No, your searches on X (formerly Twitter) are not public. While X saves and uses your search data for its recommendations, other users cannot see what you search for. Someone can see your search history only if they have access to your login details or to a device on which your account is signed in.
Updated October 2026. Twitter was rebranded as X in July 2023 and tweets are now called posts. We updated the names and settings paths below; X changes its menus from time to time, so labels in your app may differ slightly.
What can people see?
If your X account is public, people can see your posts, reposts and replies. If you create public lists, people can see those too, as well as your followers and the accounts you follow. Depending on your message settings, other users may also be able to send you a direct message.
If you protect your posts, you approve or decline each new follower, and only your followers can see your posts. This works best if you want to keep your activity on X among a small set of people. Keep in mind that followers can still repost or share what you post.
Why does X store your search data?
First of all, X uses your search queries to understand your content preferences so that it can show you what’s relevant to you and keep you on the platform longer. Secondly, your activity, including searches, can be used to show you personalized advertisements.
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How can you delete your X search history?
Your recent searches appear when you tap or click the search box. X lets you remove individual recent searches or clear the list from there; the exact button label differs between the app and the website, and clearing on one device may not clear the list on another, so repeat it wherever you are signed in.
Please note that deleting your search data doesn’t stop Twitter from using your date to suggest content or showing ads. You can stop that too if you wish. We’ll go into that presently.
How to stop X from using your data for personalization
Please note that you cannot stop seeing ads completely on X by changing these settings. It only means that the ads and content you see are less tailored to your activity. On the mobile app, the steps are:
- Tap your profile photo
- Open Settings and privacy
- Tap Privacy and safety
- Scroll to the Data sharing and personalization section and open each option, such as Ads preferences
- Turn off the switches for the personalization you don’t want
After this, X will use less of your activity, including your searches, to personalize your content suggestions and advertisements.
How to make your X account private
Making your X account private is called protecting your posts. Follow these steps.
- Tap your profile photo
- Select Settings and privacy
- Tap Privacy and safety
- Tap Audience and tagging
- Turn on the Protect your posts switch
- Confirm the change if asked
This makes your posts visible only to approved followers. You can control who follows you and who can see your posts. It is a good step to protect your information from unwanted attention.
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Is your X account safe?
While protecting your posts limits who can see them, it doesn’t guarantee the safety of your X account. Social media accounts get hacked, and these steps can help prevent it. In fact, these tips apply to virtually any account that is protected by a password.
- Be careful not to enter your credentials into untrusted input fields. Scammers often show you pages asking for your X login to view a piece of content. Only sign in through the official X app or website.
- Use a unique password for X and change it straight away if you think it may have been exposed. Passwords stolen in data breaches are often tried on other sites, which works when people reuse the same password in multiple places.
- Use long passwords of at least 12 characters that mix letters, numbers and symbols. The longer your password, the harder it is to crack in a brute-force attack. Avoid obvious choices like 1234 or the name of your pet.
- Turn on two-factor authentication in your account’s security settings so a stolen password alone is not enough to sign in.
- Beware of phishing emails and social engineering attacks that try to coax you into sharing your credentials through fake websites and forms.
Just to be safe, keep the amount of personal information you share on your X profile to the minimum. Do not share compromising information on any social media platform for that matter. The less you put on the internet, the better off you are.
