleted pages so the old snippet does not linger.

Content someone else controls

Google's help page on contacting a site owner gives a practical order. Look for a Contact us link or email address on the site, usually on the homepage. If there is none, run a Whois lookup and check the registrant or administrative contact. If you still cannot reach the owner, contact the hosting company, which the Whois results also identify.

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Make the message short and specific. Give the exact URL, say what it exposes, say what you want done (remove the page, or remove the specific details), and say you will also ask search engines to delist it. Do not threaten, and do not attach more of your personal information than the owner needs to find the page.

When the owner refuses or ignores you

Some sites refuse, and some are built to ignore requests. Your options narrow to the hosting company if it has an abuse process, the search-engine routes above, and for lawful grounds, a legal letter or a court order, which belongs to your own counsel. Be careful before you escalate publicly. A public fight over a page can draw attention to it, and a second article or post about the removal attempt can become a new exposure.

Data brokers and people-search sites keep republishing you

A search result can vanish and reappear a month later because the underlying source is a data broker or people-search site, which collects records from public and commercial sources and republishes a profile. Removing one listing from Google Search leaves the profile intact, and the broker may list you again under a different URL.

The reliable pattern is to deal with the broker first and the search result second. Opt out of the listing on the broker's own site, using its opt-out page, then confirm that the profile is gone, then request the search result's removal or refresh if it still shows. In most files you will need to repeat this, because brokers refill their records from the same public sources. A calendar reminder every few months to search yourself again does more than a one-time sweep.

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California residents and the DROP platform

California has built a shortcut. California's Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, called DROP, lets California residents ask registered data brokers to delete their personal information through one request. The state's DROP page says the platform is free, that a single request covers over 600 data brokers, that it launched in January 2026 and that brokers began processing requests in August 2026. If you live elsewhere, other state laws may give you deletion rights, but the mechanics differ, and each one needs its own check against the state's own source.

A broker deletion does not touch Google. After the broker removes the profile, the search result becomes a stale listing, and the refresh outdated content tool is the right next step.

Public records

Public records are the hard limit. Property records, court documents, professional registers and voter-related data are published by public bodies for a reason, and removal from a search result usually does not change the fact that the record is public. Sealing or address confidentiality processes, where they exist, run through the agency or court that holds the record, so ask your own counsel what applies where you are.

If Google says no: refusals, appeals and other search engines

A denied request is common, and the reason matters. Google's Results about you page shows why a request was denied, and an email explains it. Read the reason before you do anything, because it tells you which of the three problems you have: the information is not yours, you control the content, or Google judged it valuable to the public.

Fix the request before resubmitting

If the problem was evidence, resubmit with better evidence: a screenshot that shows the information in context, the exact URL, and a plain statement of why there is no public interest. If the problem was the category, switch routes: a doxxing argument or a detailed form may succeed where a contact-details request did not. If the content is yours, change it and request a refresh instead.

Related readData Broker Opt Out: Registries, Rights and Proof

Do not file the same request repeatedly with no change. Google says misusing the feature may cause you to lose access.

Legal routes

Google separates policy requests from legal ones. For cases its policies do not cover, its help page says specific local laws may apply in your country or region, and that you should create a request through the Legal Help Center. Which laws and which outcomes depend on where you are, and are a question for your own counsel. We do not cover the EU right to be forgotten at length here, since it is a legal route of its own, but it is one of the routes that can apply in Europe.

Bing and other search engines

Removal from one engine does not remove you from the others. Bing's help page says that reporting a concern will not necessarily result in removal of a URL, that Bing limits removal of search results to a narrow set of circumstances, and that removed content still exists at its web address, so the best option is to contact the webmaster of the site that published it. The pattern is the same everywhere: engines delist narrowly, and publishers decide what stays online. List each engine where the page shows up in your audit, file with each one's own form, and put the source-level request at the front of the queue, since it is the one fix that reaches every engine at once.

If the content you want removed is a news article, an arrest record or a court record, none of the routes above is the right tool on its own. Our negative content removal service covers those cases, which depend on the publisher, the law and sometimes a court.

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A realistic timeline and how to keep it from coming back

Google gives no deadline for deciding a request. What it does state is that, once notifications are on, you typically get an alert about matching results within a few hours, and that removal may take a few hours after approval. Everything after that is variable, and the ranges below are our experience, not a promise. They describe a single person with a handful of URLs, not a complex case.

1. Day 0, audit and evidenceSearch yourself, list every URL, take dated screenshots, and edit or delete what you control. This usually takes a few hours.
2. Day 0 to 1, file the requestsSet up Results about you, submit removal requests, and send source-level messages to site owners. Google sends an email confirming each request.
3. Days 2 to 14, first decisionsIn most files, statuses start to change in this window. Approved means the result is removed or limited. Denied comes with a reason you can act on.
4. Weeks 2 to 6, source and brokersSite owners reply or do not, broker opt-outs are confirmed, and refresh requests go in for pages that have changed. Follow up once, politely.
5. Months 2 to 3, re-checkSearch yourself again in a private window, check for new listings and relisted profiles, and refile only what changed.
6. Ongoing, monitoringKeep Results about you active and re-audit every few months. Our reputation monitoring does this on a monthly cycle if you would rather not.

What keeps results from coming back

Three habits do most of the work. Keep Results about you on, so a new listing is caught early. Keep brokers on a repeat schedule, since they refill records. And reduce what you publish about yourself: a phone number in an old footer, an address on a profile, a family photo with tagged names. Each of those is a future search result.

Your next step: one list, three requests

Do the audit today and file three requests in the first 48 hours: Results about you for contact details and IDs, the detailed form for anything it does not cover, and one source-level message for the page that matters most. Then set a date for the re-check.

Questions people ask

Can I remove my name from Google altogether?

No. You cannot remove your name from the index, only specific results that show information Google's policies cover. Google reviews each URL you submit and removes it from Search fully or only for searches containing your name. Pages that are legitimately public, such as news coverage or government records, usually stay. The achievable goal is to remove the sensitive pages and keep the rest accurate and under your control.

How long does Google take to remove personal information?

Google does not publish a deadline. Results about you shows each request as In progress, Approved, Denied or Undone, and Google says removal may take a few hours after approval. In most files, first decisions arrive within days to a couple of weeks, and anything slower deserves a calm follow-up.

Can I request removal of my child's information?

Yes, but through the detailed removal request form, not Results about you. Google's help page says results that show a person under 18 go through the form, and that anyone can report nude or sexual images of people under 18. Give the exact URLs, explain what the page shows and keep screenshots, blurring everything except what Google needs to see.

Can someone file the request on my behalf?

Yes. Google's removal form can be filed by you or by a representative, which is the route for a lawyer, a family member or a firm acting for you. Results about you is designed for your own details, and Google says a request for someone else filed from your own account may be denied. Representatives should use the detailed form.

Can I request removal of a page behind a paywall?

Yes. Google's help page says you can still request removal of a result behind a paywall, including through Results about you. A paywall alone does not appear to change the policy test. The information still has to be personal information you cannot remove yourself and not content Google treats as valuable to the public.

What if I delete the page but it still shows in Search?

Use Google's refresh outdated content tool. It is for pages or images that were removed from a site and still appear with an old snippet or cached copy. Submit the page address, or for an image, the image address, and track the request in Search Console. If the live page has already been updated, Google says no request is needed.