How To Clear Instagram Search Suggestions And History: Reset Search Autofill To Make It Less Cluttered!

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There is no denying the fact that every one of us on social media search for other users and Instagram is no different. With searches, comes search history similar to the history of web browsers.

There is a good and bad part of it.

The good part is it shows you the recent searches you have made and if in the future you want to visit that profile or hashtag again you can use the history instead of searching again.

Coming to the disadvantages, whenever one taps on that search bar, search history shows up. If you happen to use the Instagram search with a friend or colleague beside you then definitely it’s a threat to your privacy and they would come to know about the users whose profile you have been stalking.

After all, the search suggestions are shown based on your search history. So, you might be irritated by the inappropriate suggestions. And Instagram already has enough dangers to worry about.

If you don’t want that to happen then you can go ahead and delete the search history and suggestions from Instagram right away. In this tutorial, we will let you know the steps to do that on iOS and Android.

We have updated the steps and screenshots using the latest version of the Instagram app.

Here, we have used the Android app but, the steps are basically the same for iPhone as well with some slight design changes which should not be a problem if you are familiar with the steps below.

Now then, let’s get started!

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Clear Search History On Instagram

Please note that it is possible to delete specific profiles from search history in case you don’t want to remove complete search history on Instagram. We’ve covered the method for both so you can use the one you need.

Remove Entire Search History At Once

This is how you can remove your Instagram search history:

  1. Go to your Profile

    In the Instagram app, visit your profile by tapping on the profile icon at the bottom right.

  2. Open Settings

    In Profile, tap on the hamburger icon at the top right to open the slider menu and tap Settings.Settings on Instagram app

  3. Go to Privacy and security

    On Settings screen will open. Here, select Privacy and security.

  4. Clear search history

    Now, on the next screen tap on Clear search history which you can find at the bottom.
    Privacy and security settings Instagram

  5. Confirm it

    Finally, tap on Clear search history once again and confirm. Clear search history on Instagram

This will delete all the accounts and hashtags in the Recent section. To check whether it worked, go back and tap on the search bar.

Relieved?

However, you will see that the suggestions will come back in the Suggested section and they might still be accounts that you don’t want to see or appear.

To delete search suggestions follow the method below. You can also use the same steps to clear certain profiles or hashtags from your Recent search history if you don’t want to delete all of them.

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Delete Particular Instagram Search Suggestion Or History

  1. Open the Instagram app and tap on the search icon which is next to the Home button.
  2. Next, tap on the search bar at the top. On doing this, you’ll see the search suggestions and history if you haven’t cleared it.
  3. Now for each suggestion, there will be an x icon next to it. You can tap on it to remove that particular account or hashtag from the Suggested or Recent section.
Delete specific Instagram search suggestions and history

You can follow the same method to remove others if desired. For your ease, you can also select the specific tab like Accounts or Tags from the top and then perform the 3rd step.

Please note that there will always be some accounts as the suggestions that are shown depending on your search activity. That said, you can hide the ones desired with the above method when they show up.

Video instructions

You can also check our video:

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Wrapping Up

Deleting recent search history is a piece of cake really.

But I know it can be frustrating for the users to see the search suggestions even after clearing the search history but Instagram does that to let you connect with relevant accounts conveniently. Moreover, they have also given some degree of control to the users by providing an option to remove desired suggested profiles.

Let us know if you’re facing any issues or have any queries in the comments below and don’t forget to share the article on social media if you found it helpful.

Photo of author

Hemant Mendiratta

Hemant Mendiratta is a passionate tech blogger, avid gamer, and social media guru who keenly monitors useful apps and gadgets. He is the ideator of our Instagram tool StoryHoot which allows watching Instagram stories anonymously. You can connect with him on: Facebook, Twitter.

29 thoughts on “How To Clear Instagram Search Suggestions And History: Reset Search Autofill To Make It Less Cluttered!”

  1. Whenever I type a letter in search bar irrelevant accounts are being suggested in the section …. Where I am unable to control or delete those suggestions…
    Someone help me out to get rid of it

    Reply
  2. My problem is that when I click on search icon and before I tap on the search bar on top, it immediately shows a bunch of fitness models that I never searched for! even thou I cleared search history….these profile icons pop up every time I click search….how can I erase or replace these?

    Reply
    • Hi guys
      What was the answer to the above question?
      Can’t see the answers/reply.
      I’m getting the same problem.
      Thanks

      Reply
  3. I have the same problem too. Whenever I type an alphabet the list of users I have visited before appear and I cannot delete those. Does anyone have a solution for that?

    Reply
  4. I’ve done this – including log out, clearing all cache and app data. It worked for a while – until after a day or so, the people I don’t wanna see anymore keep reappearing in ‘recent’ list when I type the first or 2 first letters (for instance : when I type P or A). Does anypne also experiencing this? Are there any alternative solution to this?

    Reply
  5. Instagram also keeps previously searched people in their database. Often I try tag someone in a post and the suggestions that come up are from people I have long since removed from history. Very annoying

    Reply
  6. Hello. I’m having a problem clearing my recent searches on Instagram. I’ve tried everything from clearing the history, logging out and even deleting and reinstalling the app but it keeps coming back. Any clue on why this would happen? It seems to clear when I hit clear search history but then if I leave the app and come back its there again.

    Reply
  7. This is great!! Thank you, especially for the”HIDE: button, I had no clue it existed. Now I don’t have to see that “profile” I had been stalking.

    Reply
      • Hi Hemant. When I tap and hold on a “recent” search nothing happens. It works for “suggested”but not for recent. Very frustrating. Have you ever heard of this? I have deleted the app and re-installed. When I use “Clear Search History” all the recents go away….until I re-open the app then there they are again. And the list that I see is not always the same!

        Reply

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