How to Delete Your Amazon History: A Complete Guide to Protecting Your Privacy

Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, keeps a detailed record of your browsing and purchase history. While this data helps Amazon personalize recommendations and streamline future shopping, it also raises privacy concerns for many users. Whether you’re worried about targeted advertising, want to keep your gift purchases a secret, or simply prefer a clean slate, understanding how to delete your Amazon history is crucial. This comprehensive guide will walk you through every step, ensuring you can manage your data effectively and reclaim some control over your privacy.

Why Delete Your Amazon History?

Before diving into the ‘how,’ let’s explore why you might want to delete your Amazon history:

• Privacy Concerns: Your browsing and purchase history reveals a lot about your interests, needs, and spending habits. This information could be used in ways you don’t approve of, including targeted advertising or even profiling.
• Personalized Advertising: While personalization can be helpful, sometimes you just want a break from ads based on past searches. Deleting your history can help reset the algorithm and reduce these ads.
• Gift Surprises: If you’re buying a gift for someone who uses the same account, they might stumble upon it in your order history, spoiling the surprise.
• Cluttered Order History: Over time, your order history can become quite extensive. Removing older orders can help declutter your account and make it easier to find recent purchases.
• Sharing Your Account: If you share an Amazon account with family or friends, you might not want them to see everything you’ve purchased or browsed.
• Data Management: Some users simply prefer to keep their digital footprint minimal and actively manage the data they accumulate online.

What Types of Amazon History Can You Delete?

Amazon tracks several types of activities. Understanding what you can delete is crucial for effectively managing your history. Here’s a breakdown:

• Browsing History: This includes the items you’ve viewed on Amazon, even if you didn’t add them to your cart or buy them.
• Order History: This includes all your past purchases on Amazon.
• Search History: This tracks the terms and phrases you’ve searched for on Amazon.
• Viewing History on Prime Video: If you use Amazon Prime Video, this history tracks the movies and TV shows you’ve watched.
• Alexa History: If you use an Alexa-enabled device, Amazon keeps a record of your voice interactions.
• Amazon Devices History: This encompasses data related to devices connected to your Amazon account, like Kindle e-readers.

How to Delete Your Amazon Browsing History

Your browsing history is perhaps the easiest to clear. Here’s how to do it on both the desktop website and the Amazon mobile app:

On the Desktop Website:

1. Go to Amazon Website: Open your web browser and navigate to www.amazon.com.
2. Sign In: Log in to your Amazon account if you haven’t already.
3. Hover over Account & Lists: At the top right of the page, hover your cursor over “Account & Lists”.
4. Click on ‘Your Browsing History’: In the dropdown menu, select “Your Browsing History”.
5. View or Delete Items: You will see a list of your recent browsing history. You have a few options:
   • Delete Individual Items: Click the “Remove from view” button below the item you want to remove.
   • Remove All Items: Click the “Manage History” button on the right side. This will open a new page with more options. Click on “Remove all items from view” button.
   • Turn Off Browsing History: On the same page (Manage History) you can also toggle the “Turn Browsing History On/Off” switch to off. If you turn it off no new browsing history will be tracked.
6. Confirmation: Amazon may ask you to confirm your choice before deleting the history. Confirm to proceed.

On the Amazon Mobile App (iOS and Android):

1. Open the Amazon App: Launch the Amazon app on your mobile device.
2. Tap the Menu: Tap the three horizontal lines (hamburger menu) located at the bottom of the screen (on iOS) or at the top left (on Android).
3. Tap ‘Your Account’: Tap on “Your Account”.
4. Scroll Down and Tap ‘Your Browsing History’: Scroll down until you find “Personalized content” and tap “Your Browsing History”.
5. Manage Your History:
   • Delete Individual Items: Tap the “Remove from view” below the item you want to remove.
   • Remove All Items: Tap the “Manage” button in the upper right. Then, tap on “Remove all items from view”.
   • Turn Off Browsing History: On the same page, toggle the “Turn Browsing History On/Off” switch to off.
6. Confirm: Confirm your choice if prompted.

How to Delete Your Amazon Order History

While you can’t permanently delete your Amazon order history, you can archive orders to make them less visible. Archived orders are not removed from Amazon’s servers but are moved to a separate section, making your main order history cleaner.

On the Desktop Website:

1. Go to Amazon Website: Open your web browser and navigate to www.amazon.com.
2. Sign In: Log in to your Amazon account if you haven’t already.
3. Hover over Account & Lists: At the top right of the page, hover your cursor over “Account & Lists”.
4. Click on ‘Your Orders’: In the dropdown menu, select “Your Orders”.
5. Find the Order You Want to Archive: Locate the order you want to hide from your main order list.
6. Click on ‘Archive Order’: Below the order details, click on the “Archive Order” button.
7. Confirmation: Amazon may ask you to confirm your choice. Confirm to proceed.

On the Amazon Mobile App (iOS and Android):

1. Open the Amazon App: Launch the Amazon app on your mobile device.
2. Tap the Menu: Tap the three horizontal lines (hamburger menu) located at the bottom of the screen (on iOS) or at the top left (on Android).
3. Tap ‘Your Orders’: Tap on “Your Orders”.
4. Find the Order You Want to Archive: Locate the order you want to archive.
5. Tap the Order: Tap on the order to view the order details
6. Tap on ‘Archive Order’: Scroll down to the bottom and tap the “Archive Order” button.
7. Confirm: Confirm your choice if prompted.

How to View Archived Orders:

You can view your archived orders on the website:

1. Go to Amazon Website: Open your web browser and navigate to www.amazon.com.
2. Sign In: Log in to your Amazon account if you haven’t already.
3. Hover over Account & Lists: At the top right of the page, hover your cursor over “Account & Lists”.
4. Click on ‘Your Orders’: In the dropdown menu, select “Your Orders”.
5. Click on ‘Archived Orders’: Above your regular order history list you will see a dropdown filter, click that and select “Archived Orders”.
6. View Your Archived Orders: You will now see the list of your archived orders.

Note: There is currently no way to view archived orders through the Amazon app. You must use the website for that purpose.

How to Delete Your Amazon Search History

Deleting your Amazon search history can help reduce targeted ads and provide a clean slate for future searches. Here’s how to clear it:

On the Desktop Website:

1. Go to Amazon Website: Open your web browser and navigate to www.amazon.com.
2. Sign In: Log in to your Amazon account if you haven’t already.
3. Click on the Search Bar: Click on the search bar at the top of the page to make the drop-down history visible.
4. Remove Individual Items: Hover over each search item. You will see a “Remove” button to the right of it. Click that button to remove a specific search item.
5. There is no way to clear all search history at once: Unlike browsing history, you must manually remove each search term one at a time.

On the Amazon Mobile App (iOS and Android):

1. Open the Amazon App: Launch the Amazon app on your mobile device.
2. Tap the Search Bar: Tap on the search bar to bring up the drop-down menu of previous searches.
3. Remove Individual Items: Tap and hold on a search item. You should see the “Remove” option, tap that to remove a specific search item.
4. There is no way to clear all search history at once: Like the desktop version, you must manually remove each search item one at a time.

How to Delete Your Prime Video Viewing History

If you use Amazon Prime Video, you might want to clear your viewing history. Here’s how:

On the Desktop Website:

1. Go to the Prime Video Website: Open your web browser and navigate to www.primevideo.com.
2. Sign In: Log in to your Amazon account if you haven’t already.
3. Hover over Your Profile: In the top right of the page hover over the profile icon.
4. Click on ‘Account & Settings’: In the dropdown menu, select “Account & Settings”.
5. Click on ‘Viewing History’: On the next page, click on the “Viewing History” option located at the top of the page.
6. Delete Items Individually: Find the show you want to remove from your history and click the “Hide this” button for the specific video.
7. There is no way to remove the whole history at once: You must remove videos one at a time.

On the Amazon Mobile App (iOS and Android):

1. Open the Amazon App: Launch the Amazon app on your mobile device.
2. Tap the Menu: Tap the three horizontal lines (hamburger menu) located at the bottom of the screen (on iOS) or at the top left (on Android).
3. Tap on ‘Prime Video’: Tap the “Prime Video” option.
4. Tap on ‘My Stuff’: In the lower right corner, tap on “My Stuff”.
5. Tap on ‘Watch History’: Tap on the “Watch History” option.
6. Delete Items Individually: Find the show you want to remove and tap the ellipsis (…) next to the title. Select “Hide from Watch History”.
7. There is no way to remove the whole history at once: You must remove videos one at a time.

How to Delete Your Alexa History

If you have an Alexa-enabled device, Amazon records your voice interactions. You can manage and delete this history:

Using the Alexa App (iOS and Android):

1. Open the Alexa App: Launch the Alexa app on your mobile device.
2. Tap ‘More’: Tap the three horizontal lines at the bottom right of the screen.
3. Tap ‘Settings’: Select “Settings”.
4. Tap ‘Alexa Privacy’: Find the “Alexa Privacy” section and tap it.
5. Tap ‘Review Voice History’: Select “Review Voice History”.
6. Delete Options:
   • Delete Specific Recordings: Tap the individual entry you wish to delete. Then tap on the “Delete Recording” button.
   • Delete by Date Range: Use the dropdown menu at the top to choose a specific date range. Tap on the “Delete all recordings for [chosen date]” or choose to delete from a “Custom range”.

On the Amazon Website:

1. Go to Amazon Website: Open your web browser and navigate to www.amazon.com.
2. Sign In: Log in to your Amazon account if you haven’t already.
3. Hover over Account & Lists: At the top right of the page, hover your cursor over “Account & Lists”.
4. Click on ‘Your Account’: In the dropdown menu, select “Your Account”.
5. Scroll Down: Scroll down until you find “Personalized content”.
6. Click ‘Manage Your Content and Devices’: Click on “Manage Your Content and Devices”.
7. Click ‘Privacy’: Click on the “Privacy” tab at the top.
8. Click on ‘Alexa Privacy’: Click on “Alexa Privacy”.
9. Click on “Review Voice History”: Click on “Review Voice History”.
10. Delete Options:
    • Delete Specific Recordings: Tap the individual entry you wish to delete. Then tap on the “Delete Recording” button.
    • Delete by Date Range: Use the dropdown menu at the top to choose a specific date range. Tap on the “Delete all recordings for [chosen date]” or choose to delete from a “Custom range”.

How to Delete Amazon Device History

Amazon keeps track of the devices connected to your account. This can be useful for managing your devices but might raise privacy concerns. Here’s how to manage and remove device information:

On the Desktop Website:

1. Go to Amazon Website: Open your web browser and navigate to www.amazon.com.
2. Sign In: Log in to your Amazon account if you haven’t already.
3. Hover over Account & Lists: At the top right of the page, hover your cursor over “Account & Lists”.
4. Click on ‘Your Account’: In the dropdown menu, select “Your Account”.
5. Scroll Down: Scroll down until you find “Personalized content”.
6. Click ‘Manage Your Content and Devices’: Click on “Manage Your Content and Devices”.
7. Click on ‘Devices’: Click on the “Devices” tab.
8. Deregister Devices: Select the device you wish to remove, and tap the “Deregister” button. This action will remove the device from your account.

Note: Deregistering a device does not delete any of its previously collected data. However, it will not be registered under your Amazon account and no new data associated with that device will be tracked by your account.

Note: There is currently no way to delete Amazon device history via the app, it has to be done through the web page.

Tips for Managing Your Amazon Privacy

• Regularly Review Your History: Make it a habit to check your Amazon history periodically and clear or archive items you no longer need.
• Turn Off Browsing History: If you don’t want Amazon to track your browsing, turn off browsing history tracking.
• Use a Separate Account: For purchases you want to keep very private, consider using a separate Amazon account.
• Opt-Out of Personalized Ads: In your Amazon account settings, you can opt-out of personalized advertising based on your browsing and purchase history.
• Be Mindful of Alexa Usage: If you use Alexa, be aware that it’s recording your interactions and adjust your privacy settings accordingly.
• Use a Privacy Focused Browser: Consider using a privacy-focused browser with enhanced protection.

Conclusion

Deleting your Amazon history is a crucial step in taking control of your privacy online. While some data might not be completely deleted, understanding the various types of history and how to manage them can significantly enhance your online privacy. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can minimize the amount of data Amazon collects about you and enjoy a more private and secure online shopping experience. Remember to regularly review your settings and be proactive in managing your digital footprint.