How To Delete Your Digital Footprint A Complete Guide

Becoming the internet's best-kept secret is a goal that everyone aspires to. A Google search will quickly uncover your real identity, regardless of how creative you are with your username or the celebrity’s name you choose for your social media handle. 

People you meet online, such as prospective employers or friends, may have negative impressions of you because of this. On the other hand, your digital footprint on the internet is increasingly at risk. 

It is important to take proactive measures to safeguard yourself and your information, as hackers and identity thieves are constantly on the lookout. So, can you delete your digital footprint? There are methods to erase your digital footprint, which is great news.

In this article, we'll go over what's known as "Digital Footprints" and how to delete your digital footprint completely.

What Is A Digital Footprint?

An individual's digital footprint is an accumulation of data derived from their online activities across a period. Based on your online presence, it gives you detailed information about yourself. 

The very first time someone uses the internet, whether it's to make an account or post something on Facebook or another social media site, it leaves a digital footprint. 

Site pages you've viewed, images you've sent or received, social media feeds you've interacted with, comments you've left, etc., are also part of this. Therefore, whenever you engage in internet activities, you leave a digital trace. Now, we will explore the methods of how to delete your digital footprint.

How Do You Delete Your Digital Footprint Completely?

Did you know how to delete 99.9% of your digital footprint? To remove your digital footprint, you must first delete all old posts, emails, etc., and then clear out the caches on your internet browser! 

This means that it does take some effort, but the result is worth it (no one will be able to find any information about you). 

You can use cleaner programs too if you're lazy because they do most of the work. However, even with these programs, you still need to take steps yourself, so remember them! They won't erase every trace, so follow our advice on how to delete your digital footprint.

1. Delete All Your Social Media Accounts

Did you know how does deleting your account erase your digital footprint? Search engines will no longer be able to index any older posts. But remember, deleting your account is not the same as deactivating it! 

If you deactivate your account, all your data can still be accessed for up to 90 days. You also need to make sure that you remove every single picture on these sites because third-party websites like Google Images often cache them.

2. Delete All Passwords 

Most major companies keep records of your passwords, which means they can easily access them if needed, even though you have deleted or changed them in the past. For this reason, you should change all important passwords before deleting your digital footprint because just deleting your password won't accomplish much!

3. Clear Out Your Browsers

Does deleting your search history reduce your digital footprint? Obviously yes! Your browser stores all your online data and lets anyone access it. Clearing browsing data requires deleting your digital fingerprint. To delete all of your saved passwords, history, and cookies, go into your browser's settings.

4. Remove Personal Info From Websites

Is it possible to delete your digital footprint? Here is the best way. This is a tricky one that takes time, but if you want to remove your digital footprint, it's well worth it. The idea is to contact any websites where you have shared personal details and ask them to remove this information from their databases. 

This can sometimes involve sending letters, so follow up because not all companies will delete your data after just one request.

5. Unsubscribe Yourself From Mailing Lists

Companies typically compile your data from various sources and then use it to create mailing lists that they use to send you advertisements. If you want to remove yourself entirely, this is the important step you need to take. 

6. Delete Your Google Activity

Right after you create an account on Google, it monitors and records almost everything you do online. Removing your digital footprint requires more than just deleting the search history. If you want it gone for good, clearing your Google history is a must.

7. Clear Out Your Cloud Storage

You may use an external drive, Dropbox, or iCloud to save your files, but if anyone gets access to them, they can easily see everything inside, even after deleting them yourself. To make sure no one can access your files in the future, log into these services and remove them all.

8. Change Your Privacy Preferences

Additionally, you should manage your privacy settings to maintain a clean digital footprint. But that's no excuse to use weak passwords; instead, manage the results that appear when people look for you online. 

Examine the results when people search for your name and other details on Google to see what they find. 

9. Remove Posts From A Blog Or Forum Online

People can see what you're up to online through your blog posts and forum contributions. Leaving no trace online necessitates erasing your previous posts on these sites, which is okay. 

They detail important information like your email address, full name (or username), and the time you've been an active member. You could leave these posts or entries if you weren't planning to stay completely anonymous. 

10. Clear Your Cookies

Perhaps you were unaware, but one of the ways websites can identify you is through cookies. Your information will be accessible online for the foreseeable future if you continue to accept and store cookies. 

However, you must clear all cookies on every browser to erase your digital footprint permanently. It might be difficult to clear all your browser's cookies at once if you use multiple browsers, like Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. An alternative would be to use third-party software that clears cookies for your convenience.

Therefore, you must follow the methods of how to delete your digital footprint.

Conclusion

The internet has so much information, some of which may surprise you. Something you might have posted in the past—something you can't even recall—could be a danger to your reputation and identity. 

The idea of a digital footprint is crucial to help you take charge of the information you have online and disclose any unintentional information you may have given. 

Depending on your situation, deleting certain details or accounts all at once might be a hassle, but with a focused strategy, you can easily remove your digital footprint. Hopefully, you completely understand how to delete your digital footprint.