When you sign into YouTube with your Google account, YouTube keeps a record of everything you do on the site: What you watched, what you searched, even what you previewed. This allows the site to recommend new videos based on your tastes. But YouTube is a part of Google, raising questions about who has access to your data. If you want to clear your search history, YouTube is a good place to start. Show
Note that clearing this history means it’s only cleared from your device or browser; your data will still be stored on YouTube’s (or Google’s) servers. How to clear YouTube history
Clearing both watch history and search history will remove recommended videos on the YouTube homepage. However, it will not clear favorited videos, or channels you subscribe to. Clearing YouTube history—advanced optionsIf you want to do a more thorough sweep of your YouTube search history, try clearing history in the YouTube mobile apps, and on both your mobile and desktop browsers. Clearing search history in the YouTube app
Clearing YouTube search history on your computerTo delete your YouTube watch and search history on your laptop or desktop:
Using Incognito ModeIn the future, you can avoid having to delete your YouTube history by watching videos in Incognito mode, which is available in both the mobile apps and as a browser viewing option. To select this from the YouTube app:
Note that you can also pause your watch history or search history instead. To do this in your desktop browser:
To pause watch history or search history in the iPhone app:
If you’re logged in to YouTube, click your profile picture to open the Settings menu and find the Your Data in YouTube option. From here, you’ll have a number of options to control what info YouTube tracks. Among those are:
Your Data in YouTube also lets you make some Google-wide data choices, such as location history and ad settings. Watch YouTube in Brave for better performanceTo see YouTube without annoying ads, and get faster performance, consider downloading the Brave browser and watching YouTube in Brave instead. Brave automatically blocks trackers and YouTube ads via Brave Shields. Brave is a free download, and it only takes 60 seconds to switch. YouTube is one of the largest video streaming websites. About 500 hours of content are uploaded to the streaming giant every minute. Unlike Netflix and other streaming giants, YouTube is run by independent content creators. As a result, search and discovery are essential parts of YouTube. Therefore, YouTube stores a viewer’s activity on the platform to curate personalized content. YouTube tracks and stores components of user activity such as comments, search history and watch history. Users can manage this data to protect their privacy, as they can view and delete YouTube search history and watch history. Search history is useful because it stores previous searches that the user can use for future reference. However, some might consider this an invasion of privacy. Therefore, users have the option to delete their YouTube search history. If you’re too paranoid, you can set your history to be deleted automatically or stop your search history altogether. These tools are built into the YouTube app and website. Please note that disabling your YouTube search history may affect your recommendations. In this guide, you’ll learn how to view and clear your YouTube search history in the YouTube app and on the website.
By tapping on the search bar, you can take a look at your recent search history. However, you’ll need to access Google’s My Activity page for a more detailed look. You can filter your YouTube search history by date and search terms. To view your YouTube search history, 1. Go to Google’s MyActivity page. 2. Click YouTube History. 3. Select Manage History. 4. You can view your detailed YouTube search history here. Use the calendar and search options to enhance your search. You can find the option to delete YouTube search history on the same page. Click on the blue DELETE button > Delete all time to delete your search history completely. How to Delete YouTube Search History using the YouTube Android appYouTube allows users to delete their search history via their Android app. The process is simple and easy to follow. 1. Log in to your Google account. 2. Click on your profile icon. 3. Go to Settings. 4. Select History and privacy. 5. Click Clear Watch History. 6. Select CLEAR WATCH HISTORY. These steps will help you to view and delete YouTube search history using YouTube’s Android app. How to Auto-Delete YouTube Search History?Manually deleting search history can get frustrating. To combat this issue, YouTube provides an auto-delete option. Users can use this feature to set up a system where their YouTube history will get automatically cleared periodically. Caution: Besides search history, your watch history would also be auto-deleted. Here’s how to set up auto-delete for YouTube search history, 1. Head to Google’s MyActivity page. 2. Click YouTube History. 3. Go to the auto-delete section and click the Choose an auto-delete option. 4. Click the first radio button. 5. Click the drop-down box to select how often you want your history cleared. 6. Select Next. 7. Click Confirm. 8. Click OK. How to Pause YouTube Search HistoryYou can completely shut search history if you are extra cautious about privacy. You can do this by pausing your search history. YouTube won’t save your searched terms after this feature is enabled. This setting is available on both Android and web clients. How to Pause YouTube watch History on Android1. Select your profile bubble. 2. Go to Settings. 3. Select History and privacy. 4. Click on the Pause search history button. 5. Click on PAUSE. YouTube won’t record your search history now. How to Pause YouTube watch History on YouTube Website1. Go to Google’s MyActivity page. 2. Click on YouTube history. 3. Untick the Include your searches on YouTube box. 4. Click on PAUSE. 5. Click on OK. Your new searches won’t show up in your search history. However, this may affect your experience, as search suggestions won’t be as accurate as before. This is the tradeoff for privacy. This guide showed you how to view and clear YouTube search history. These tools should help you protect your online privacy. If you want to avoid YouTube completely, you can use open-source YouTube alternatives like NewPipe. Please let’s know your feedback in the comments section. FAQs on Managing YouTube Search HistorySometimes, you may want to delete a single search from your history. You can quickly delete it by clicking on the search bar > long press on the search query you want to delete > REMOVE. The REMOVE option is directly available next to the search terms on the website. Sadly, deleting your YouTube search history won't make you invisible to Google's tracking. Google tracks users on various fronts, which include YouTube search history. Google can still collect data from your watch history and keyboard strokes if you use Gboard, among others. Your browser and search engine history can still track you. You can refer to our article to learn how to maximize your privacy from Google. If you want to delete YouTube search history on Android TV,
If your YouTube search history is not showing, check if you have accidentally enabled the "Pause search history" option in your YouTube settings. This is also applicable to YouTube watch history when "Pause watch history" is enabled. In order to search YouTube history (both watch history and search history) by date,
Was this article helpful? YesNo TechPP is supported by our audience. We may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this site. How do I clear my search history on my smart TV?How do I clear the Internet browser history on my smart TV?. Select the Settings icon.. Select Web Browser Settings.. Select General.. Select Delete History.. How do I clear my whole YouTube search history?On your computer, go to your Google Account. On the top left panel, click Data & personalization. Under "Activity controls," click YouTube History, then click Auto-delete. Confirm to save your auto-delete activity choice.
How do you search YouTube history on TV?To check it out, head to the library tab in YouTube and tap on "History." In addition to videos you've watched on YouTube, you should see live channels and individual programs you've watched on YouTube TV (you have to be a subscriber, of course).
Can you see YouTube history on Smart TV?Turn on your smart TV and go to the list of the installed apps. Select YouTube. Select the hamburger icon to open the main menu. Choose Settings and History.
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