One nice feature is that you can act on your stored data. The same keystrokes also work on Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge. Pin Shared Google search queries How to View Chrome History However, if I go to Firefox, log in to Gmail, and then do a Google search, my previous queries show. For example, the Google search I did for gifts was done using Google Chrome while I was logged in. Some items can pass between browsers if you’re logged in. Moreover, most websites also record entries in web server logs. In neither case did I have that browser open. The example below is from Microsoft Edge, which logged my voice queries to Cortana and an errant click on my desktop screensaver. Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge do as well. One important note is that Google Chrome isn’t the only browser that records your web history. Some of these settings are also useful with other Google products. This keeps me from repeating Google searches. The flip side is I’ve also used this web history log to find pages I visited and forgot.

I’ll admit it was a bit creepy to see my search history and other info. My guess is people who didn’t know browsers capture this info might be alarmed.

Pin Web history showing activity from other devices Browser History: Good, Bad & Ugly

I was able to see this activity even though I am logged in on a different PC. For example, in the screen snap below, you can see activity from my cell phone and another computer. Pin Examples of logged activity to Chrome web historyĪnd depending on your account settings, you might see activity from other devices such as phones, computers, and authorized 3rd party apps. It also depends on your Google Activity Control settings. You’ll also see the top entry recorded in a Google search. You can see I’ve read an email in the picture below, checked the weather, and visited Amazon.

Although it doesn’t store the page contents, it does grab the URL, favicon, page title, and timestamp of pages you’ve viewed. You might think of Google’s web history as an online audit trail of your web activity. When you use Google Chrome or other Google products, a log entry is made reflecting your actions.

How to backup history in chrome