Do you ever receive inappropriate YouTube recommendations? YouTube is the world’s most popular platform for streaming videos, with more than 2 billion users per month. It includes features like the PiP mode on iPhone and Android and has a tonne of material that is accessible to everyone. YouTube offers a wide variety of videos that we may all view alone or with friends. However, occasionally we also come across items that we no longer find interesting, such as songs from various genres or time-consuming hilarious videos. It’s advised to remove your YouTube history in this situation to prevent further viewing of similar videos. Here’s how to wipe your YouTube history on Android, iOS, and the web if you want a fresh start on YouTube.
How to Delete YouTube History on Every Device in 2022
For more accurate suggestions and easy access to previously viewed material, YouTube stores our search, watch, and comment history. To prevent receiving similar recommendations or to keep our viewing habits private on a family device, we occasionally need to delete items from our YouTube history. Let’s look at numerous ways to remove YouTube history and completely eliminate data collecting for privacy concerns.
What Happens When You Delete YouTube History
Any trace of a movie you watched or a title you searched on YouTube will vanish if you delete your history. Only when you are signed in to YouTube does it keep track of your viewing and searching history, and this information is stored on the server. So long as you can login in to YouTube, you may access your YouTube history from any app for iOS, Android, or web browser.
Your YouTube history is actively used by the YouTube algorithm to suggest videos for your home feed. So, by deleting stuff from the history, you can modify the suggestions. You have the option of manually removing a video or completely deleting your history. Remember that clearing all of your history will not affect the channels or videos you have subscribed to or liked. You will still have access to the advice based on them.
YouTube erases every view from the history when you remove a specific video that you have watched numerous times, such a music video. In other words, if you’ve seen a certain video 100 times, uninstalling it just once will erase all of your previous viewings of it. Additionally, erasing the YouTube history cannot be undone. An object cannot be replaced once it has been removed.
Last but not least, erasing your complete YouTube watch history will also delete the history of your YouTube Music account. Therefore, avoid cleaning your whole YouTube watch history if you don’t want to lose your music recommendations from YouTube Music. It seems unreasonable that YouTube Music is integrated into the main app. There is no way to halt the sync, though. Using a different email account for YouTube Music is another option to avoid this, as losing the priceless recommendations hurts unquestionably.
How to Delete YouTube Watching History on Android, iOS, and Web Browser
There are two ways to remove your YouTube viewing history. Either a specific video can be deleted, or your entire viewing history can be erased. Your recommendations will be reset as a result of the deletion, giving you a fresh start. Let’s look at how to remove your YouTube viewing history from different devices.
On a Web Browser
To erase your YouTube watch history when utilising a browser, follow these steps.
- Open YouTube (website) on any web browser.
- Then, open the Options menu by clicking the three horizontal lines on the top-left corner.
- Here, click on the History option.
- You can see the list of all videos you have seen recently on this tab. Hover over the video you want to delete and press the cross to delete it. YouTube will remove the video from your watching history immediately.
You can delete one video at a time using the previously specified techniques. However, you should follow the instructions below if you wish to delete all movies at once.
- Open YouTube (website) on any web browser.
- Then, open the Options menu by clicking the three horizontal lines on the top-left corner.
- Here, click on the History section.
- Click on Clear all watching history from the right side of the screen.
- YouTube will ask you to confirm your choice since deleting all YouTube history will reset your recommendation. Click Clear watching history to confirm your choice.
Your entire YouTube viewing history across all devices will be deleted if you choose this option.
On Android
There are few choices for managing your YouTube history on an Android smartphone. You can erase your whole YouTube viewing history. However, a native YouTube application does not directly offer the ability to delete a single video. More on it later. You may still delete items from your Google Activity one at a time. Here’s how to clean out your Android device’s YouTube viewing history.
- Open the YouTube app.
- Tap on your profile icon to open the options menu.
- Now, click on Settings.
- Here, tap on History and privacy.
- Lastly, tap on Clear watch history to remove all watching history from your YouTube.
On iOS Device
On both Android and iOS apps, the procedure to delete your YouTube watch history is the same. To delete your iOS device’s YouTube viewing history, follow the instructions listed below.
- Open the YouTube app.
- Tap on your profile icon to open the options menu.
- Now, click on Settings.
- Here, tap on History and privacy.
- Lastly, tap on Clear watch history to remove all watching history from your YouTube.
How to Delete YouTube Search History from Android, iOS, and Web Browser
Technically speaking, YouTube is a search engine that directs material to a location based on your search keywords. The recommendation so heavily depends on what you look for on your YouTube account. Therefore, eliminating unwanted search phrases will aid you in managing your YouTube suggestions. Let’s look at how to delete the YouTube search history from different devices.
On a Web Browser
To delete your search history from YouTube using a web browser, follow these steps.
- Open YouTube.com on any browser.
- Now, open the Options by clicking on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) from the top-left corner.
- Here, click on the History option.
- Now, select Manage all history from the right side of the screen. It will take you to the YouTube history section of your Google Activity.
- You can remove individual search terms by clicking on the cross icon beside every search activity.
My Activity on Google is a one-stop shop for managing all the information the company has about you. You can look for specific videos you’ve seen or a previous search keyword in the YouTube area. By selecting the delete option as indicated in the image below, you can also remove all history from the previous hour, day, or a custom range depending on your needs.
On Android
You have a unique option in the Android app to clear all of your YouTube account’s search history. However, you must go to the previously mentioned My Activity page if you want to delete a specific search phrase. Here’s how to delete your YouTube search history on an Android device.
- Open the YouTube app.
- Tap on your profile icon to open the options menu.
- Now, click on Settings.
- Here, tap on History and privacy.
- Now, tap on the option Clear search history.
- Confirm your choice on the pop-up by selecting Clear search history.
There it is. Your whole YouTube search history will be immediately deleted. Open your YouTube activity by clicking on Manage your activity if you want to delete a specific search phrase.
On iOS Device
You have the option to remove the whole search history at once on the iOS app, which functions similarly to the Android app. To rapidly delete your YouTube search history on an iOS device, follow the instructions listed below.
- Open the YouTube app.
- Tap on your profile icon to open the options menu.
- Now, click on Settings.
- Here, tap on History and privacy.
- Now, tap on the option Clear search history.
- Confirm your choice on the pop-up by selecting Clear search history.
How to Automatically Delete your YouTube History on Android, iOS, or a Browser
We have the option on YouTube to have our account history deleted automatically after a certain amount of time. By retrieving ideas based on your recent activities, it will keep your history clear and aid in helping you concentrate on vital matters. You can select a time frame that works for you, ranging from three months to three years. However, you might wish to ignore this choice if you want Youtube to propose videos based on a wide range of data. In light of the foregoing, here is how to instantly remove your YouTube history.
- Open YouTube.com on any browser.
- Click on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) at the top-left of your screen.
- Now, go to History.
- Here, click on Manage all history. It will open the My Activity page for your Google account.
- Now, select the card saying Auto-delete.
- Here, check the circle for Auto-delete activity older than and select the period from the three available options. Then, click Next.
- Lastly, finalize your decision by clicking Confirm on the next pop-up.
That’s it. As of right now, YouTube will continuously delete any information that was saved on your account prior to the time you specified, as well as the previously viewed videos and searches. Regarding iOS and Android devices:
- Go to the YouTube app.
- Click on the profile icon.
- Now, go to Settings.
- Select History and privacy.
- Here, click on Manage all activity. It will open the My Activity page for your Google account.
- Now, select the card saying Auto-delete.
- Here, check the circle for Auto-delete activity older than and select the period from the three available options.
- Lastly, finalize your decision by clicking Confirm on the next pop-up.
While you’re there, you may go to your My Activity page and delete specific items from your search and watch history. To delete an activity, tap on the cross next to it, then click “Confirm” on the following pop-up.
How to Pause YouTube History
If you’re temporarily lending someone your smartphone and don’t want their searches to effect your feed, YouTube’s pause feature can come in handy. You can instruct YouTube to stop collecting any data for the specified time by pausing your history there. The data gathering is always up for you to switch on. So, if you wish to prevent YouTube from logging your activity, follow the instructions for pausing your YouTube viewing history.
- Open YouTube on a browser.
- Click on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) at the top-left of your screen.
- Now, go to History.
- Here, click on the settings saying Pause watch history.
- Then, confirm your choice by clicking on Pause in the next pop-up.
Only the YouTube watch history will be stopped by this feature. You must visit your activity page if you want to suspend the search history. Here’s how to pause all of YouTube’s history.
- Open YouTube.com on any browser.
- Now, open the Options menu by clicking on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) from the top-right corner.
- Here, click on the History option.
- Now, select Manage all history from the right side of the screen. It will take you to the YouTube history section of your Google Activity.
- Here, select Saving activity.
- Now, tap on Turn off. Select if you want to stop watch and search history both or either one.
- Lastly, confirm your choice by clicking Pause on the next pop-up.
On iOS and Android Devices
On YouTube’s smartphone apps, pausing the search and viewing history is simple. To learn how to accomplish it, follow the instructions.
- Open the YouTube app.
- Click on the profile icon.
- Tap on Settings.
- Now, go to History and privacy.
- Here, toggle Pause search history, and Pause watch history.
- Confirm your choice on the next pop-up.
That’s it. From that point forward, YouTube will no longer collect any data. Keep in mind that pausing your YouTube history has no effect on the videos you’ve already seen. You must still delete them if you want to get rid of them.
How to Use Incognito Mode on YouTube
Use the incognito mode to temporarily halt your YouTube history. The incognito option on YouTube is excellent and gives you access to a guest profile for a single session. While you use incognito mode to access YouTube, no data will be collected. Therefore, use Incognito mode if you intend to watch any videos that could negatively impact your search recommendation in order to prevent any further issues. Unfortunately, the YouTube applications are the only ones that offer this capability. Therefore, if you wish to utilise YouTube on your PC or Mac, I advise using the incognito mode of your browser. Here’s how to use YouTube’s incognito mode in light of that.
- Open YouTube through the app.
- Open the Options menu by clicking on the profile icon.
- Select Incognito Mode.
That’s it. You will have a temporary session created by YouTube. As long as you are in incognito mode, it won’t make any suggestions or save your search or viewing history. You must close the app to end the session.
Delete Your YouTube History and Get a Fresh Start
To reorganise your feed suggestions, it might be helpful to occasionally think about removing your YouTube history. You can also utilise it if you value your privacy and don’t want Google to monitor your daily activities. You may even turn off personalised advertising on YouTube if the ad-tracking annoys you. How frequently do you remove your YouTube history? Please tell us in the comments.