Use search history for account-level search activity management, recently searched for quick inline query recall, saved search for intentional stored criteria, and recently viewed for opened objects.
Use search history for account-level search activity management, recently searched for quick inline query recall, saved search for intentional stored criteria, and recently viewed for opened objects.
Practice the judgment: Imagine this situation: A clear-history button deletes saved searches or viewed records because every personal list shares one storage bucket. Write the person's goal, choose one of these patterns, and show the state that helps the person continue. Use the decision rules and source trail below to explain your choice.
Review the underlying principle →| Dimension | Search history | Recently searched | Saved search | Recently viewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UI or UX | UI + UX - Search activity management surface with deletion and capture controls | UI + UX - Passive history of submitted search queries that can be rerun | UI + UX - Persisted named search criteria for rerunning a dynamic result set | UI + UX - Automatic list of items the current user opened recently |
| UI guidance | Render search history as a management page or panel with query text, product or source, account/device/workspace scope, timestamp, and clear controls for filtering and deletion. | Render recently searched as a labelled list of query strings the current user actually submitted, ordered newest first, with query text, scope or source, timestamp, and a clear affordance to rerun each query. | Render Save search near the active query and result summary, and show exactly which query text, filters, scope, and sort will be stored. | Render a labelled list or rail of items the current user actually opened, ordered most recent first, with enough identity to recognize each item such as name, type, thumbnail or icon, location, status, and last-viewed time. |
| UX guidance | Use search history when users need to review and control stored search activity across time, products, devices, accounts, or workspaces. | Help the person reach a clear task outcome. | Preserve the distinction between running a saved search temporarily and updating the saved criteria, especially when a saved search is shared or subscribed to. | Use recently viewed to reduce re-finding effort when users compare items, pause work, resume documents, or return to records they inspected during the current or recent sessions. |
| Good UI | An account activity page lists Gmail, Drive, and web searches with query text, source, device, time, delete-one controls, product filters, date range, and a pause switch. | A knowledge search box opens to Recently searched with benefit appeal deadline, housing evidence upload, and debt advice appointment, each showing scope, time, result count, and a remove control. | A search results page shows Save search beside the result count, opens a naming dialog, and previews query, filters, scope, and sort before saving. | A procurement dashboard shows Recently viewed records with title, record type, status, project, last-viewed time, and a remove control for each row. |
| Bad UI | The history page shows recent, saved, sponsored, and another user's searches in one undated list. | A list called Recent includes promoted queries, saved searches, recently viewed suppliers, and another user's sensitive query. | Saved searches, recently searched terms, browser bookmarks, and saved filters are mixed in one list called Saved. | Recent history becomes a surveillance surface on shared accounts or screen shares. |
| Good UX | A user pauses future search history capture and sees that old history remains until they delete it. | A user removes housing evidence upload from recent searches, and only that query disappears while saved searches and viewed records remain intact. | A user saves a search for Open renewal risks, returns next week, reruns it, and sees newly matching cases included. | A user on a shared account removes an unexpected document from the recent list and understands that Favorites are stored separately. |
| Bad UX | Deleting search history removes named saved searches and saved filters because passive history and intentional saved objects share a destructive action. | Users think a recent search is a managed saved search and expect it to update dashboard alerts. | Saving search stores only the current three results, so future matching records are missing. | Users trust a Recently viewed rail as a recommendation and choose an irrelevant item because sponsored content was mixed into history. |
| Best fit | Search activity persists beyond the current session and users need to inspect or control it. | Users revisit a search surface and benefit from rerunning recent query wording. | Users repeat the same search criteria across sessions or operational cycles. | Users inspect multiple objects and often need to return to one they recently opened. |
| Avoid when | The product only needs a short inline list of recent queries for quick rerun. | Users need managed, named, shared, subscribed, or dashboard-backed search criteria. | The list is small enough that recent searches, bookmarks, or manual scanning solve the problem. | The team wants to promote products, recommend next actions, or show related content rather than return personal history. |
| Required state | Empty history state with storage scope and next steps. | Empty or hidden state before any qualifying query has been submitted. | Unsaved current search with Save search available only when criteria are meaningful. | Empty or hidden state before any qualifying item has been viewed. |
| Accessibility burden | Use headings and table or list semantics that expose query, source, date, and scope for each entry. | Use a heading or labelled region that identifies the list as recent search history. | Use labelled form fields for saved-search name, description, visibility, and subscription settings. | Use a heading or labelled region that describes the scope of the list. |
| Common misuse | Using search history as a generic label for a short recently searched dropdown. | Recording unsubmitted keystrokes as search history. | Saving static result IDs instead of reusable criteria. | Filling recently viewed with recommendations, ads, popular items, or related content. |