You probably know how to turn off auto-playing thumbnail preview, how to stop personalized ads, and other such tricks to make your YouTube experience better. So, here’s another one for you that we know you may have been looking for – a guide to deleting your YouTube history. Knowing how to delete your YouTube history can prove to be more useful than you may think.
There are two types of YouTube history – search history and watch history. While the search history is a record of all the things you search on the platform, the watch history keeps a note of the videos you watch. Let’s take a look at how you can delete both of these.
How to Delete Entire YouTube History on Phone & PC
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.
1. Open the YouTube mobile app on your device.
2. On the top left corner of your screen, you will find the profile icon. Tap on it.
3. Next, select the Your data in YouTube option.
4. Now, scroll down to find the Manage your YouTube Watch History option and tap on it.
5. Spot the DELETE button and tap on it.
6. That should reveal three options. Click on the one that suits your needs best.
7. Once that is done, hit the Delete button on the confirmation page.
How to Delete YouTube Watch History
Now, if you want to specifically delete only your watch history while keeping your search history untouched, it can be done on the web version of the app. It is a very convenient method to delete YouTube Watch History in just a couple of clicks. Unfortunately, you can’t do it via the YouTube app on your phone. To use this method, follow these steps:
1. Visit YouTube on your preferred browser.
2. On the YouTube homepage, you will see a hamburger menu in the top left corner of your screen. Click on it.
3. That should reveal the History tab. Click on this.
4. Here, on the right side of your screen, you should see the Clear all watch history option. Click on this.
5. Next, you will see a confirmation window. Click on Clear watch history.
How to Delete Specific Videos from Watch History
You probably don’t want to delete your entire watch history and 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:
1. Open the YouTube app on your mobile device or via your web browser on your PC.
2. After that, tap on the Profile icon that you see in the top right corner of your screen.
3. Next, select the Your data in YouTube option.
4. On this page, scroll down to find the Manage your YouTube Watch History section.
5. Here, scroll down to find the list of videos you have watched.
6. Beside each video, you will see a cross icon. Tap on the one adjacent to the video you want to delete.
7. That should instantly delete the video from your YouTube watch history.
How to 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.
Additionally, it will also instantly delete your activity of three months. Moreover, the steps are the same on both mobile phones and PCs. With that being said, here are the steps:
1. Open YouTube on your PC or the app on your phone.
2. Now, spot the profile icon in the top right corner of your screen and tap on it.
3. Now, select the Your data in YouTube option.
4. Scroll down to find the Manage your YouTube Watch History option and click or tap on it.
5. Here, you will see the Auto-delete option, tap on it. Note that by default, this option will be turned off.
6. On the next page, you will see the Don’t auto-delete activity selected by default. You have to select the Auto-delete activity older than option right on top of it.
7. Click on the drop-down menu which will reveal three options to select the time duration. Select your preferred duration for auto-deleting YouTube history.
8. Once that is done, hit Next.
9. You will be asked to confirm toggling the auto-delete option. Tap or click on Confirm.
10. Next, you will see a page that says “Preference saved”. You can change this anytime by re-navigating the same way.
How to Delete YouTube Search History
Unfortunately, there is no direct option to clear search history on YouTube as the manage history option on the platform only allows you to delete search history and watch history together. But, you can delete specific videos from your YouTube search history.
How to Delete Specific Videos from Search History
If you do not want to delete your entire history on YouTube and target delete specific videos, that can be done as well. Moreover, the process is similar on both mobile and PC. Here’s a quick rundown of the process:
1. Open YouTube on either your web browser or the mobile app.
2. You will find the Profile icon on the top left corner of your screen. Click or tap on it.
3. Once you do, you will see the Your data on YouTube option. Click or tap on this.
4. Scroll down to find the Manage your YouTube Search History option and select it.
5. Scroll down to find the topics that you have searched for on YouTube.
6. Beside each of these search terms, you will find a cross button. Click or tap on this icon.
7. You will see a confirmation window. Select Delete here.
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 any of the videos you watch. That includes both your YouTube searches and watches.
How to Pause YouTube History on Phone
To pause YouTube history on your phone, here’s what you need to do:
1. Open the YouTube app on your Android or iOS device.
2. Tap on the Profile icon in the top left corner of your screen.
3. Now, select the Your data in YouTube option.
4. Here, scroll down to find the Manage your YouTube Watch History option and tap on it.
5. Then, locate the Saving your YouTube History option. Tap on it.
6. Here, you should be able to see the option to TURN OFF YouTube History. Tap on it.
7. Next, you will see a Pause YouTube History page. Scroll down to find the Pause button. Tap on it and that’s it.
8. You will see the “Setting is off” message displayed on your screen now.
You can pause YouTube search and watch history on PC in this exact same way. There is a shortcut version for it on the PC version of YouTube. However, do note that the method we’ll mention next will only pause your YouTube watch history. With that being said, let’s take a look at the next section.
How to Pause YouTube History on PC
Now, if you want to specifically pause your watch history on PC, there is a shortcut for it. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
1. Open your browser and head over to YouTube.
2. Now, you will see a hamburger menu on the top left corner of your screen. Click on it.
3. Here, you will see the History section. Click on it.
4. Once you are in the History section, you will see a list of all your watched videos. In the right pane, locate the Pause watch history option and click on it.
5. You will see a confirmation window next. Click on the Pause button here and that should successfully pause your YouTube watch history.
How to Use Incognito Mode on YouTube
Incognito mode is the best way to ensure that both your watch and search histories are not saved on YouTube. With the incognito mode turned on, you won’t have to constantly wonder how to delete your watch or search history on YouTube. Here’s how you can use it:
How to Use Incognito Mode on YouTube for Phone
1. Firstly, you need to open the YouTube app on your Android or iOS device.
2. Next, tap on your Profile icon in the top right corner of your screen.
3. You will see the Turn on Incognito option here. Tap on it.
4. Right after, you will see your YouTube refresh with a message at the bottom that says You’re incognito. You will also see the profile icon being replaced by the incognito icon in the top right corner of your screen.
Incognito Mode is available only on the YouTube app for Android and iOS devices. Sadly, it is not available on the web versions right now. However, you can use your browser’s incognito mode as a workaround.
How to Use Incognito Mode on YouTube for PC
1. The first thing you need to do is open YouTube on your web browser.
2. Next, you can simply use the Ctrl+Shift+N shortcut to toggle on the Incognito Mode.
3. As soon as you hit the shortcut, you should see the Incognito page.
To delete YouTube history on phone, head over to Profile>Your data in YouTube>Manage your YouTube Watch History>DELETE.
Yes, you can clear your “all-time” watch history as well as individual videos from your history on YouTube.
You will need to sign in to view and delete your YouTube history.
Sagnik Das Gupta
