Search history for Gmail account cannot be cleared on Outlook IOS app

Lukas 0 Reputation points
2026-09-18T15:44:15.1933333+00:00

On the Outlook IOS app, I'm unable to clear search history for a connected Gmail account. Steps already tried, none of which resolved it:

  1. Disabled search history in my Google Account settings
  2. Uninstalled and reinstalled the Outlook IOS app
  3. Switched to a different device
  4. Used the in-app "Clear search history" option - this only appears to clear history for Outlook.com/Microsoft accounts, not Gmail accounts

The old search terms persist across all of the above, suggesting the history may be cached server-side on Microsoft's sync infrastructure for non-Microsoft accounts, rather than locally on the device. Is there a way to actually purge this, or is this a known bug?

Outlook | Outlook for mobile | Outlook for iOS | For home
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  1. Thomas4-N 22,295 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-20T09:56:40.81+00:00

    Hello Lukas,

    One thing worth checking is whether Outlook can remove these entries individually. When one of the old searches appears under Recent Searches, swipe left on that search suggestion and delete it. Microsoft documents this as the way to remove individual search-history suggestions in Outlook for iOS.

    If that works, it may at least let you remove the old entries individually even though Clear Search History has not cleared them for you.

    If the suggestion cannot be deleted, or it disappears and later comes back, I would stop reinstalling Outlook or changing the Google search-history settings since you have already ruled those out on multiple devices. At that point, I would report it through Outlook > Settings > Help & Feedback > Contact Support, mentioning specifically that the Gmail search suggestions persist after clearing the history, reinstalling Outlook, and changing devices.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-18T15:44:30.72+00:00

    On Outlook for iOS, individual search suggestions can be deleted by swiping left on a suggestion. There is no supported method in the provided documentation to bulk-clear Gmail search history or purge it from Microsoft’s cloud for a connected Gmail account.

    Relevant documented behavior:

    1. In Outlook for iOS, search history from other Outlook clients is not available.
    2. In Outlook for iOS, individual suggestions can be removed by swiping left.
    3. Outlook for iOS and Android support non-Microsoft accounts such as Gmail.

    Based on the available documentation, a server-side purge option for Gmail search history is not documented, and the only documented removal method on iOS is deleting suggestions one at a time.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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