As you binge-watch videos on YouTube, some questionable videos might pop up in your history for a variety of reasons. Learn to delete YouTube history on all device types.
YouTube is a widely popular video platform. It is the second most visited website on the Internet. With over 300 hours of video uploaded every minute, users never run out of content to watch on the YouTube app and website. It is completely normal to binge on the most random videos at 3 am and then doze off.
However, for minimizing the amount of data you collected by Youtube, we suggest that you delete the following YouTube history from time to time. You can clear off the YouTube watch history by going to the settings on all device types including PC, Android, and iOS-powered devices. The post will show you the methods with detailed tutorials to help you protect your privacy.
For PC users, you can view and clear YouTube history with a browser with great ease. Here are only 3 simple steps for you to follow.
Open the YouTube main page with a browser, and you will find the history button on the menu bar on the left. Click it, now you can see the video records you have browsed during this period.
Tip: You can find more records by sliding the mouse or directly entering keywords in the search box on the right to directly find specific videos. Also, if you want to YouTube stop tracking your watch history, you can click the Pause Watch History button in the pane on the right to get your goal.
View the YouTube History
Hit the Clear All Watch History button on the right side of the window.
Clear All YouTube History
Then a prompt window will pop up, now you can click the blue button to delete the entire history.
Confirm Your Choice
Select the Manage All History button first.
Manage All History
Click the Delete button>Delete custom range to clear your playback and search history of YouTube for a specific time.
Delete YouTube History Records within a Period of Time
Different from the PC side, YouTube has developed an APP for mobile phone users. This makes you will need to access the YouTube app on the phone if you want to delete the YouTube history on the phone.
First, we will learn to delete YouTube history on Android devices.
Step 1. Open the YouTube app on your phone. Tap on your profile picture, which is situated on the top-right corner of the screen.
How to Delete YouTube History on Phone
Step 2. Now head to Settings, which is given at the bottom of the screen. You are now in the Setting dashboard. Tap on the History and privacy option.
Choose History and Privacy on Youtube
Clear watch history: Tapping on it will clear your account’s watch history from all devices with the account logged in. It will also include the stories viewed by you.
Clear search history: Tap on it and your searches will be cleared from devices associated with the account.
Step 3. Tapping on any of the above options will prompt a confirmation screen. Confirm the selection, and your watch history will be deleted.
Clear Youtube History on Android Phone
For scenarios where you wish to remove certain items from the YouTube history, you can rely on the Library’s history section.
You can head to the home of the YouTube app. Then tap on the Library icon from the bottom of the screen. You are now in the Library; tap on History. There you can see your YouTube history laid out.
YouTube History Laid Out
There you will find watch history. Browse through the videos watched or take benefit of the search bar. Tap on the three-dot vertical icon next to a video. A menu will appear on the screen.
Check Your List
Select the option Remove from Watch history, and it will instantly remove your watch history.
Clear YouTube Watch history on any of your iOS devices by following the simple tutorial given below. The steps for iOS are virtually the same as for Android.
Step 1. Open the YouTube app from the app library or the shortcut on the home screen. Head to the account dashboard by tapping on your display picture. It is situated in the rightwards corner at the top.
Delete Youtube History on iOS Device
Step 2. After that, tap on Settings, which will take you to the settings section of the app.
Check Settings on iPhone
Step 3. Now scroll down to the bottom of the history and privacy section. You will find the two options- Clear watch history and Clear Search history. Select either of them and acknowledge when the confirmation prompt appears.
Clear Watch History iOS
You have successfully deleted history on an iPhone or any iOS device, for that matter.
Here are a few tips that may come in handy while dealing with your YouTube history.
Deleting your search/watch history is a blanket solution. What if you want to stop history from recording your activity for a limited period?
That’s where the pause feature comes in handy. You hit the pause button, and the history will not be recorded until you turn it off.
Before moving forward, we have to talk about the Incognito mode. It is similar to pause but for quick YouTube sessions minus the watch history.
Here is how you do it on the Android phone. The steps are similar for iOS devices as well.
Step1. Head to the Settings section of the app. Access the history and privacy section. Tap on either of the options or turn the slider button to the right to pause watch history or pause search history.
Pause Youtube History
Step 2. You will be prompted with a confirmation popup. Tap on the pause button to confirm.
Clear Watch History
Now your watch/search history won’t be recorded until you turn off the pause function.
There are a few things to keep in mind while deleting your YouTube history on the phone.
Once the history has been cleaned, it cannot be restored. There are no trash/recycle bins where it goes after you clean it.
Even if you delete and then pause your watch history, your ISP, and other intermediaries(VPN, proxy) can see your Internet activity.
Sometimes the history data may become cumbersome to deal with—especially when used by multiple people on a single account.
You can choose to auto-delete history every 3 to 36 months automatically.
Head to the Library from the bottom of your YouTube app’s home screen. There you will find the entire watch history along with the option to search for specific items.
We discussed easy ways to delete YouTube search history with the easy steps for both PC, iOS, and Android. When you have some history that you don’t want people to discover, there is always the pause button to take a break from history. Incognito mode is a blessing in disguise, available at the drop of a hat.