How to Delete YouTube History

Your YouTube watch history is what determines, how the platform recommends content. While this helps to ensure that you receive videos you are interested in, it can get monotonous and repetitive after some time. So, if you want to fix your recommendations or delete YouTube history for other reasons, then keep reading because we will show you how to do so in this article.

Delete YouTube History

To delete your YouTube watch and search history completely, you just need to follow a couple of steps. These steps are applicable to both mobile and PC YouTube users.

Method 1: On YouTube Website

If you use YouTube on a desktop or its website on a phone, here’s how you can delete your watch history.

1. Visit YouTube (website) on your preferred browser.
2. Click on the hamburger menu at the top left.
3. Select History from the sidebar menu.

4. Under the Watch History page, click on Manage all history on the right side.

5. Then click on Delete and select the time range.

6. Click on Delete again to confirm your decision.

Alternatively, you can only click on Clear all watch history in the Watch History page, to keep your search history intact. But if you don’t care about either, then the first option is the way to go.

Method 2: Using YouTube App on Android and iPhone

You can delete your watch history on your iPhone or Android device from within the YouTube app. Here’s how you can do it.

1. Open YouTube, and tap the profile icon in the bottom right corner.
2. Now tap the settings icon in the top right corner.
3. Tap on Manage all history.

4. Tap the Delete button and select the time range.
5. Once selected, tap on the Delete option to clear watch history.

Once you have cleared all your history, your Home page will show no suggestions. You need to start watching some videos to start getting recommendations again.

How to Delete Specific Videos from Watch History

You probably don’t want to delete your entire watch history but just a couple of videos from it. Well, the good news is that can be done as well. Moreover, you need to follow the exact same steps to carry it out on both your phone and PC. Without further ado, let’s get into the steps.

Method 1: On YouTube Website

To delete a particular video from your watch history on YouTube website, check out the steps below.

1. On the YouTube website, click on the hamburger menu in the top left corner.
2. Then go to the History option using the left sidebar.

3. Here, click the cross icon next to the video you wish to delete. That’s it!
4. This cross icon will appear next to every video in the watch history list.

Method 2: Using YouTube App on Android and iPhone

You can also remove specific videos from your watch history using the YouTube app on Android and iPhone using these steps.

1. Open YouTube settings, by tapping the profile icon at the bottom right.
2. Then tap on the cogwheel icon at the top right, and select Manage all history.
3. Beside each video, tap on the cross icon adjacent to the video you want to remove from your watch history.
4. In the confirmation pop-up, select Delete.

Set Up Auto Delete YouTube History

If you don’t want to constantly be on the lookout for deleting your YouTube history, the auto-delete option is the way to go. With this option, you can choose to auto-delete videos every three months, all the way up to every thirty-six months. Moreover, the steps are the same on both mobile phones and PCs. With that being said, here are the steps:

1. Head to YouTube, and tap the profile icon in the bottom right corner.
2. Then tap on the cowheel icon, and go to Your data in YouTube. On the desktop, tap the profile icon at the top right, and the option will be present in the drop-down menu.
3. Scroll down and select Manage your YouTube Watch History.
4. Here, tap on the Auto-delete option.

5. Select the Auto-delete activity older than option.
6. Then tap the box below and select a duration for auto-deleting YouTube history.
7. Once that is done, hit Next.
8. You will be asked to confirm toggling the auto-delete option. Tap or click on Confirm.

How to Delete YouTube Search History

Similar to how we got rid of your watch history, you can visit the same, Your data in the YouTube page to delete your entire search history as well. Again, let me point out that the process remains the same for both platforms. With that said, here is how you can remove your YouTube search history.

1. Open YouTube settings, and click on Your data in YouTube.
2. Here, scroll down and tap on Manage your YouTube Search History.

3. Click on the Delete option here, and select the preferred option.
4. If you choose Delete all time, you’ll need to click on Delete again on the confirmation page.

Pausing YouTube History

Another thing that you can do is pause your YouTube history. This method will quite literally pause your YouTube history from keeping a record of the videos you watch. That includes both your YouTube searches and watches.

Method 1: On YouTube Website

YouTube’s website offers an easy way to pause your viewing history. Here’s how you can do it.

1. Visit the YouTube website, then tap the hamburger menu in the top left.
2. Click on the History option using the left sidebar.

3. On this page, tap on the Pause watch history option.

4. In the confirmation window, click on Pause again.

Method 2: Using YouTube App on Android and iPhone

To pause your YouTube watch history on your iPhone or Android device, follow these steps.

1. On the YouTube app, your profile icon is in the bottom right corner.
2. Now tap the settings icon in the top right side and select Manage all history.

3. Next, tap on the Saving your YouTube History option.
4. Here, you should see the TURN OFF button. Tap on it.
5. Next, press the Pause button to confirm your decision.

You will see the “Setting is off” message displayed on your screen now. You can use this method to pause the search and watch history on the YouTube website.

Use Incognito Mode on YouTube

Incognito mode is the best way to ensure that your watch and search histories are not saved on YouTube. Incognito mode gets rid of all your recommendations and subscriptions as if you are logged out. However, it is only available for the YouTube app. On a desktop, you can open an incognito window on your browser to get the same effect.

1. Tap the profile icon in the bottom right corner of your screen.
2. Select the Turn on Incognito option on this page.
3. To exit Incognito mode, tap on the incognito icon in the bottom right.
4. Then tap on Turn off Incognito.

That wraps up this guide on how to delete YouTube history. This process used to be quite straightforward back in the day, but the platform has complicated things a bit since then. In my opinion, pausing your watch history is better tthandeleting it eentirely,as your data won’t be tracked by Google moving forward. But you can also look into other methods we discussed.