Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 2.8 billion monthly active users as of 2022. On Facebook, users can post status updates, share photos and videos, comment on friends’ posts, join groups, and use Facebook features like Events, Marketplace, and Watch. With so many users actively engaging with content on Facebook, data privacy has become an increasing concern.
One common question people have is whether Facebook stores your watch history – the videos and live streams you view on Facebook Watch. The answer is yes, Facebook does keep track of videos you watch through Facebook Watch and other video content on the platform. Here is a detailed look at what Facebook records about your viewing history, how long they store it, and whether you can delete your Facebook watch history.
What Video Watch History Does Facebook Track?
Facebook tracks a few different types of video viewing behavior:
- Facebook Watch – Videos you specifically view through the Facebook Watch tab or section are logged by Facebook. This includes videos from Pages you follow, friends’ public videos, watch parties, and more.
- Videos in News Feed – Videos you watch that auto-play or that you click on in your main News Feed are also tracked.
- Videos on friend’s profiles – If you watch a video posted on a friend’s timeline or in their photos section, Facebook registers that viewing activity.
- Live streams – When you view a Facebook Live video from a friend, Page, or Group, Facebook logs details on the live stream video session.
- External links and embeds – If you watch a YouTube video or other external video someone has shared as a link or embedded post on Facebook, your viewing of that video also gets tracked.
In essence, any video content you watch while on Facebook gets stored in your video watch history. Facebook tracks the details about which videos you watch, how long you watch them, when you watch them, and more.
How Does Facebook Collect Watch History?
Facebook has a few methods for tracking your watch history and logging the videos you view:
- Facebook Pixel – Many videos on Facebook contain the Facebook Pixel, a snippet of code that tracks views of Pixel-enabled content. So when you watch a video with the Pixel, it pings Facebook’s servers to record it.
- Video APIs – Facebook’s video APIs also enable tracking of video sessions, views, and other analytics.
- Actions Logging – Facebook logs information on all user actions taken on the platform, including details like when you click play on a video.
- Watch History Section – Facebook has a dedicated Watch History section that dynamically updates to show the videos you’ve recently watched.
With this combination of methods, Facebook is able to build up a comprehensive repository detailing your Facebook watch history and viewership behaviors.
What Exact Data Does Facebook Store?
For each video you watch on Facebook, the platform can record:
- The video content you watched – the specific video, live stream, watch party, etc.
- Date and time you watched the video
- How long you watched the video for
- Whether you watched the full video or just a portion
- What device you were on when watching
- Your interaction details, like whether you reacted, commented, shared, etc.
Facebook may also derive other data from your watch patterns, like what types of videos you watch frequently, how often you watch videos, who you watch videos from the most, and more.
How Long Does Facebook Store Watch History?
Facebook stores your watch history data indefinitely – there is no limit on how long your video views and history are kept on record.
According to Facebook: “We store data until it is no longer necessary to provide our services and Facebook Products, or until your account is deleted – whichever comes first.”
So unless you proactively delete your Facebook account, your video watch history will persist in Facebook’s databases with no automatic expiration.
Can You Delete Facebook Watch History?
Facebook does not provide an option to directly clear or delete your video watch history.
However, there are couple of methods you can use to remove records of your Facebook watch activity:
Turn Off Future Video History
You can stop Facebook from continuing to log your watch history going forward by turning off the “Future Video History” setting:
- Go to the Facebook Settings menu and select “Videos”.
- Under the “Video History” section, toggle the “Future Video History” option off.
This prevents Facebook from storing details on any new videos you watch. But it does not erase your existing history.
Delete Videos from Watch History
To manually remove videos from your history:
- Go to the Watch section on Facebook.
- Click on the “Watch History” tab.
- Hover over a video you want deleted and click the X icon.
- Repeat to remove other videos you don’t want in your history.
However, this is a very tedious process if you want to delete a lot of videos. And questionable how effective it is since Facebook likely maintains the records on their servers even if you remove videos from the Watch History display.
Delete Facebook Account
The only surefire way to completely erase your Facebook watch history is to delete your Facebook account entirely. This will remove all data Facebook has stored about you, including your video views.
Steps to delete your Facebook account:
- Go to the Delete Account page.
- Select “Delete Account” button.
- Follow prompts to enter password and submit the request.
- After submitting request, account is deleted after 30 days.
Once the 30 days is up and account deletion completes, your Facebook watch history will be wiped from Facebook’s records. However, keep in mind deleting your account also erases all other Facebook data, and deactivation prevents restoring the account.
Does Facebook Share Watch History?
Facebook uses your watch history data internally to serve relevant video recommendations and ads. But Facebook claims they do not directly share your personal video watch history data externally with third parties.
However, Facebook does provide “aggregated insights” from user video watch history to advertisers, content creators, and other partners. These aggregated insights are high-level anonymous data focused on overall viewing patterns and trends. Facebook shares these aggregated insights to provide analytics on how videos are performing and insight to optimize video strategy.
So while your personal watch details remain private, Facebook does leverage users’ collective watch history and patterns to optimize the video experience and offerings on Facebook.
Does Facebook Connect Watch History Across Devices?
Yes, Facebook does link your watch history across devices. When you log into your Facebook account on desktop, mobile, tablet, or other devices, your watch activity gets tied back to your unified account profile.
So your Facebook watch history is aggregated across iOS devices, Android devices, computers you use Facebook on, and any other platforms. The history is connected to build a complete profile of the videos you watch through Facebook.
Does Facebook Use Watch History for Ads?
Facebook does utilize your watch history and video interests to serve tailored ads. Part of how Facebook targets ads is based on your video viewing behavior.
For example, if Facebook notices you watch a lot of cooking videos, you may see more ads related to cooking, kitchen tools, grocery delivery services, etc. Video views provide signals to Facebook on your interests to align ads.
Facebook’s detailed data on your viewing patterns provides in-depth insight on your interests and preferences. So Facebook absolutely leverages your watch history profile to infer interests and better target video ads.
How to Check Your Facebook Watch History
To view your Facebook watch history:
- Go to the Watch menu in Facebook.
- Select the “Your Watch History” tab.
- This shows videos you’ve recently watched on Facebook.
From the Watch History page, you can remove videos you don’t want saved in your history.
However, this is just what Facebook displays to you from your history. The full watch history Facebook stores likely contains more detailed records beyond just the recent videos displayed here.
Does Messenger Store Watch History?
Videos and links you view within Facebook Messenger chats also get tracked as part of your Facebook watch history.
When you watch a video, GIF, or link in a Messenger conversation, Facebook logs details on the video session and adds it to your overall cross-platform watch history.
So even in Messenger, no video views are truly private from Facebook’s tracking.
Is Watch History Tracked for Non-Facebook Videos?
External videos that get shared and watched on Facebook are also tracked in your Facebook watch history.
For example, if a friend shares a YouTube video and you watch it on Facebook, details on viewing that YouTube clip still get logged to your Facebook profile.
Any third-party videos like YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, etc. that you view through Facebook get recorded in Facebook’s systems. Facebook tracks whenever you play these shared off-site videos.
Conclusion
Facebook does keep extensive records on users’ video watch history across the Facebook platform. Any videos, live streams, or shared links you view on Facebook get logged to build a detailed profile of your watching behaviors.
Facebook stores full details on your current and past watch history with no limitations on retention. You have limited options to remove videos from your history one by one. But the only way to fully erase records of your Facebook watch activity is deleting your account entirely.
Facebook leverages the watch history data internally to recommend videos and target ads. But claims not to share your personal viewing information outside of aggregate anonymous insights.
Understanding what Facebook tracks about your watch history, how long they keep it, and how they use it allows you to make informed decisions about what videos you view on Facebook and how much of your viewing behaviors you are comfortable sharing with Facebook.
Facebook provides great convenience in allowing users to view a wide range of videos. But in exchange, Facebook gains deeper insight into your interests and preferences from recording what you watch. It is ultimately up to each user to decide what information they are willing to exchange for access to Facebook’s video offerings.