How to delete your YouTube history all at once, or remove videos one at a time, on desktop or mobile
- You can delete your YouTube history on a computer or mobile device in a few simple steps.
- Deleting your YouTube history will remove the details of any of the videos you've watched on the site.
- If you want to prevent YouTube from displaying a record your viewing history, deleting it is the way to go.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
YouTube is a treasure trove of videos, from vlogs to music videos to full-length movies. You can seriously lose hours on the site, and your history will quickly fill up with all the videos you've watched.
While it can sometimes be convenient to have a record of what you've watched on YouTube, in case you want to re-watch a particular clip at a later date, not everyone is fond of the site's ability to track and display your viewing history.
If you're one of these people, you may want to delete your YouTube history regularly. Thankfully, doing this is quick and easy and won't take more than a few seconds.
Here's how to do it on your desktop, or in the iPhone or Android mobile app.
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How to delete your YouTube history on desktop
1. Go to https://www.youtube.com and ensure you're logged into your account.
2. Using the menu on the left-hand side of your screen, click on the History option to be taken to your YouTube History page.
3. On the right side of the History screen, click the "Clear all watch history" option, which will launch a pop-up window asking you to confirm the deletion of your YouTube history on all devices you're signed in on.
Jennifer Still/Business InsiderClick "Clear All Watch History" on the side of the page.
4. Click "Clear watch history" again to complete the deletion process.
Jennifer Still/Business InsiderConfirm that you want to delete your YouTube history.
When you hover over every title in your history, an X will appear next to it. You can click that to remove specific videos from your history instead of clearing your entire history at once.
How to delete your YouTube history on the mobile app
1. Locate the YouTube icon on your phone's home screen and tap to open it.
2. Tap the Library button on the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. The icon will look like a file folder.
3. On your Library screen, tap the History option.
4. On the History screen, look for the three vertically-stacked lines or dots in the upper right-hand corner of your screen, just to the right of the search icon, and tap them.
Jennifer Still/Business InsiderTap the three-dot or three-line menu in the top-right to open a new menu.
5. Tap "History controls," then "Clear watch history" under the History and privacy header.
6. A pop-up will appear asking you to confirm the deletion of your YouTube watch history across all devices in which you're signed into your account. Tap "Clear watch history" again to complete the deletion process.
Jennifer Still/Business InsiderTap "Clear watch history" at the top of the "History and privacy" section.
If you want to remove singular videos from your history instead of deleting the entire thing, tap the three dots next to any video's title and tap "Remove from Watch History."
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How to delete your own YouTube videos on a computer or mobile device
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How to temporarily hide or permanently delete your YouTube account, and erase any trace of yourself from the site