Windows 10: Clear Activities from Timeline in Windows 10

Brink · Mar 25, 2018

How to: Clear Activities from Timeline in Windows 10

How to Clear Activities from Timeline in Windows 10

Starting with activity history allows you to jump back into what you were doing with apps, docs, or other activities, either on your PC or your phone. To resume your activities, Windows needs to collect your PC activity.

Activity history in Windows 10 helps keep track of the things you do on your device. Activity history keeps track of the apps and services you use, the files you open, and the websites you browseand when you do these things. Your activity history is collected and stored locally on your device, and if you've signed into your device with a Microsoft account and given your permission, Windows sends your activity history to Microsoft. Once your activity history has been collected, Microsoft uses that data to enable cross-device experiences, to provide you with personalized experiences and relevant suggestions, and to help improve Microsoft products.

Activity history is also created and sent to Microsoft when you use Microsoft apps, such as Microsoft Edge, and Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, on mobile devices such as iOS and Android phones and tablets. If you are signed-in with your Microsoft account, you can continue activities on your Windows device that you started in Microsoft apps on your Android or iOS device.

Timeline is now available in Windows 10 starting with build 17063. In Timeline, a user activity is the combination of a specific app and a specific piece of content you were working on at a specific time. Each activity links right back to a webpage, document, article, playlist, or task, saving you time when you want to resume that activity later.

In addition to resuming past activities through Timeline, your personal digital assistant Cortana will suggest activities you might want to pick up where you left off (resume) to help you stay productive as you switch between your phone, laptop, and other Cortana-enabled devices. This experience is powered by the same activities that appear in Timeline.

Starting with Let Windows sync my activities from this PC to the cloud in the settings app, or you can enable it via an option provided at the bottom of Timeline. Until you turn on syncing your activities to the cloud, Timeline will only show up to 4 days of your activities. Once turned on, timeline will show up to 30 days of your activities.

See also: Windows 10 activity history and your privacy - Microsoft privacy

This tutorial will show you how to clear an activity or group of activities in your timeline for your account in Windows 10.

CONTENTS:

Option One: To Clear Your Activity History from the Cloud

Option Two: To Clear All Activities from a Day in your Timeline

Option Three: To Clear All Activities from an Hour of a Day in your Timeline

Option Four: To Clear an Activity in your Timeline

OPTION ONE [/i] To Clear Your Activity History from the Cloud
1. For how, see: How to Clear Your Activity History from Cloud in Windows 10

OPTION TWO [/i] To Clear All Activities from a Day in your Timeline
1. Click/tap on the Task View button on the taskbar. (see screenshot below)

2. Right click or press and hold on any activity from a day (ex: "June 20") you want to clear all your activities from, and click/tap on Clear all from month/day. (see screenshot below)

3. Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

OPTION THREE [/i] To Clear All Activities from an Hour of a Day in your Timeline
1. Click/tap on the Task View button on the taskbar. (see screenshot below)

2. Click/tap on the See all ## activities link next to the day (ex: "June 20") you want to clear all your activities from an hour for this day. (see screenshot below)

2. Right click or press and hold on any activity from an hour (ex: "1:00:00 PM") you want to clear all your activities from, and click/tap on Clear all from hour. (see screenshot below)

3. Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

OPTION FOUR [/i] To Clear an Activity in your Timeline
1. Click/tap on the Task View button on the taskbar. (see screenshot below)

2. Right click or press and hold on the activity you want to remove from a day or hour in your timeline, and click/tap on Remove. (see screenshot below)

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

How to Open and Use Timeline in Windows 10

How to Enable or Disable Timeline in Windows 10

How to Enable or Disable Collect Activity History in Windows 10

How to Turn On or Off Collect Activity History in Windows 10

How to Clear Your Activity History from Cloud in Windows 10

How to Turn On or Off Timeline Suggestions in Windows 10

:)

HiranmayaGundu · Oct 27, 2019

Timeline Activity not showing up

The timeline activity just won't show up on the timeline window. I always get "Use your PC more for activities."

I have enabled the settings required for timeline in Privacy > Activity History:

Let Windows collect my activities

Let Windows Sync my activities

Show activities from accounts

I also tried using regedit to add these variables in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System

EnableActivityFeed

PublishUserActivities

UploadUserActivities

All the variables are set to 1, and are DWORD values. (as stated in this article http://www.thewindowsclub.com/timeline-feature-not-working-windows), to no effect.

Any more troubleshooting steps I can go through?

Brink · Oct 27, 2019

New Official Web Activities Chrome Extension for Windows 10 Timeline

Hello from the Timeline engineering team! With the introduction of our new Chrome extension for Timeline — a top Insider request — we wanted to also share details on how Windows Insiders have helped us evolve Timeline to where it is today.

First, a bit of background

For those new to the feature, Timeline is all about making stuff on your PC easier to find. Unlike most search applications, Timeline not only brings together files, websites and other stuff from across your devices — it organizes everything in chronological order. Can’t remember the name of a website that caught your interest a few days ago? Just scroll down and it’ll be there. Need to quickly get back to a document you were working on earlier today on OneDrive? It’ll be there, too.

Timeline was officially released with the Windows 10 April 2018 Update. Prior to the public release, we introduced it to Windows Insiders first, starting with Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17063 in December, 2017.

Feedback comes pouring in

As more and more Insiders tried Timeline, feedback quickly came in across multiple channels, including the Feedback Hub, our automated feedback systems and across social media.

One of the early and most popular Insider suggestions was to make it easier to clear all activities from a Timeline. A few builds later (17083, to be precise), we added the option to clear activities by both day and hour directly on Timeline. And that’s when something interesting happened: we saw a 40 percent drop-off in Insider devices using the original Clear Activity History button in Settings. It seemed the more granular control we offered Insiders, the better — a valuable insight that inspired future feature planning.

Insiders also liked the cross-device functionality and wanted the option to access Timeline on their mobile devices. One clever Insider went one step further with this suggestion (which also became a top-upvoted idea): why not integrate Timeline with Microsoft Launcher on Android?

This was actually an idea we had been noodling for some time. But as with many of our feature ideas, we used Insider feedback to help prioritize the concept in our development schedule. Sure enough, the Microsoft Launcher team announced support for Timeline on the same day that the Windows 10 October 2018 Update was released.

What’s up next

Along with suggestions for cool, new features, Insiders have also provided us with valuable performance updates along the way. One example: Insiders reporting a problem where explorer.exe was crashing while they were using Timeline. This prompted us to dig a big further. Sure enough, we discovered that Timeliness was crashing explorer.exe if users pressed ALT+F4 while it was visible. We promptly issued a fix in Insider Preview build 18277. Thanks again to our sharp-eyed Insiders for helping Timeline perform as well as it looks!

As we move into planning for future development, we are focusing on yet another Insider request: add support for more apps in Timeline. Browser support was especially high on our Insider’s wish list — which lead the recent introduction of our Chrome extension. Now, Timeline can now bring together even more activities.

Look for even more Timeline updates in the future – and keep that feedback coming!

See your browsing activities across all your devices in surfaces like Windows timeline and Microsoft Launcher for Android.

With this extension, your browsing history will appear across all your devices in surfaces such as in Windows timeline and Microsoft Launcher for Android. Just sign in with your Microsoft account, select a site you’ve recently visited, and pick up where you left off.

Click to expand...

Source: Web Activities - Chrome Web Store

See also: Inspired by Insiders - Timeline - Windows Insider

Tip How to Turn On or Off Collect Activities in Windows 10

How to Open and Use Timeline in Windows 10

How to Turn On or Off Timeline in Microsoft Launcher app on Android Phone

Brink · Oct 27, 2019

New Official Web Activities Chrome Extension for Windows 10 Timeline

Hello from the Timeline engineering team! With the introduction of our new Chrome extension for Timeline — a top Insider request — we wanted to also share details on how Windows Insiders have helped us evolve Timeline to where it is today.

First, a bit of background

For those new to the feature, Timeline is all about making stuff on your PC easier to find. Unlike most search applications, Timeline not only brings together files, websites and other stuff from across your devices — it organizes everything in chronological order. Can’t remember the name of a website that caught your interest a few days ago? Just scroll down and it’ll be there. Need to quickly get back to a document you were working on earlier today on OneDrive? It’ll be there, too.

Timeline was officially released with the Windows 10 April 2018 Update. Prior to the public release, we introduced it to Windows Insiders first, starting with Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17063 in December, 2017.

Feedback comes pouring in

As more and more Insiders tried Timeline, feedback quickly came in across multiple channels, including the Feedback Hub, our automated feedback systems and across social media.

One of the early and most popular Insider suggestions was to make it easier to clear all activities from a Timeline. A few builds later (17083, to be precise), we added the option to clear activities by both day and hour directly on Timeline. And that’s when something interesting happened: we saw a 40 percent drop-off in Insider devices using the original Clear Activity History button in Settings. It seemed the more granular control we offered Insiders, the better — a valuable insight that inspired future feature planning.

Insiders also liked the cross-device functionality and wanted the option to access Timeline on their mobile devices. One clever Insider went one step further with this suggestion (which also became a top-upvoted idea): why not integrate Timeline with Microsoft Launcher on Android?

This was actually an idea we had been noodling for some time. But as with many of our feature ideas, we used Insider feedback to help prioritize the concept in our development schedule. Sure enough, the Microsoft Launcher team announced support for Timeline on the same day that the Windows 10 October 2018 Update was released.

What’s up next

Along with suggestions for cool, new features, Insiders have also provided us with valuable performance updates along the way. One example: Insiders reporting a problem where explorer.exe was crashing while they were using Timeline. This prompted us to dig a big further. Sure enough, we discovered that Timeliness was crashing explorer.exe if users pressed ALT+F4 while it was visible. We promptly issued a fix in Insider Preview build 18277. Thanks again to our sharp-eyed Insiders for helping Timeline perform as well as it looks!

As we move into planning for future development, we are focusing on yet another Insider request: add support for more apps in Timeline. Browser support was especially high on our Insider’s wish list — which lead the recent introduction of our Chrome extension. Now, Timeline can now bring together even more activities.

Look for even more Timeline updates in the future – and keep that feedback coming!

See your browsing activities across all your devices in surfaces like Windows timeline and Microsoft Launcher for Android.

With this extension, your browsing history will appear across all your devices in surfaces such as in Windows timeline and Microsoft Launcher for Android. Just sign in with your Microsoft account, select a site you’ve recently visited, and pick up where you left off.

Click to expand...

Source: Web Activities - Chrome Web Store

See also: Inspired by Insiders - Timeline - Windows Insider

Tip How to Turn On or Off Collect Activities in Windows 10

How to Open and Use Timeline in Windows 10

How to Turn On or Off Timeline in Microsoft Launcher app on Android Phone

Alexander Bertnikov · Oct 27, 2019

Timeline keeps vanishing

Hello Janae, my name is Alexander. I'm an Independent Advisor and I'm happy to assist you!

You can use Cortana to review your activities history – the feature Timeline offers.

To troubleshoot your problem with Timeline I recommend that you clear the Activity History. To do it, follow the steps below:

Click on ‘Windows key + I’ and open Settings

Go to Privacy - Activity history

Press ‘Clear’ under ‘Clear activity history’

Press ‘Manage my Microsoft Account activity data’

Sign in using your Microsoft account if it is asked

Press ‘Activity history’

You will see your previous activities under ‘Activity history’

You will see an option ‘Clear activity’ on the right top of the activities list

Be notified, if you clear the app and service usage data, you will never recover or restore them. Do, be careful and read the terms.

Restart your system.

Best regards,

Alexander B.

Jeffrey57 · Oct 27, 2019

Windows 10 Timeline Activity

Windows 10 Version 1803 Build 17134.112.

I am having an issue with Windows 10 timeline. Deleted activity but it just greyed it out with no way of removing it. I
have disabled Timeline and have cleared all Activity History but it remains. The only way to not see the file, is to turn off
Show Activities from Accounts. Any suggestions would be helpful in removing greyed out file.

Windows 10: Clear Activities from Timeline in Windows 10

Clear Activities from Timeline in Windows 10

Clear Activities from Timeline in Windows 10

Clear Activities from Timeline in Windows 10

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