Over time, your YouTube watch history can become quite extensive, collecting videos you’ve watched over months or even years. While this watch history allows YouTube to better recommend videos tailored to your interests, you may eventually want to clear out your YouTube history entirely for privacy reasons or to improve your video recommendations. Fortunately, deleting your entire YouTube watch history is simple to do through your YouTube account settings.
In this article, we’ll walk through the steps to clear your full YouTube watch history in the YouTube website and mobile app. We’ll also discuss factors to consider before wiping your history, like impacts on your recommendations.
Should You Delete Your YouTube Watch History?
Before deleting all of your YouTube watch history, think through the pros and cons:
Pros
– Privacy: Removing your watch history prevents that data from being connected to your account.
– Improve recommendations: Eliminating your watch history resets YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. This can surface new suggested videos.
– Save storage space: A long watch history takes up storage that could be used for other data.
– Start fresh: Clearing your history can feel like a clean slate on YouTube.
Cons
– Lose personalized recommendations: YouTube will have less historical data to refine suggestions for your interests.
– Re-watching: You may end up re-watching videos you’ve already seen but forgotten.
– Lose your place: Playlists and videos you’re partially through will forget where you left off.
– Accidental deletion: Make sure to download any playlists or save videos you want to keep first!
So in summary, clearing your YouTube history can help protect privacy and improve recommendations at the cost of losing customization. Evaluate your priorities and preferences before deleting.
How to Delete Watch History on YouTube Website
Deleting your full YouTube watch history through the YouTube website just takes a few clicks:
1. Sign into your YouTube account on a browser.
2. Click on your profile picture in the top right corner.
3. Select “Your data in YouTube” from the menu.
4. On the left menu bar, click “History & privacy.”
5. Click the “Delete watch history” button.
6. Confirm that you want to delete your entire watch history by clicking “Delete all watch history” in the popup box.
Once you complete these steps, your YouTube watch history will be completely cleared out. YouTube will no longer connect your account to any previously watched videos.
Key Tips
– Make sure you’re signed into the correct YouTube account. The watch history will be cleared just for that account.
– Download any important playlists or videos before deleting, so you have copies.
– You can also pause watch history temporarily rather than deleting. This preserves the data.
– Consider turning off watch history collection if you don’t want an ongoing record.
So with just half a dozen clicks, you can completely wipe your YouTube watch history through the YouTube website. The process is very straightforward.
Deleting Watch History on Mobile YouTube App
On the YouTube mobile app for iOS or Android, the process is very similar:
1. Open up the YouTube app on your phone or tablet.
2. Tap on your account icon in the top right corner.
3. Select “Settings.”
4. Choose “History & privacy.”
5. Tap “Delete watch history.”
6. Confirm that you want to delete your entire history.
This will likewise clear all videos you’ve previously watched from your account history. The same considerations around losing recommendations and re-watching videos apply.
Key Tips
– Make sure you’re signed into the YouTube account you want to clear history for.
– If you have multiple connected Google accounts, check which one is active.
– You can also pause watch history instead of deleting if preferred.
– Turn off “Watch history” in settings to prevent collection going forward.
So in just a few taps, you can delete your full YouTube watch history on mobile. The process is very quick and easy using the YouTube app.
Other Ways to Delete YouTube Watch History
In addition to directly clearing your watch history through YouTube, there are a couple other methods you can use:
Delete YouTube History in Google Dashboard
Since YouTube is owned by Google, you can manage your YouTube history through your Google account dashboard:
1. Go to https://myaccount.google.com.
2. Sign into your account if needed.
3. Select “Data & privacy” from the left menu.
4. Scroll down and select “YouTube History.”
5. Click the three dots beside “YouTube History” and choose “Delete.”
This will delete your entire YouTube watch history across any connected devices.
YouTube History Browser Extension
Browser extensions like History Trends Unlimited allow you to delete your YouTube watch history in just one click through your web browser. Just install the extension, sign into your Google account, and click to erase your history.
So if you prefer managing your Google account or tools through your browser, these options allow you to delete your YouTube watch history without going directly through YouTube.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far back does deleting YouTube history go?
Deleting your YouTube watch history clears your entire history for the account, going back to the beginning of the account creation. It does not have a time limit.
Can deleting history affect my subscriptions?
No, clearing your watch history has no impact on your YouTube subscriptions, playlists or saved videos. It only affects your account’s record of previously watched videos.
Is it better to pause or delete watch history?
Pausing your watch history temporarily stops collection without deleting, while deleting removes your history entirely. If you want a clean slate, deleting is better, but pausing preserves the data.
Can I delete my history on only one device?
Unfortunately, you can only delete your YouTube watch history for your entire account, not for a single device. It’s all or nothing.
Does YouTube recommend videos based on watch history?
Yes, your YouTube watch history is a major factor in YouTube’s recommendations algorithm, along with your likes, comments, searches, and other engagement.
Conclusion
Deleting your YouTube watch history can give you a fresh start, protect privacy, and improve recommendations at the cost of losing personalized suggestions. Just a few clicks in your YouTube account settings or Google dashboard can wipe your full history across all devices. Carefully consider the pros and cons before deleting.
With the steps in this guide, you can easily take control of your YouTube watch history. Deleting it entirely may help enhance your viewing experience if recommendations have gone askew or you want to prioritize privacy. Just weigh the tradeoffs and go through YouTube or Google account settings to clear your full history in seconds.