Removing personal information from search results works best when you delete or correct the source first, then update Google, Bing, and other indexes.
Start With the Source, Not the Search Result
Finding your home address, phone number, email address, old photos, or other personal information in a search engine can be alarming. In many cases, however, you can remove the information or make it considerably harder to find.
The key is understanding that a search result and the webpage behind it are two different things.
A website publishes or stores the information. Google, Bing, and other search services index that page and make it easier to discover. Removing a Google result therefore does not usually remove the underlying information from the internet.
For the most effective cleanup, deal with both layers:
- Remove, correct, or restrict the information at the original source.
- Ask search engines to remove or update the result when necessary.
Choose the Right Removal Method
Before submitting forms, identify which situation applies.
| What you found | Best first action |
|---|---|
| Personal information still appears on a webpage | Ask the website to remove or correct it |
| Information is on a people-search or data-broker site | Use the site’s opt-out or deletion process |
| Sensitive information qualifies under Google or Bing policies | Submit a search-engine removal request |
| The webpage was deleted but an old result remains | Request an outdated-content refresh |
| The webpage changed but the old search snippet remains | Ask the search engine to refresh its index |
| Information is inaccurate | Correct it at the source first |
| A news article or public record appears in results | Check whether privacy, delisting, sealing, or correction rights apply |
| The page is yours | Delete, restrict, or mark it so search engines no longer index it |
This distinction saves time. An outdated-content form, for example, will not normally solve a problem when the sensitive information is still visible on the live page.
Understand Removal, Delisting, and De-Indexing
Several terms are used for search-result removal, and they do not mean the same thing.
- Source removal: The information is deleted from the website that published it.
- De-indexing: A search engine removes the page from its searchable index, so it does not appear for ordinary searches.
- Delisting or query-based removal: The page remains indexed but stops appearing for particular searches, often searches for a person’s name.
- Outdated-content refresh: The source has already changed or disappeared, and the search engine updates its stored result, snippet, or index.
Google, for example, says an approved personal-information request may result in either full removal from Search or partial removal that prevents the result from appearing for searches containing your name or another identifier.
That is why getting a result removed from your name search does not necessarily mean the page is gone.
Find Out Where Your Personal Information Appears
Start by creating an inventory of what is publicly visible.
Search for several variations of your identity, such as:
"First Last""First Middle Last"- Your name plus your city
- Your name plus your employer or profession
- Your phone number
- Your email address
- Your common usernames
- Your name plus an old address
Check both normal web results and image results.
Repeat important searches on Google and Bing because search engines maintain separate indexes. Removing something from Google does not automatically remove it from Bing or other services.
For each unwanted result, record:
- The website
- The exact page URL
- The information exposed
- Whether the source still contains it
- The removal method used
- The date you submitted the request
- The current status
A simple spreadsheet can prevent a large privacy cleanup from becoming difficult to track.
Do not deliberately search for extremely sensitive information such as complete government identification numbers, passwords, passport numbers, or financial account numbers merely to check whether they appear. If you already know that information has been exposed, treat the exposure as a security problem as well as a search-result problem.
Remove Personal Information From the Original Website
Removing information at its source is usually the strongest solution.
Google specifically recommends source removal because Google can remove a result from Search but cannot delete content from a third-party website.
If You Control the Page
Remove the information yourself or change the page’s privacy settings.
Common sources include:
- Social media profiles
- Old forum posts
- Personal blogs
- Portfolio websites
- Marketplace profiles
- Community accounts
- Public profile pages
- Business listings you created
You do not always need to delete the entire page. If you want the profile to remain public, remove unnecessary details such as your personal phone number, home address, birth date, or private email address.
Where appropriate, use dedicated business contact details instead.
If you own a website and want a page removed from search engines while keeping other content online, website-level controls such as noindex, proper deletion responses, and webmaster removal tools may be more appropriate than a personal-information request.
If Someone Else Controls the Website
Contact the website owner, administrator, support team, or privacy contact.
A strong request should identify:
- The exact URL
- The specific personal information
- Where it appears on the page
- What you want removed or corrected
- Why the request is justified
- Any applicable privacy, safety, or legal reason
Keep the request specific. “Please remove my home address from this page” is easier to process than “delete everything about me from your website.”
If the information is incorrect, include evidence showing what is wrong and what the correct information should be.
Remove Yourself From People-Search and Data-Broker Sites
People-search websites can make addresses, phone numbers, relatives, age information, property records, and other personal details easy to find.
These services often assemble information from public records, public social media profiles, commercial databases, and other data brokers.
Most major people-search sites provide an opt-out process. A typical removal involves:
- Finding your profile.
- Copying the profile URL.
- Opening the site’s privacy, suppression, or opt-out page.
- Submitting a removal request.
- Completing any required identity verification.
- Confirming the request by email if necessary.
- Checking later to make sure the profile was removed.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission notes that people can generally handle these opt-outs themselves for free or pay a service to perform them. It also warns that information can reappear after public records change or new information is collected.
Provide only the information reasonably needed to verify that the record belongs to you. Avoid giving a data broker additional sensitive information unless it is genuinely required.
California’s DROP System
California residents have an additional option through the state’s Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, or DROP.
DROP allows an eligible California resident to submit one request covering more than 600 registered data brokers. Data brokers began processing DROP requests on August 1, 2026, and must access the system at least once every 45 days to process deletion requests.
The continuing 45-day cycle is important because personal information can otherwise return when brokers obtain new data.
Removing a data-broker profile can also make its corresponding Google or Bing result disappear once search indexes update.
How to Remove Personal Information From Google
Google maintains global removal policies for several categories of sensitive personal information.
You can request removal of qualifying results containing information such as:
- Your home address
- Your phone number
- Your email address
- Confidential government identification numbers
- Bank account or credit card numbers
- Images of signatures or identification documents
- Private medical records
- Confidential usernames and passwords
- Certain doxxing information
Google also has separate processes for personal sexual content, images of minors, and content published by sites using certain exploitative removal practices.
Use Google’s Results About You
Google’s Results about you feature can help you find and manage search results containing personal information.
Depending on availability and the type of information involved, it can help you:
- Find results containing personal contact details
- Submit removal requests
- Track existing requests
- Receive notifications about newly detected results
Availability and individual features can vary by country, account, and type of information.
You can also submit a personal-content removal request directly through Google’s removal process when you already know the URL you want reviewed.
Google Can Refuse a Removal Request
Removal is not automatic.
Google considers public-interest factors when reviewing requests. Information may remain searchable when there is a strong reason for public access, such as certain material published by:
- News organizations
- Government bodies
- Educational institutions
- Other sources with a legitimate public-interest role
An unwanted or embarrassing result is therefore not automatically a removable result.
How to Remove Personal Information From Bing and Copilot
Bing operates separately from Google, so a Google removal does not automatically affect Microsoft’s index.
If you do not own the website and the information is still live, Microsoft generally directs you to contact the website owner first. If the source has already been deleted or updated but Bing still shows the old result, its Content Removal Tool can be used to request an update. Microsoft’s current webmaster guidance also covers Copilot experiences that rely on Bing’s index.
If you control the site, permanent options can include:
- Deleting the page
- Returning a
404 Not Foundor410 Goneresponse - Applying a
noindexdirective - Using Bing Webmaster Tools
- Notifying Bing of changes through IndexNow
Bing also provides legal and privacy-related processes in jurisdictions where applicable, including a specific mechanism for qualifying European name-search removal requests.
Remove Old Google or Bing Results After the Source Changes
Sometimes the website has already removed your personal information, but the old result remains visible.
That is usually an indexing problem rather than a source-removal problem.
Google’s Refresh Outdated Content tool is designed for pages or images you do not own when they have disappeared or changed significantly but Google still shows outdated information.
Do not use it when the sensitive information remains on the live page.
If you own the website, use Google Search Console tools and normal recrawling or removal methods instead.
Bing
If a page has been deleted or updated but Bing or Copilot still displays the old version, Microsoft’s Content Removal Tool can request removal or a refresh.
This gives you a simple rule:
If the information is still on the webpage, fix the source. If the source is already fixed, update the search engine.
What to Do If Highly Sensitive Information Is Exposed
Removing a search result may reduce exposure, but it does not reverse a security compromise.
Take additional action when exposed information includes:
- Passwords
- Bank or payment details
- Government identification numbers
- Tax or Social Security numbers
- Passport or driver’s license details
- Authentication credentials
Depending on what was exposed, you may need to:
- Change compromised passwords immediately
- Enable multi-factor authentication
- Contact your bank or card issuer
- Replace compromised identity documents
- Watch financial accounts and credit reports
- Freeze or restrict credit where available
- Report suspected identity theft to the appropriate national authority
In the United States, for example, IdentityTheft.gov recommends credit monitoring and freezes when sensitive identifying information has been lost or exposed.
Search-result removal should be treated as one part of the response, not the entire solution.
Know Your Privacy and Delisting Rights
The legal options available to you depend heavily on where you live and where the organization processing your information operates.
United States
The United States does not have a nationwide general right to be forgotten equivalent to the European Union’s framework.
People typically rely on:
- Search-engine removal policies
- Website deletion or correction processes
- People-search opt-outs
- State privacy laws
- Court or government procedures where records can legally be sealed or restricted
Some state privacy laws provide deletion rights against covered businesses, although exceptions can apply.
California’s DROP system is particularly useful for data-broker removal, but it does not automatically delete Google or Bing results and does not erase underlying government records.
United Kingdom
UK data-protection law allows people, in some circumstances, to ask search engines to remove results containing their personal data from searches for their name.
Search providers must consider factors such as:
- Whether the information disproportionately affects privacy
- Whether it creates risks such as identity theft or stalking
- Whether it concerns private or professional life
- Whether the person has a public role
- Whether the information was published journalistically
- Whether the publisher has a legal duty to make it public
- The public interest in retaining access
Delisting does not delete the underlying webpage.
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office notes that its search-result guidance is being reviewed following changes introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act.
European Union and European Economic Area
Article 17 of the GDPR establishes the right to erasure, commonly called the right to be forgotten, in qualifying circumstances.
Possible grounds include situations where:
- The information is no longer necessary
- Consent has been withdrawn and no other legal basis applies
- The person successfully objects to processing
- The data has been processed unlawfully
- Erasure is required by law
The right is not absolute. Exceptions can apply for freedom of expression and information, legal obligations, public-interest functions, research, archiving, and legal claims.
European search-engine delisting can also focus specifically on results appearing when someone searches for an individual’s name.
Australia
Australia does not currently have a general federal right to erasure equivalent to GDPR Article 17.
Australians do have important rights under the Privacy Act and Australian Privacy Principles.
APP 13 requires covered entities to take reasonable steps to correct personal information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant, or misleading.
APP 11.2 requires covered entities to take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify personal information when it is no longer needed for a permitted purpose, subject to exceptions such as legal record-retention requirements.
For many Australians, the practical approach remains source removal or correction, search-engine policy requests, and privacy complaints where applicable.
Canada
Canada’s position on search-result delisting has developed significantly.
In 2025, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada concluded that Canada’s federal private-sector privacy law, PIPEDA, can require name-based delisting in limited circumstances where serious harm to an individual outweighs the public interest in keeping the result associated with that person’s name.
The case concerned old news reports linked to a person’s name. The Commissioner recommended that Google delist the articles from name searches while leaving the original articles available online and discoverable through other queries.
Google declined to implement the recommendation, so the case should not be interpreted as creating a simple or automatic Canadian right to have unwanted results erased.
Quebec
Quebec provides more explicit rights.
Section 28.1 of Quebec’s private-sector privacy law can allow a person, when statutory conditions are met, to seek cessation of dissemination or de-indexing of a hyperlink associated with their name.
Among the relevant considerations are serious harm to privacy or reputation and whether that harm clearly outweighs the public’s interest in the information and freedom of expression.
What Personal Information Is Hardest to Remove?
Some information is considerably harder to remove because there may be a legitimate public interest or legal obligation to keep it accessible.
Examples include:
- News reports
- Court records
- Government records
- Regulatory decisions
- Professional disciplinary information
- Company-director information
- Material required by law to remain public
- Historically significant information
A removal case is generally stronger when information is highly sensitive, inaccurate, seriously outdated, unlawfully published, or disproportionately harmful without a strong continuing public interest.
It is generally weaker when removal would conceal information that the public has a legitimate reason to access.
What If the Information About You Is Wrong?
Incorrect information should usually be corrected at its source.
Contact the publisher or organization and specify:
- The statement that is wrong
- The correct information
- Where the error appears
- Evidence supporting the correction
Privacy laws in many jurisdictions also provide formal rights to correction.
Australia’s APP 13, for example, covers information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant, or misleading.
After the source is corrected, request a search-engine refresh if the old wording continues appearing in results or snippets.
Do Not Confuse Search History With Search Results
Deleting your Google or Bing search history will not remove public information about you from search engines.
Search history records searches made through your account or device.
Search results are pages and other resources indexed from the web.
Deleting stored Google Search activity changes what is saved to your Google account. It does not delete a third-party webpage or remove that webpage from Google’s public search index.
Be Careful With Paid Personal-Information Removal Services
Privacy services can automate repetitive people-search and data-broker opt-outs, but paying for one is not always necessary.
Many opt-outs can be completed directly for free.
Before subscribing to a removal service, check:
- Which data brokers and people-search sites it covers
- Whether it provides evidence of completed removals
- How often it checks for returning information
- Whether ongoing monitoring is included
- What personal information the service requires from you
- How that information is stored and protected
- Whether you can perform the same removals yourself
The FTC specifically recommends checking how many sites a paid service covers, whether it reports completed removals, and how frequently it looks for information that has returned.
Be especially cautious of websites that publish embarrassing or sensitive information and then demand payment to remove it. Search engines maintain policies for certain exploitative removal practices.
How to Make a Strong Personal-Information Removal Request
Whether you are contacting a publisher, data broker, or search engine, precise requests are more useful than broad demands.
Include the following where relevant:
- Exact URL: Link directly to the page, not only the site’s homepage.
- Exact information: Identify the address, phone number, photograph, ID number, or other data.
- Location on the page: Explain where the information appears.
- Reason for removal: State whether the issue involves privacy, safety, inaccuracy, outdated information, doxxing, or another applicable policy.
- Supporting evidence: Provide only what is reasonably required.
- Screenshots: Include them when requested, while cropping unrelated sensitive information where possible.
- Previous action: Mention if the publisher has already removed or corrected the information.
Keep records of submissions, confirmation messages, and decisions.
If a request is rejected, read the reason carefully. You may have used the wrong removal route, submitted the wrong URL, failed to show that information has changed, or need to approach the publisher or a privacy regulator instead.
Reduce the Chances of Your Information Returning
Removing personal information online is rarely a permanent one-time task.
Information can return when:
- A data broker refreshes its records
- Another website republishes the information
- A social media profile becomes public
- A public record changes
- A new account becomes linked to an old username or email address
After your initial cleanup:
- Make personal social media accounts private where appropriate.
- Remove unnecessary addresses and phone numbers from public profiles.
- Use different public-facing and private email addresses.
- Avoid reusing usernames when you do not want accounts linked together.
- Opt out of major people-search databases.
- Correct inaccurate public records where possible.
- Periodically search your name, phone number, email address, and usernames.
- Use Google’s Results about you monitoring where available.
- Recheck sites that previously exposed your information.
The realistic goal is not necessarily to become invisible online. For most people, that is impossible.
The better goal is to remove high-risk information and make unnecessary personal details significantly harder to discover.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Completely Remove My Name From Google?
Usually not.
You can remove qualifying results and delete information from websites you control, but Google does not provide a general mechanism for erasing every legitimate reference to a person’s name.
News reports, professional information, public records, and other public-interest material may remain searchable.
Can Google Delete a Webpage About Me?
No.
Google can remove qualifying results from Google Search, but the website owner controls the original page. To remove the information from the source, contact the publisher or website owner.
How Do I Remove My Address or Phone Number From Google?
Google accepts requests involving qualifying personal contact information, including home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.
Use Results about you where available or submit a personal-information removal request directly.
What If a Website Already Deleted My Information?
If the source is gone but an old result remains, request an outdated-content refresh.
Google and Bing both provide tools for updating search results after the underlying webpage has changed or disappeared.
Does Removing Something From Google Remove It From Bing?
No.
Google and Bing maintain separate indexes and removal systems. If the original webpage remains online, the result may also appear through other search engines or services.
Can I Remove Public Records From Search Engines?
Sometimes, but not automatically.
Government agencies may be legally required to publish certain records, and search engines may consider those records to have legitimate public value.
If a public record can legally be corrected, sealed, suppressed, or restricted, start with the authority responsible for the record.
How Long Does It Take for Personal Information to Disappear From Search Results?
There is no single timetable.
Removal speed depends on whether the source has changed, how quickly search engines recrawl it, the type of removal request, and whether a manual policy or legal review is required.
Check the status of submitted requests and verify the result yourself afterward.
Remove the Source First, Then Clean Up Search Results
Removing personal information from search engines is most effective when you treat Google or Bing as the visibility layer rather than the original source of the problem.
First find the websites exposing your information. Remove or correct those records where possible. Opt out of people-search sites and data brokers. Then use Google, Bing, and applicable privacy-law procedures to remove, delist, or update remaining search results.
If highly sensitive information has been exposed, protect the affected accounts, finances, or identity documents as well.
You may not be able to remove every reference to yourself from the internet, but you can substantially reduce what strangers can learn about you — and make the information that creates the greatest privacy and security risk much harder to find.