Clear YouTube Search & Watch History

YouTube offers the option to sign in with a Google account. This gives the user useful extras, such as creating playlists and preparing videos for later viewing. YouTube also keeps track of which videos someone searches and watches. In this way, the video platform can give the user better recommendations and people can also continue to look at where they left off at a later time. Not everyone likes this. For example, because they think that Google knows so much about them because of it. Don’t want YouTube to store data? Clear the search and watch history or prevent YouTube from saving the data.

If you use YouTube without logging in, you don’t have to worry about this. YouTube will then not keep a search and watch history.

To view your YouTube search and watch history on a computer:

• Open the site https://myactivity.google.com
• Sign in to Google if you haven’t already done so. If you are already logged in, skip the next five steps.
  • click on login.
  • Enter the email address of the account you use on YouTube.
  • click on Next one.
  • Enter your password.
  • click on Next one.
• Click on the left Other Google activity.
• Under ‘YouTube’ history, click Manage activity.
• An overview of the search and watch history on YouTube opens.

The overview of the search and viewing history shows the searches and videos viewed per day. Click on the trash can behind a date to delete all results from that day. Prefer to delete the entire search history at once? Do that as follows:

• On the right under ‘Browse your activity’, click remove.
• click on All the time.
• click on remove.

YouTube can also automatically clear history. This is possible every 3, 18 or 36 months.

• Click on the right block under ‘YouTube history’ Auto delete (off).
• Check the desired number of months after which YouTube deletes the history.
• click on Next one.
• click on Confirm.
• click on OK.

Do you want YouTube not to save history at all? Turn this feature off.

• Under ‘YouTube history’ click on the left block on Activity is saved.
• Uncheck Including the YouTube videos you watched.
• In the notification, click Interrupt and then on OK.
• Uncheck Including your YouTube searches.
• In the notification, click Interrupt and then on OK.
• click on Close.

Of course, you can also adjust the settings in the YouTube app. Anyone who is not signed in with a Google account will delete the history of the device. Are you logged in? Then you delete the history of the account via the app, regardless of the device you are looking on. So if you erase the history from a smartphone, you will no longer find it on the PC.

• Open the YouTube app.
• At the top, tap the icon with your photo, a doll or your initial(s).
• Tap on Institutions.
• Tap on Clear watch history. On an Android device, first tap History and privacy.
• Tap on Clear watch history.
• Also clear the search history? Tap on Clear search history.
• Tap on Clear search history.
• Tap the cross to close the settings.

Indicate in the YouTube app that you do not want to save the search and viewing behavior.

• Launch the app from YouTube.
• At the top, tap the icon with your photo, a doll or your initial(s).
• Tap on Institutions.
• On an Android device, tap History and privacy.
• Under ‘Pause Watch History’, tap the gray slider.
• Tap on Pause.
• Tap the gray slider under ‘Pause search history’.
• Tap on Pause. The sliders turn blue. If they were already blue, the search and viewing behavior was not saved.
• Tap the cross to close the settings.