How to Turn Off Google Trending Searches on Any Device

Tan Siew Ann

Sep 22, 20234 min read
get rid of trending searches
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Learn how to turn off trending searches on Google on:

Jump to the relevant section based on your device type. So you don’t have to see search suggestions like these anymore:

Search suggestions in Google

Note: Our instructions refer to the Google homepage as “google.com.” But feel free to navigate to your localized version. And know that you’ll need to repeat these steps to turn off trending searches on multiple devices and browsers.

Turning off trending searches on an Android device (like a Google Pixel smartphone or Samsung Galaxy tablet) involves adjusting your Google settings on your device’s browser.

Here’s how to do it for the Chrome and Firefox browsers. And these instructions should also work for other browsers like Brave.

If You Use Chrome on Android

1. Launch the Chrome browser on your Android device and navigate to google.com

2. Click the hamburger icon at the top left corner of the Google homepage

Google homepage with the hamburger icon highlighted in purple

3. Select “Search settings” in the left sidebar that appears

Google “Search settings” button highlighted in purple

4. Tap “Other settings” at the top of the search settings page

Google “Other settings” button highlighted in purple

5. Scroll down until you see the “Auto-complete with trending searches” switch, then disable it

“Auto-complete with trending searches” switch highlighted in purple

Google will save your changes automatically.

If You Use Firefox on Android

1. Open the Firefox browser on your Android device and navigate to google.com

2. Click “Settings” at the bottom of the Google homepage

“Settings” at the bottom of the Google homepage

3. Scroll down until you see the “Auto-complete with trending searches” section, then select the “Do not show popular searches” option

“Auto-complete with trending searches” section

4. Scroll to the bottom of the screen, then click “Save” to save your changes

Here’s how to turn off Google trending searches on Windows 10, macOS Ventura, or an iPad.

We’ve checked these instructions for the Chrome, Firefox, and Safari browsers. They should also work on other browsers.

1. Open your browser on your device and navigate to google.com

2. Click “Settings” at the bottom right of the Google homepage, followed by “Search settings

Google “Settings”

3. Select “Other settings” in the left sidebar on the search settings page

"Other settings" button highlighted in Google “Search settings”

4. Scroll down until you see the “Auto-complete with trending searches” switch, then disable it

“Auto-complete with trending searches” switch

Google will save your changes automatically.

Now, here’s how to turn off trending searches on an iPhone.

We’ve checked these instructions for the Chrome, Firefox, and Safari apps for iOS. But they should also work on other internet browsers.

1. Open your browser app on your Apple iOS device and navigate to google.com

2. Click the hamburger icon at the top left corner of the Google homepage

Google homepage with the hamburger icon highlighted in purple

3. Select “Search settings” in the left sidebar that appears

Google “Search settings” button highlighted in purple

4. Tap “Other settings” at the top of the search settings page

Google “Other settings” button highlighted in purple

5. Scroll down until you see the “Auto-complete with trending searches” switch. Disable it.

“Auto-complete with trending searches” switch highlighted in purple

Google will save your changes automatically.

If you’re accessing Google via your device’s Google app, here’s how you can turn off trending searches for it.

1. Open the Google app

2. Tap the profile picture, initials, or icon at the top right of the app. (What you’ll see here depends on whether you’re signed in to a Google account. And if you are, whether the account has a profile picture set up.)

Profile picture highlighted in Google app

3. Tap “Settings

"Settings" button in Google app

4. Tap “General” from the “Settings” screen

"General" settings for Apple iOS devices
"General" settings for Android devices

5. Tap “Autocomplete settings.” This step applies only if you are an Android device user. If you are using an Apple iOS device, skip to the next step.

"Autocomplete settings” for Android devices

6. Disable the “Autocomplete with trending searches” switch

“Autocomplete with trending searches” switch for Apple iOS devices
“Autocomplete with trending searches” switch for Android devices

If you’ve double-checked that you’ve followed the steps above correctly but Google is still showing trending searches, try these solutions:

Solution 1: Restart Your Browser

The changes you’ve made to your trending search settings should take effect immediately. But if it seems like they haven’t, restarting your browser can help Google apply your new setting.

Close your browser and wait a few seconds. Then, open your browser again.

Navigate to google.com. Then click the search bar to see whether any trending searches appear there.

Solution 2: Update Your Browser or Google App

Sometimes, a bug can cause trending searches to appear. Even if you’ve already turned them off.

And that bug may have been fixed in a newer version of your browser or Google app. So, try updating which one you’re using.

Visit these guides for instructions on updating your browsers:

And you can check for any available app updates on your mobile device’s app store. Meaning the Google Play Store for Android devices and the App Store for Apple devices.

Take Control of Your Google Search Experience

Now, you can enjoy your cleaner Google interface once you’ve turned off trending searches.

But if you’re a marketer, you may want to re-enable them.

Why?

Because it helps you track the latest events and topics, which you can further explore using Google Trends. Or Topic Research—a tool that makes it easy to instantly get dozens of ideas for new blog or social posts based on a broad topic.

Like this:

"Content Ideas" tab in Topic Research tool

So, don’t worry if you change your mind about turning off trending searches on Google.

Viewing them again is as easy as undoing the steps you’ve taken above.

Trending searches are search queries that are currently more popular than usual.

They look like this:

"Trending searches" section in Google

Trending searches often relate to the latest news and happenings near your location. And they change frequently.

Google showcases trending searches to suggest search queries users might be interested in.

They give users inspiration on what to search for. Which can boost how much use Google gets.

You can disable trending searches on Google if they distract from your search experience. 

Remember: Disabling isn’t permanent, and you can always undo it later. 

But disabling trending searches means losing one source of trending news.

You can temporarily remove trending searches on Google by disabling the “Auto-complete with trending searches” switch in your device’s browser or Google app.

To re-enable trending searches, simply turn that switch on again.

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Siew Ann draws on her five years of SEO and email marketing experience to write creative, well-researched content for B2B SaaS businesses. Her articles have ranked on the first page of Google and as high as #1.
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