Black Friday and the holiday shopping rush are here, and if you’re sharing an Amazon account, you might be looking for ways to maintain a little privacy about your purchases. Perhaps you’ve snagged some amazing Amazon Black Friday deals and want to keep gifts a surprise, or simply prefer to keep certain personal buys discreet. Fortunately, Amazon offers a way to archive your orders, effectively hiding them from immediate view.
Archiving orders on Amazon is a straightforward process that moves them from your default order history to a separate archived section. While these orders aren’t completely deleted and can still be accessed if you know where to look, it’s an excellent method to declutter your main order history and keep prying eyes away from specific purchases. Beyond archiving, you can also enhance your privacy by managing your browsing history.
Here’s a comprehensive guide on How To Archive Amazon Orders, how to view these archived orders when needed, and how to manage your browsing history for an extra layer of discretion.
Step-by-Step Guide to Archive Amazon Orders
It’s important to note that the archiving feature is only available on the Amazon website. You cannot archive orders through the mobile app. Here’s how to do it on your computer:
1. Open your web browser and navigate to the Amazon website. If you’re not already logged in, do so using your account credentials.
2. Once logged in, locate the Account & Lists dropdown menu at the top right of the page. Hover over it to expand the menu options, and then click on Orders. This will take you to your order history.
3. Scroll through your order history to find the specific order you wish to archive. Once you’ve located it, look for the Archive order button. It’s typically located in the bottom-left corner of the order summary box.
4. Click the Archive order button. A confirmation pop-up window will appear, asking if you’re sure you want to archive the order.
5. In the pop-up window, click Archive order again to confirm your action.
6. After successfully archiving, you will see a confirmation message briefly appear at the top of your orders page, indicating that the order has been archived.
Remember, archiving an order does not delete it. It simply moves it to a separate archive section, cleaning up your main order history view.
How to Find and View Your Archived Amazon Orders
If you need to review an archived order, or perhaps unarchive it, accessing your archived orders is just as simple:
1. Go to the Amazon website and log into your Amazon account.
2. Hover over Account & Lists and click on Orders to get to your order history page, just as you did when archiving.
3. Above your list of orders, you’ll see a dropdown menu that likely defaults to showing orders placed within a certain timeframe (e.g., “past 3 months” or “2024”). Click this dropdown.
4. In the dropdown menu, scroll down and select Archived Orders. This selection will filter your order history to display only your archived purchases.
Now you can browse through all your archived orders. From this page, you can view order details, track shipments if applicable, and even unarchive an order if you want it to reappear in your main order history. To unarchive, simply locate the order and click the “Unarchive Order” button, which is found in the same place where the “Archive order” button was originally.
Taking Privacy Further: Hiding Your Amazon Browsing History
While archiving orders is great for keeping purchases out of sight, your browsing history can also reveal gift ideas or personal interests. Amazon tracks your browsing history to personalize recommendations, but you can manage this for added privacy. Here’s how to hide items from your Amazon browsing history:
1. Navigate to the Amazon website and log in.
2. Hover over Account & Lists, and this time, click on Browsing History.
3. You’ll see a list of items you’ve recently viewed on Amazon. For each item, there will be a Remove from view button just below the product name.
4. To hide a specific item from your browsing history, simply click the Remove from view button next to it.
5. Once clicked, you’ll see a “Removed” message appear over the item, and it will be grayed out. If you refresh the page, the item will disappear completely from your browsing history view.
Additionally, from the Browsing History page, you also have the option to Manage history. Clicking this button provides options to:
- Turn Browsing History Off/On: You can disable browsing history tracking altogether.
- Clear Browsing History: With one click, you can delete your entire browsing history.
Managing your browsing history in conjunction with archiving orders provides a more comprehensive approach to privacy on Amazon, especially during gift-giving seasons or when sharing an account.
Frequently Asked Questions about Archiving Amazon Orders
I can’t find the “Archive Order” button. Where is it?
If you are having trouble locating the Archive order button, ensure you are on the Amazon website (not the app) and viewing your orders in “Your Orders” section under “Account & Lists”. The button is located within each individual order summary, typically at the bottom left. If you still can’t find it, try refreshing the page or checking if the order is past the eligible archiving period (though Amazon generally allows archiving for a long time). As a workaround, you can also type “Archive Orders” into the Amazon search bar. Often, a link to “Your Archived Orders” will appear, which can help you navigate to the correct section.
Why is my Archived Orders page empty?
If your archived orders page is empty, it simply means you haven’t archived any orders yet. Don’t worry, your order history is still intact! To see your regular order history, go back to the main Orders page (via Account & Lists > Orders) and ensure you are viewing “Orders placed in” the relevant timeframe. Use the dropdown to adjust the time period if you are looking for older orders. Archiving is a manual process, so you need to proactively archive each order you wish to hide from the default view.
By using these methods, you can effectively manage your Amazon order history and browsing history to maintain privacy and keep your purchases under wraps when needed.
