Remove Personal Information From Google: Google Removal Request to Delete Your Info From Search
Start with the scan. It shows which sites are publishing the address, phone number and relatives that Google is surfacing under your name, so your removal requests target the right URLs instead of guessing.
No account needed. Adding a city and state is what lets us tell your record apart from everyone who shares your name.
The short answer
Google will remove your contact details from search results on request, but it cannot delete the page that publishes them.
To remove personal information from Google, file a removal request through the Results About You tool in your Google account, or the personal information removal form for anything the tool does not flag. Google reviews each URL and takes down contact details, government ID and financial account numbers, images of your ID or signature, medical records, login credentials, doxxing posts and non-consensual explicit imagery. What it will not do is delete the source page, so the data broker keeps the record and republishes it at a new URL. A removal request plus an opt-out at each site is what makes it stay gone.
Last updated July 2026. Checked against Google's published personal information removal policy.
The policy, in plain English
What Google removes from search results, and what it refuses
Almost every denied request fails for the same reason: it asks Google to take down something outside the policy. These are the categories Google publishes, and what each one means when you actually file.
| Category | What it covers | Google's answer | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact details | Your home address, phone number or email address published on a page | Removed | The single most common approved request, and the one people-search listings trigger |
| Government ID numbers | Social Security number, tax ID, passport or driver's license number | Removed | Results About You began flagging these automatically in February 2026 |
| Financial account numbers | Bank account or credit card numbers exposed on a public page | Removed | Treated as high priority alongside login credentials |
| Identity documents and signatures | Photos of an ID card, or an image of your handwritten signature | Removed | Submit the exact image URL, not just the page it sits on |
| Medical records and login credentials | Private health documentation, confidential usernames and passwords | Removed | Change the password first; removal from Search does not secure the account |
| Doxxing content | Your personal details published alongside a threat, or aggregated with malicious intent | Removed | Explain the threat in the request; context is what gets these approved |
| Explicit imagery you did not consent to | Non-consensual intimate images, and any explicit image of a minor | Removed | The February 2026 update made these requests easier to file from Google Images |
| Newsworthy and public-interest content | A news article naming you, a public official's record, professional licensing data | Usually kept | Google weighs public interest and will decline when the content is newsworthy |
| The page itself on the source website | The Spokeo, Whitepages or Radaris profile that publishes your record | Not touched | Google only edits its index. The listing stays live and keeps getting re-indexed |
One nuance worth knowing before you file: an approved removal is not always global. For contact-detail takedowns Google may drop the page only for searches that include your name, which is the search that matters, while the URL stays reachable through other queries. That is a reasonable outcome, and it is another reason to also remove the listing at the data broker publishing it.
Pick the right tool
Which Google removal request to file for your situation
Google runs several removal paths and they are not interchangeable. Filing in the wrong one is the most common reason a request sits unresolved.
| Path | Use it for | What you need | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Results About You | Finding and removing your address, phone, email or ID numbers from results | A Google account and the contact details you want monitored | Google scans continuously, alerts you to new matches, and lets you file removals in a couple of taps |
| Personal information removal request form | Anything Results About You did not catch, plus doxxing and explicit imagery | The exact URLs, plus screenshots and the search terms that surface them | A reviewed decision per URL, which you can track and appeal |
| Refresh Outdated Content | A page you already got removed or corrected that still shows the old snippet | The source page must already be deleted or changed | Google re-crawls and drops or updates the stale result |
| Opting out at the data broker | Stopping the listing from existing at all, so it cannot be re-indexed | An opt-out request per site, then a re-check when the broker relists you | The page comes down at the source, which is the only permanent fix |
Results About You got a real upgrade in February 2026: it now flags search results carrying government-issued ID numbers such as a passport, driver's license or Social Security number, and it made removal requests for non-consensual explicit images easier to file from Google Images. If you set it up once and turn on notifications, Google tells you when something new about you appears rather than you finding out from a stranger.
The process
How to delete personal information from Google search, step by step
Find every result that exposes you
Search your full name, your name plus your city, and your phone number in an incognito window, and run the free scan below. Most of what you find will trace back to a handful of people-search profiles that republish the same public records. Write down the exact URLs, because every Google removal request is filed per URL.
File the Google removal request
Open Results About You in your Google account, or the personal information removal form for anything the tool missed. Give the URL, the search terms that surface it, and a screenshot showing your contact details on the page. Vague requests get denied; a screenshot with your address circled gets approved.
Opt out at the source site
This is the step people skip, and it is why results come back. A Google removal hides the result. The broker still holds the record and republishes it, which puts a fresh URL in the index within weeks. Submit the opt-out on each site so the page itself stops existing.
Clear the leftovers, then keep watching
Once a source page is gone or edited, use Refresh Outdated Content so Google drops the stale snippet instead of waiting for a natural re-crawl. Then re-run the search every few weeks. Brokers buy new record sets constantly, and relisting is normal rather than a sign something failed.
Filing well matters more than filing often. A request that names the URL, quotes the search that surfaces it, and attaches a screenshot with your address visible gets a decision quickly. A request that says "please remove my information" gets denied and has to be redone. If you would rather not run this loop across 50 sites yourself, a data removal service files the opt-outs and re-files them when a broker puts you back.
The part that trips everyone up
Why your information reappears on Google weeks later
A Google removal is an index edit. The people-search site still holds your name, address history, phone numbers and relatives, and it rebuilds profile pages as it refreshes its records. The new page gets a new URL, Google has no removal on file for that URL, and your details are back in results under your name. Nothing went wrong; you removed the reflection instead of the object.
The durable fix is to remove the record where it lives. Under the CCPA and CPRA, and the deletion rights in a growing list of other state privacy laws, US data brokers have to honor a verified deletion request. Do that at each site and there is no page left to index. Then keep checking, because brokers buy fresh public-record sets and relisting is routine. The removal guides cover the opt-out for each site one by one.
FAQ
Questions people ask about Google information removal
Open Google's Results About You tool, add the address, phone number and email you want monitored, and request removal on each result it flags. For anything the tool misses, file the personal information removal request form with the exact URL, the search terms that surface it, and a screenshot. Then opt out at the site publishing the data, or the result returns.
Yes. Google accepts removal requests for contact details, government ID and financial account numbers, images of your ID or signature, medical records, login credentials, doxxing content and non-consensual explicit imagery. Each request is reviewed against Google's personal information policy, and you can see an approved, denied or needs-more-information status per URL.
Google removes your home address, phone number and email, Social Security and other government ID numbers, bank and credit card numbers, pictures of your ID or handwritten signature, private medical records, confidential login credentials, doxxing posts, and explicit images shared without consent. It generally will not remove newsworthy content or public-interest information about public figures.
No, and this is the most expensive misunderstanding in the process. Google only edits its own index. The page stays live, the site keeps your record, and anyone with the link or a different search engine can still reach it. To make the information actually go away, the source site has to delete it, which means filing an opt-out with the broker.
Google does not publish a guaranteed turnaround. Every request shows a live status in Results About You or the removal dashboard, moving from in review to approved or denied. Approved contact-detail removals typically stop appearing within days of approval. Denials can be appealed with better evidence, usually a clearer screenshot and the exact query.
Because the removal took the result out of Google while the record stayed in the broker's database. Data brokers refresh their files from public records and each other, so a new profile page gets published at a new URL and indexed again. Only an opt-out at each site, repeated when they relist, breaks the cycle.
Yes, if you do the work yourself. Google's tools cost nothing, and every US data broker is required to run a free opt-out process. The cost is time: dozens of forms, identity checks, and a re-check every few weeks because brokers relist. Paid removal services exist because that maintenance loop, not the first request, is the hard part.
Keep reading
Related pages
Remove your name from Google search
The name-search angle: what surfaces under your full name and how to clear each result.
Google outdated content removal
The tool that clears a stale snippet after the source page has changed or gone.
Data broker opt out list
Every site publishing your record, with the real opt-out link for each one.
Google personal information removal guide
The step-by-step version, with the exact form and what to attach.
Remove my information from the internet
The full picture beyond Google, across every site republishing your records.
Best data removal service
An honest comparison if you would rather hand the filing loop to someone else.