Written by the Removal Lab team.
Ever typed your own name into Google and found your home address sitting on a site you have never heard of? Google Results about you is a tool inside your Google Account that checks Search for your phone number, home address or email and lets you ask Google to remove those results. This guide from Removal Lab shows you how to set it up, what the alerts mean, how to send a removal request and what every status tells you.
We read the official Google help page for the tool line by line before writing this. Where Google does not publish something, such as how long a decision takes, we say so rather than guess.
The quick version
- Open Google Results about you from the Google app menu under your profile picture, or from its web page, then select Get started or Settings.
- Enter your name and the contact details you want Google to watch. Turn on notifications by email or in the Google app.
- When a match appears, open the To review tab and check the website and the details it shows.
- Select the result and choose Request to remove, or Mark as reviewed if you are happy for it to stay.
- Track every request under Removal requests and read the status: In progress, Approved, Denied or Undone.
What Google Results about you actually does
Google describes Google Results about you as a way to check whether your personal info, such as your home address, phone number or email address, appears in Search results. It then gives you a short path to ask for removal. Think of Google Results about you as a watch list for your own details, run inside your account.
Google also says some features are still rolling out in certain markets and are for users over 18. If the result shows information about a child, Google points you to its detailed removal request form instead of this tool.
| What you can add | What Google says about it |
|---|---|
| Your name | Required to start. You can add nicknames and maiden names too. |
| Phone numbers | You can add more than one. Phone numbers may be approved for removal. |
| Home addresses | You can add more than one. Home addresses may be approved for removal. |
| Email addresses | You can add more than one. Email addresses may be approved for removal. |
| Government ID numbers | Google lists Social Security, passport and driver’s licence numbers as types you can add. |
Google says it stores this monitoring information with encryption and access controls. It uses it to watch for matches, process removals, improve those processes and show your request status. Google says it does not use it to personalise other Google products. If you change your mind, choose Remove all personal info in Settings to stop monitoring.
How to use Google Results about you step by step
Here is the full flow Google publishes for Google Results about you, with the exact button names. Take your time on your first run of Google Results about you. After that the tool does most of the watching for you.
Step 1: Set up monitoring
- Open Google Results about you. In the Google app it sits in the menu under your profile picture or initial. You can also open it from its web page.
- Select Get started or, if you have used it before, Settings.
- Enter your name and the details you want monitored. Add every phone number, address and email you have used, including old ones that still appear online.
- Turn on notifications. Google lets you choose email or alerts in the Google app.
Step 2: Review the results Google finds
Google says you will get a notification within a few hours if it finds matches. Further notifications follow when new ones appear. Open the To review tab. Each result shows the website and the information on it, so you can judge it before you act.
Step 3: Request removal
- Select a result.
- Choose Request to remove. If the result is harmless, choose Mark as reviewed to clear it from your list.
- Watch your inbox. Google sends an email confirming the request and then status updates.
- Open Removal requests at any time to see where each one stands.
Some results in Google Results about you will not show a removal option at all. Google says this can happen with government, educational, news or business sites. That is not a fault in the tool. It reflects Google’s policy that information with public value usually stays.
The other route: report a result straight from Search
You do not have to wait for an alert. While signed in, search your name, perhaps with your city. Next to the result, open More and then About this result, then follow the Remove result path for personal info and contact info. Google asks you to type your name and contact details exactly as they appear on the page. You only need one type of information per request and one request per URL.
Every status explained
Once a request is in, the status inside Google Results about you is the only signal you get. Google lists four. The request details also show the flagged link, the submission time, a request ID and the contact info you flagged.
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| In progress | Google has your request and is reviewing it. | Wait. Check the confirmation email arrived. |
| Approved | Google agreed to remove the result. It may take a few hours to take effect. | Search again later. Ask the site owner to delete the details at the source. |
| Denied | Google decided not to remove it. You get an email and the reason shows on the Results about you page. | Read the reason. See the section below on what to try next. |
| Undone | Someone selected Undo, so the result can appear again. | Only use Undo if you truly want the result back. |
What Google will and will not remove
Google sets three tests for every request made through Google Results about you. The information must be your personal information. You must not control it yourself, for example on your own social media or blog. It must not be information that is valuable to the public.
| Likely to qualify | Likely to be refused or sent elsewhere |
|---|---|
| Your home address on a people search page | A page owned by a school, university or government body |
| Your personal phone number listed with your name | A newspaper article that mentions you |
| Your personal email on a directory site | Details you posted yourself on your own blog or profile |
| A government ID number shown online | Professional details posted to harm you, which belong on the detailed form |
| A page behind a paywall that shows your details | A request made for another adult through your own account |
If your problem is not contact details at all, Google Results about you is the wrong tool. A page that has changed since Google last crawled it belongs in the Refresh Outdated Content tool. Defamation, court orders and copyright go through a Google legal removal request. People in Europe and the UK can also ask for right to be forgotten delisting.
What happens after Google approves a request
Google says that usually the URL will not appear for any search. Sometimes it is hidden only for searches that contain your name, which Google calls a query based removal. Either way, the information still exists on the website. Google suggests you may need to contact the site owner to have it taken down there.
That is why we treat an approval as step one, not the finish line. Our guide on removing personal information from Google covers what to send a site owner and what to do when the page sits on a people search site that copies data from others.
What if it does not work
A Denied status in Google Results about you is common. It is not always the end. Work through these in order.
- Read the reason. Google shows it on the Google Results about you page and in the email. The fix depends on it.
- Check the details match. Google asks for your name and contact info exactly as they appear on the page. A missing flat number or an old phone format can sink a request.
- Check you used the right tool. Professional information posted to harm you, results about a minor and requests for someone else all belong on Google’s detailed removal request form.
- Go to the source. Ask the website to delete the details. Once the page changes, Google can drop the old snippet through the Refresh Outdated Content tool.
- Look at a legal route. If the page breaks the law where you live, a legal request may apply even when the privacy policy does not.
Mistakes to avoid
- Adding only your current address. Old addresses and numbers are often what people search sites still show.
- Typing details differently from the page. Match the page exactly, including spacing and abbreviations.
- Sending one request with several URLs or several types of information. Google wants one URL per request and one type of information is enough.
- Using your own account to file for a relative. Google says this may be denied. Use the detailed form.
- Pressing Undo by accident. It lets the result return. A fresh request starts the review again.
- Assuming an approval deleted the page. It only changed Google Search.
A worked example
This is a made up example to show the steps. It is not a client case.
Amira moved house last spring. When she searched her name she found a directory page listing her new address and mobile number. She opened Google Results about you in the Google app, selected Get started and added her name, both her old and new addresses and her mobile number. She turned on email alerts.
A few hours later an alert arrived. In the To review tab she saw the directory page with her address and number. She selected it and chose Request to remove. A confirmation email followed and the request showed In progress under Removal requests. When it moved to Approved, she searched her name again later that day and the page no longer appeared. She then wrote to the directory to delete the listing at the source, because Google’s approval had only changed Search.
Keep your own record
Google Results about you shows a request ID for every removal. Copy it, the URL and the date into a simple note. If you ever need to escalate or explain the history to a site owner, you have it in one place.
Where Removal Lab fits
Google Results about you is the right first move for contact details and you should use it yourself. Where we help is everything around Google Results about you: the denied requests, the pages that need a different policy, the source sites that ignore emails and the results that are not contact details at all.
Our Google search result removal service reads each result against Google’s published policies and files through the right channel. For broader problems with your name in Search, see our personal reputation removal work, our guide on how to remove your name from Google and our honest list of what we cannot remove. If a booking photo is the issue, our mugshot removal page explains the separate rules that apply. Unwanted predictions in the search box are a different problem again, covered in our Google autocomplete removal guide.
How Removal Lab works
- Send the link. WhatsApp, email or the two field form. Two minutes, no long questionnaire.
- Free policy check. A specialist reads it against the platform rules and tells you honestly whether it qualifies.
- We build and file the case. The right policy, the right channel, the evidence attached. We handle the appeal too.
- Pay only when it is gone. No upfront payment on qualifying cases. If the platform says no, you owe nothing.
What we will never do
- Promise a removal. The platform decides, not us.
- Post fake reviews or pay anyone to delete a review.
- Pressure, threaten or try to identify a reviewer.
- Charge an upfront fee on a case that does not qualify.
Want a second pair of eyes on a denied request?
Send the link and the denial reason. A specialist checks it against Google’s rules and replies within one business day. No upfront payment on qualifying cases.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google charge for Google Results about you?
Google’s help page lists no fee for it. You use it while signed in to your Google Account, from the Google app menu or its web page.
What information can Google Results about you remove?
Google says phone numbers, home addresses, email addresses and government ID numbers such as a Social Security, passport or driver’s licence number may be approved for removal. Pages from schools, government bodies and newspapers are often denied.
How quickly will I hear back from Results about you?
Google says you get a notification within a few hours if matches are found and a confirmation email within a few hours of a request. Google does not publish how long a decision takes, though approved removals may take a few hours to show.
Does an approved request delete the page?
No. Google removes the result from Search, either for every search or only for searches that include your name. The page and your details stay on the website until the site owner takes them down.
Can I use Results about you for someone else?
Google says requests made through Results about you on someone else’s behalf may be denied. Use Google’s detailed removal request form instead. The same form handles any result that shows a minor’s information.
What does the Undone status mean?
It means the request was reversed with the Undo option, so the result is allowed to appear in Search again. Google notes it may still stay hidden if someone else’s approved request already removed it.
Sources: Google Search Help: Find and remove personal info in Google Search results. Removal Lab does not work for Google. Every decision is made by the platform.