Important: We’re currently updating settings for Google Search services, which include Search, Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate, and News. These are rolling out gradually over the next few months. If the settings in this article do not match what you see, history and personalized recommendations for Search services are still controlled by Web & App Activity .
You can choose whether Google saves media to your Search Services History when you’re signed in. Saved media includes your images, files, audio and video from your interactions with Search services. Your media may be used to improve your experience on Google services, like letting you revisit your past visual searches. Saved media may be used to develop and improve Google’s AI models and technologies, as well as the Google services that use them. When media is saved, you can view it in your Search Services History. Learn how to find and manage Search Services History .
Tip:If you got your Google Account through your employer or educational institution, in order for your organization to use Search services, you might need to ask your administrator to turn on access to certain services.
Turn Save Media on or off
- Go to My Google Activity
.
- You may be asked to sign in to your Google Account.
- Select Search Services History.
- Adjust your Save Mediasubsetting by checking or unchecking the box.
When this Save Media subsetting is off, your media from your interactions with Google Search services won't be saved to your Search Services History. If you turn this Save Media subsetting off, previously saved media isn’t deleted and may continue to be used to improve Google technologies unless you delete it from your account. You can delete your saved media any time. Learn how to find or delete saved media .
Find or delete saved media
Find your media- Go to My Google Activity
.
- You may be asked to sign in to your Google Account.
- Select Search Services History.
- Select View and delete saved history.
- On this page, you can:
- Find a list of your past activity.
- Images saved to your account are displayed.
- Items with the audio iconinclude a recording.
- Some activity, like AI Mode or Ask Maps threads, contain links to the product where you can view interactions that include media like file uploads.
- Click the image you want to download.
- Play a recording.
- Next to Audio, tap Details
View recording
Play.
- Next to Audio, tap Details
- Find a list of your past activity.
- On this page, you can:
Tips:
- Some history may be deleted sooner than the auto-delete timeframe you choose.
- My Activity may display thumbnails of images or videos you've viewed on Search services. These thumbnails aren’t considered your media and so are not covered by your Save Media subsetting.
- In your Google Account, you can download your saved media with Google Takeout . Learn how to download your Google data .
- To add more security, you can require an extra verification step to view your full history .
- Learn how to delete your activity .
What your media includes
Your saved media includes your images, files, and audio and video recordings from your interactions with Search services. This includes things like Google Lens images, recordings from Search Live or Translate speaking practice, content you upload, and voice searches.
Saved media doesn’t include media that you generate or modify with AI. It also doesn’t include media you share publicly on Search services, like photos added to your reviews.
If your media is saved when the Save Media subsetting is on, it’ll be shown in your Search Services History. You may need to expand an activity event or click a link to the original thread in products like AI Mode or Ask Maps to see full details.
You can stop saving your media with your history at any time. If you stop saving media, your existing text-based history, transcripts, and generative AI media responses will continue to be saved to your Search Services History. Learn how to find and delete your Search Services History .
How your saved media is used
How does my history tailor my experienceYour saved media in your Search Services History is used to tailor your Google experiences. For example, you can revisit your last Lens searches or continue a Live conversation about a song you heard.
Based on your personalization settings , your saved media may also be used to personalize your experience on Google services. You can review your personalization settings at goo.gle/personalization-settings .
Google uses AI models and other technologies to process your media and respond to you when you use features that rely on voice, audio, images, or files. This includes actions like when you search with your camera, ask a question by voice, or upload a document for translation.
Google also uses your saved media to develop and improve technologies that understand the world the way you do, like the AI models that power features like:
- AI Mode
- Lens
- Translate
- Search Live
- Voice and audio search
This helps us deliver safer and more accurate results and build better services for everyone. When saved media is used to train our AI models, it is disconnected from your Google Account and retained for up to 4 years.
We take your privacy seriously and take steps to protect it when using your Search Services History data to train our AI models. For example, data is disconnected from your Google Account before it is used to train our AI models or reviewed by our trained service providers. We will seek your permission before sharing your media with these providers for human review as part of the model improvement process. We use filters designed to automatically remove a broad range of identifying info or sensitive personal information. We are constantly working to improve our filtering and safety systems to better protect your privacy. When Search Services History or your Save Media subsetting are off, media from your future interactions won't be used to train Google’s generative AI models, unless you provide feedback.
Tip:If you got your Google Account through your educational institution, Google does not use your Search Services History data, including your saved media, to train generative AI models.
When the Save Media subsetting is on, Google can save media from your interactions to your Search Services History. Learn more about what your media includes .
If you use your device without an internet connection, media may be saved in your Google Account once you go online.
If you previously opted-in to donate your image search history to improve Google services with the help of human reviewers, image donation will continue. Learn more about image search history donation .
When the Save Media subsetting is off, Google won’t save media as part of your Search Services History. Media from your future interactions with Search services will still be used to respond to you and help keep Google safe, but will not be used to train Google’s generative AI models, unless you provide feedback.
When you turn off the Save Media subsetting:
- This doesn’t turn off Search Services History, which can still save your activity on Google Search services. This includes text-based history, transcripts from voice interactions, and generative AI media responses.
- Previously saved media that you do not delete can still be used to improve Google technologies.
You can delete previously saved media in your Search Services History at activity.google.com . Saved media that has already been selected to train AI models is no longer connected to your account and is kept for up to 4 years, even if you delete the original activity.
Tip:If you got your Google Account through your educational institution, Google does not use your Search Services History data, including your saved media, to train generative AI models.
Other places media may be saved
This Save Media subsetting doesn’t affect media saved and managed by other Google services, like:
- Gemini Apps
- Google Voice
- NotebookLM
- YouTube
It also doesn’t include media that you post or share publicly on Search services, such as reviews.
Tip:
- Media that you generate or modify with AI isn’t covered by your Save Media subsetting and is controlled by Search Services History.

