View, delete, or turn on or off watch history

YouTube watch history makes it easy to find videos you recently watched, and, when it’s turned on, allows us to give relevant video recommendations. You can control your watch history by deleting or turning off your history. If you delete some or all of your watch history, YouTube won’t base future video recommendations on that content. Any videos that you watch while history is turned off won't show up in your history.

View watch history

  1. Sign in to your Google Account.
  2. Go to myactivity.google.com.
  3. Click YouTube History.
  4. Click Manage history to see the videos you’ve watched.
Note: You can’t view your watch history while signed out.

Delete watch history

  1. Sign in to your Google Account. 
  2. Go to myactivity.google.com.
  3. Click YouTube History.
  4. Click Manage history.
  5. Click DELETE to choose a timeframe for the videos you’d like to delete.

If you visit the History tab directly from YouTube, you may also see this option presented as the ability to clear your watch history.

If you have no significant prior watch history, YouTube features that rely on your watch history to give video recommendations, like recommendations on the YouTube homepage, are removed. For instance, this applies if you are a new user before watching any videos or if you choose to clear and turn off your watch history.

Turn on or off watch history

  1. Sign in to your Google Account.
  2. Go to myactivity.google.com.
  3. Click YouTube History.
  4. Click Turn on or Turn off.

On this page, you can also choose what you’d like to include in your watch history while it’s turned on. By selecting from the list of options, you can choose to:

Note: If you visit the History tab directly from YouTube, you may also see this option presented as the ability to pause your watch history.

Remove a video from watch history

  1. Sign in to your Google Account.
  2. Go to myactivity.google.com.
  3. Click YouTube History.
  4. Click Manage history.
  5. Click the delete button  beside the video you’d like to remove.
Note: If you remove any videos from your watch history while your device is offline, it might take a few hours for those changes to be made.

Search watch history

  1. Sign in to your Google Account.
  2. Go to myactivity.google.com.
  3. Click YouTube History.
  4. Click Manage history.
  5. Click Search .

Automatically delete your YouTube history

  1. Sign in to your Google Account.
  2. Go to myactivity.google.com.
  3. Click YouTube History.
  4. Click Manage history.
  5. Click Auto-delete.
  6. Select your preferred time range, then click Next.
  7. Click Confirm when done.

TV, game console, or media streaming box

Pause your watch history

  1. In the left-hand Menu, go to Settings .
  2. Select Pause watch history.
  3. Select the Pause watch history button.

Clear your watch history

  1. In the left-hand Menu, go to Settings .
  2. Select Clear watch history.
  3. Select the Clear watch history button.

Pause & clear watch history while signed out

Even when you're signed out, YouTube improves your recommendations based on the videos that you watch on that device.

To turn off or delete your watch history while signed out:

  1. Go to the YouTube app. 
  2. Tap the profile picture . 
  3. Tap Settings .
  4. Tap History & privacy.
  5. Tap clear watch history or pause watch history.

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