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Google Takeout used to give an option of exporting your all Google search history in .json file, but today when I created an archive of my data, it said at bottom:

Note: Your past searches aren't included when you create an archive. Find out how to download your past searches.

On following this support page link, it says:

  1. Visit your Web & App Activity page.
  2. In the top right corner of the page, touch Menu More> Download searches.
  3. Choose Create Archive.
  4. When the download is complete, you’ll get an email confirmation with a link to the data.

When I go to history.google.com link, it gets forwarded to myactivity.google.com, & there in the three dot hamburger menu on the right-top, there is no Download option in it?

In 2012 geeklad.com used to have a way by using flash file & some codes, but that also does not work now.

Is there a way to download your Google History as of today?

2 Answers 2

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From the MyActivity page, I chose "Other Google activity" from the menu.

At the bottom of that page is a section:

Download your past searches

Create an archive of all your past searches with Google Takeout

When you click "Get Started", you're informed:

Download a copy of your data

Please read this carefully, it's not the usual yada yada.
Create an archive of your past searches. This archive will only be accessible to you. We will email you when the archive is ready to download from Google Drive. Learn more

Important information about your Google data archives

  • Do not download your archive on public computers and ensure your archive is always under your control; your archive contains sensitive data.
  • Protect your account and sensitive data with 2-Step Verification; helping keep bad guys out, even if they have your password.
  • If you have decided to take your data elsewhere, please research the data export policies of your destination. Otherwise, if you ever want to leave the service, you may have to leave your data behind.

With a "Create Archive" button. Once you click that, you're given a message that you'll be notified when your archive is ready. Simply wait. (It took less than an hour for me to get my notification.)

The archive is a zip file with an index.html file and a set of JSON files, one for each quarter.

If any of that isn't available to you, it just hasn't been rolled out to your location yet.

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    It does look like the Google Help pages don't quite reflect the new process. It's not unusual for the documentation to run behind functionality.
    – ale
    Jul 12, 2016 at 18:23
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Wait, arbitrarily. (Honest, straight, direct, plain, true answer. Seriously, it might/does randomly appear. Wait. Reload. Wait.)

I say Wait specifically, because every ~few years the "Search History" Download/Takeout shows on myactivity.google.com arbitrarily. I am not joking, and your question sounds like you thought you were being fooled but I understand, you're confused why and it's understandable.

(I do not know why and when the timing, Google does not feel it is important for users to know when their Search History archives will be there. For some reason not specified in their sparse Help sections, Google does not feel required to report answers to users basic questions, like these about our primary data relationship with Google, searching.)

Blissfully written, "How to download your Google data - Google Account Help" (https://web.archive.org/web/20211212222758/https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3024190#) ​states "Important: If actions are deemed risky, to protect your account, they may be delayed or unavailable." signaling ignorantly/pompously in an elitist it's-for-information-security-voice that there might be legal reasons/rationales for these coded secret affairs being justified as not worth writing a Notification/Error Message.

In my experience, it has shown before and will show again, depending on Google's deep problems. (I am not being funny, it sounds funny, but given there is not any law/standardization nor spokesperson/representative responsible for these questions, you have Google being/sounding funny.) I know it sounds like Google is playing with you, but it's true.

You and I are not alone, us not being given clear English error messages is seemingly standard legal practice for how these companies avoid responsibility and play the issues as a "bug" er "feature" (which of course is not described, in any official public writing, about search data).

Err, maybe there is profit in harming users by not letting us find our own data, yet somehow having it leaked and adjudicated at the same time. I keep reading about my data being leaked/hacked WHILE I can not access my own data.

Aside from that, if you have law enforcement connections, I've read they're able to access full data dumps of search history. Legitimately, a cop can read in-the-blink-of-an-eye your Search History fully, but apparently Users do not have the Googod-given right to your life's data.

Finally, I appreciate the question author's integrity going out on a limb to ask the obvious missing question, you would think that the trillion-dollar SEARCH engine company would let you download your own ("uploaded") SEARCH history.

For me, it did not show in 2019, then it showed last year in 2020, but not this year 2021, so I am, praying to Goog-d and, well, waiting.

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