Ordering products on Amazon is quick and convenient, but this convenience comes at the cost of your privacy. By default, Amazon extensively tracks your order history, including all your purchases, browsing behavior, and more.
While this data enables features like personalized recommendations, it also means Amazon has intimate knowledge of your shopping habits and interests. If keeping this information private is important to you, deleting your Amazon order history is crucial.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore step-by-step how to delete Amazon order history using various methods, along with tips for maintaining shopping privacy.
Why You Should Delete Your Amazon Order History
Before diving into how to delete your order history, let‘s look at why you might want to do this in the first place:
- Privacy – Amazon‘s data collection is quite extensive. A recent study found 80% of consumers are concerned about the amount of personal data held by Amazon. [1]
- Security – If your account is ever compromised, your order history could reveal sensitive information like your home address.
- Hidden purchases – You may wish to hide certain gifts, personal items, or other orders from those who share your account.
- Personalized recommendations – If you dislike Amazon‘s targeted recommendations based on purchase history, deleting orders can help remove this.
- Advertising profile – Amazon uses order data to build an advertising profile for targeting ads on/off their site.
While Amazon‘s tracking provides convenience, deleting orders lets you take control of your privacy.
Method 1: Archive Orders Individually
The easiest way to manage your Amazon order history is archiving individual orders. This removes them from your main order list but keeps them accessible in your archives.
Here are step-by-step instructions to archive Amazon orders:
On Desktop:
- Log into your Amazon account and navigate to Your Orders:
- Locate the order you wish to archive and click Archive order:
- Confirm archiving by clicking Archive order again in the pop-up window.
On Mobile:
- In the Amazon app, tap the ≡ menu and select Your Orders.
- Swipe left on an order and tap the red Archive button:
- The order will be archived and removed from your order history.
You can archive up to 100 orders on Amazon. Archived orders can still be viewed by going to View Archived Orders, so this doesn‘t delete data. However, it does allow you to curate the visible orders in your history.
Method 2: Turn Off Order Tracking
For a more complete solution, you can stop Amazon from tracking your order history automatically:
- Go to Browsing History in the top menu bar and click Manage History:
- Toggle the Turn Browsing History On/Off switch to the Off position to disable tracking.
- Click Remove All Items from View to delete existing browsing history data.
This will prevent Amazon from saving new order history, providing more complete privacy. However, it also means you lose features like personalized recommendations. Additionally, existing order history remains stored in Amazon‘s databases.
Method 3: Use Amazon Household Accounts
If you share an Amazon Prime account with family, Amazon Household allows hiding specific orders:
- Enable Household, then create separate accounts for each member.
- When ordering, toggle on Save this order to my account only.
- The order will be private and not visible to other Household members.
This lets you hide selected orders while retaining Prime sharing benefits. However, orders are still tracked on your personal account.
Tips for Maintaining Amazon Order Privacy
Deleting history is difficult, so your best bet is being proactive in protecting privacy:
- Archive orders frequently instead of letting history build up.
- Turn off tracking when not actively using Amazon to stop data collection.
- Use unique burner accounts for highly private orders.
- Use gift options or Amazon locker delivery for hidden purchases.
- Frequently monitor household purchases if privacy is crucial.
Limitations of Deleting Amazon Order History
While helpful for managing privacy, deleting Amazon order history has limitations:
- Archived orders remain visible in your account. Full deletion from Amazon‘s records is not possible.
- Disabling tracking prevents new order collection but doesn‘t erase existing data, which stays on Amazon‘s servers.
- You cannot selectively or partially delete orders. It‘s all or nothing when turning off tracking.
- Orders placed before disabling tracking will remain visible in your account.
Additional Privacy Settings for Amazon Accounts
If completely deleting order history seems too extreme, additional privacy settings are available:
- Disable personalized recommendations and ads under Advertising Preferences.
- Turn off 1-Click Ordering to prevent accidental purchases.
- Remove saved shipping addresses and payment methods.
- Set up multi-factor authentication for enhanced account security.
- Use a unique complex password and change it regularly.
The Bottom Line
Amazon makes shopping incredibly convenient but has extensive behind-the-scenes tracking. While deleting Amazon order history fully is difficult, the steps in this guide will help you take control of your data. Taking a proactive approach by frequently archiving orders, disabling tracking when not needed, and utilizing other privacy controls allows you to enjoy Amazon‘s perks while maintaining your privacy.
