How to delete your digital footprint in 5 steps

I deleted my entire digital footprint.

You can too.

Here’s how I did it:

— Patrick’s AIBuzzNews (@AIBuzzNews) October 24, 2025

Here is a list of steps involved in safely going offline. 

Erase your traces

The post begins with the most important step, which is clearing your Google activity. The OP asks users to visit myactivity.google.com and sign in to their Google account. Once signed in, they will find every action that they have ever taken across Google services, from Maps searches to YouTube videos and image searches. 

To remove this data, you will have to click the ‘Delete activity by’ option on the top left corner. This will open a box named ‘Delete Activity’ with options such as ‘Last Hour’, ‘Last Day’, ‘All Time’, and ‘Custom Range’. Clicking on ‘All Time’ will reveal the list of applications or Google products used, and users can tick the appropriate app and proceed. Similarly, in the Custom Range, a user can select specific dates of the period for which they want to clear activity. Users can also filter by Google products such as Maps, Search, or YouTube before confirming deletion. Remember, this is the foundation to erasing your digital traces across devices. 

My Google Activity page gives you a glimpse of your online activity.

Go invisible

The X user shared that to truly disappear, you would need to disable their browsing and search history from being saved. To do this, head to the Activity Control section in the top left, and turn off Web and App Activity, Location History, and YouTube History. This would prevent Google from tracking a user’s future actions, essentially keeping the invisible in its ecosystem. 

Data and Privacy section allows you to have greater control.

Patrick has described this as just ‘one option away’, but it’s a powerful one. According to the thread, once off, Google stops monitoring where a user goes, what they search, and what they watch. 

Stay private

Now that you have cleared old data, you should effectively prevent new data from being collected. The AI influencer recommends disabling activity tracking altogether. To do this, head to Google Account settings and then Data & Privacy, and toggle off all activity tracking options. This will ensure that your web and app usage, location data, and YouTube history are not logged in the background.  

Automate privacy

If you wonder if you’d have to repeat these steps every few months, do not worry; you can easily set up auto-deletion. 

Visit myactivity.google.com/auto-delete, and select from Web & App Activity, Timeline, and YouTube History. Once you select the category, look for the Auto-delete option that will allow you to choose to automatically delete activity older than three, 18, or 36 months. This feature will keep your account continuously clean without manually repeating all the steps. According to Patrick, this is what is known as ‘automating privacy’.

Automate privacy.

Schedule auto deletion.

Secure your connection

According to Patrick, a clean account means nothing unless your connection is private. He recommends a combination of a virtual private network (VPN) with a privacy-focused browser or search engine. 

Along with a VPN, one can use privacy-first search engines like DuckDuckGo, Brave Search or Startpage. When it comes to privacy-focused browsers, DuckDuckGo, Tor Browser, and Firefox (with privacy settings enabled). 

Along with these measures, it is wise to change passwords every three to six months. While this seems basic, it is a crucial defence against hackers. 

Remember, deleting your digital footprint is not merely just going off the grid; it has more to do with reclaiming control. While deleting years of data can be liberating, the real challenge is staying private afterward.

Digital privacy is not a one-time task; it is indeed a lifelong habit. With tech platforms evolving and data laws changing, staying invisible online will always be a sought-after target. Also, small actions like cleaning up old accounts, reviewing app permissions, and using privacy-first tools can be helpful in protecting your identity. View this as routine maintenance for your online self – a reminder that safeguarding your digital life is just as essential as protecting your real one.