The Clustered History
Google Chrome features an organizational tool called “Journeys.” This feature analyzes your browsing history and automatically groups related searches and visited pages into specific topics or “clusters” (e.g., grouping all your searches about “hiking boots” or “vacation rentals”). These clusters are then prominently displayed when you open your History page or sometimes suggested in the address bar. While intended to help you pick up where you left off, many users find this automated profiling creepy, unnecessary, and a cluttered departure from a simple, chronological list of visited websites.
Returning to Chronological History
To simplify your browser and completely disable the automated “Journeys” clustering feature in Google Chrome, you must adjust the browser’s core history settings.
Open Google Chrome. Click the three vertical dots (the customize menu) in the extreme top-right corner of the window. Hover over History and then click on History in the slide-out menu (or simply press Ctrl+H). This opens the main History page. Look at the left-hand navigation sidebar. You will see an option specifically labelled Turn off Journeys (or “Disable Journeys”). Click this button. Alternatively, if that button is missing in your specific Chrome version, click the three dots in the top right again, go to Settings, navigate to You and Google, click Sync and Google services, and toggle Off the switch for “Make searches and browsing better” which feeds the Journeys algorithm. Your history will now revert to a strict, un-grouped chronological list.