# How to clear your YouTube history – a guide for all device types YouTube uses [cookies](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/hosting/technical-matters/what-are-cookies/ "What are cookies?") to track user behaviour and **search histories**, among other things. While this makes for a better, faster user experience and enables YouTube to **recommend videos** based on your taste, a YouTube history is a private asset that you won’t want to share with third-parties or Google. --- ### Tip What’s the YouTube history good for anyway? Your YouTube search history is a mirror of your **search and video viewing behaviour**. It serves a very basic function, which is to **optimise the YouTube user experience**. Thanks to the collected data, YouTube can respond to users' interests and recommend related videos. --- To minimise the amount of data YouTube collects about you, you can delete your YouTube search history regularly. The following guide reveals how this is done in the browser or in the Android and iOS mobile app. ## Clear YouTube search history – quick guide for browser and app **Here’s how to clear your search history from a browser**: 1. Sign into your **account** on the [YouTube website](https://www.youtube.com/ "YouTube website"). 2. Click **‘History’** in the left sidebar. 3. Delete your current history on YouTube under **‘Clear all watch history’** . 4. To delete only the search history for a certain period, go to **‘Manage all history’** . 5. Open *‘***Delete activity by’** and set the time period to be deleted. --- ### Note Select **‘Set up automatic deletions’** if you want YouTube to delete your history automatically at intervals that suit your needs. --- **Here’s how to clear your search history in-app (Android/iOS)** 1. Open the YouTube app and click on your **profile picture**. 2. Select **‘Settings’** . 3. Tap **‘History & Privacy’** 4. Clear your history with **‘Clear watch history’ .** ## How to clear your YouTube history: step by step In the following sections, you’ll find more detailed descriptions to clean up your YouTube history in **browsers or using the YouTube app**. ### Delete YouTube search history in a browser #### Step 1: Sign into YouTube Sign into your [YouTube user account](https://www.youtube.com/ "YouTube website"). [![Image: YouTube: ‘Sign in’ button](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_yt_verlauf01_en_e253715700.webp "YouTube: ‘Sign in’ button")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf01_en.png) YouTube: ‘Sign in’ button #### Step 2: Call history Select the ‘**History**’ option in the left sidebar (under the three-dash icon) to access your YouTube playback history. [![Image: Menu ‘History’ in left sidebar on YouTube](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/e/9/csm_yt_verlauf02_en_ffaa7dfc6a.webp "Menu ‘History’ in left sidebar on YouTube")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf02_en.png) Menu ‘History’ in left sidebar on YouTube #### Step 3: Delete all YouTube history Now delete your entire YouTube history via ‘**Clear all watch history**’. Skip this step if you only want to delete the history for a certain period of time. [![Image: YouTube: ‘Clear all watch history’ option](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/5/2/csm_yt_verlauf03_en_74d3c8e494.webp "YouTube: ‘Clear all watch history’ option")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf03_en.png) YouTube: ‘Clear all watch history’ option #### Step 4: Open history settings To delete select search periods or adjust the general settings for **YouTube’s history behaviour**, go to ‘**Manage all history**’. [![Image: YouTube settings: “‘Mnage all history’](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/d/b/csm_yt_verlauf04_en_b34f0e4d3b.webp "YouTube settings: “‘Mnage all history’")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf04_en.png) Adjust YouTube history settings via ‘Manage all history’. #### Step 5: ‘Delete activity by’ To delete your playback and search history for **specific time periods**, go to ‘**Delete activity by**’. [![Image: YouTube: ‘Delete activity by’](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/7/b/csm_yt_verlauf05_en_c080e2a1be.webp "YouTube: ‘Delete activity by’")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf05_en.png) YouTube: ‘Delete activity by’ #### Step 6: Set the period to be deleted Now, **set the time period of the YouTube history** you want to delete. Again, you can select the entire period, but shorter periods such as ‘Last hour’ or ‘Last day’ are also possible. [![Image: ‘Delete YouTube activity’ dialogue](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/3/4/csm_yt_verlauf06_en_e235bd8a72.webp "‘Delete YouTube activity’ dialogue")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf06_en.png) ‘Delete YouTube activity’ dialogue #### Step 7: Enable automatic deletion To automatically delete your YouTube history at regular intervals, select ‘**Set up automatic deletions**’ in the ‘Delete YouTube Activity’ section. [![Image: YouTube button ‘Set up automatic deletions’](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/5/4/csm_yt_verlauf07_en_a6d5cc2c2b.webp "YouTube button ‘Set up automatic deletions’")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf07_en.png) YouTube button ‘Set up automatic deletions’ Select whether Google should **automatically delete your activities** after 3, 18, or 36 months and confirm your selection via ‘**Next**’. [![Image: YouTube: Activate auto-delete option](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/e/a/csm_yt_verlauf08_en_327f4eed0c.webp "YouTube: Activate auto-delete option")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf08_en.png) YouTube: Activate auto-delete option --- ### Note Find out how to not only clear your YouTube history, but how to [delete your entire YouTube channel](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/social-media/how-to-delete-a-youtube-channel/ "How to delete a YouTube channel"). --- ### How to delete a YouTube history in-app (iOS/Android) #### Step 1: Launch YouTube app and tap profile picture Launch the YouTube app on your smartphone or tablet and sign into your account, if you haven't already. Open the user profile settings by **pressing your profile picture**. [![Image: YouTube app: profile icon](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/f/2/csm_yt_verlauf09_en_f942acbc88.webp "YouTube app: profile icon")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf09_en.png) YouTube app: profile icon #### Step 2: Open settings Tap the ‘**Settings**’ item in the menu. [![Image: YouTube app: ‘Settings’](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/d/e/csm_yt_verlauf10_en_00a68b98c8.webp "YouTube app: ‘Settings’")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf10_en.png) YouTube app: ‘Settings’ #### Step 3: Open ‘History & privacy’ options In the next menu window, select the ‘History & privacy’ option. [![Image: YouTube app Settings: ‘History & privacy’ ](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/4/a/csm_yt_verlauf11_en_9c5b2a875f.webp "YouTube app Settings: ‘History & privacy’ ")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf11_en.png) YouTube app Settings: ‘History & privacy’ #### Step 4: Delete YouTube search history and playback history Now, delete your entire YouTube history by tapping ‘**Clear watch history**’ and ‘**Clear search history**’ one by one. [![Image: YouTube app: menu ‘History & privacy’](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/4/7/csm_yt_verlauf12_en_cd5edc693e.webp "YouTube app: menu ‘History & privacy’")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf12_en.png) YouTube app: menu ‘History & privacy’ ## Pause YouTube history Want to prevent YouTube from analysing and storing your user behaviour? You can **pause watch history permanently** by selecting the corresponding option. You’ll find the corresponding option in in ‘History & privacy’ in the app and ‘History’ in the browser. [![Image: YouTube: Pause history](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/7/2/csm_yt_verlauf13_en_d27d6957d2.webp "YouTube: Pause history")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf13_en.png) YouTube: Pause history --- ### Note YouTube isn’t the only channel where you should regularly clear your history. Popular [YouTube alternatives](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/social-media/youtube-alternatives-an-overview-of-the-best-portals/ "YouTube alternatives: an overview of the best portals") like Twitch, Vimeo, TikTok, and Dailymotion also store user behaviour data, which should be deleted on a regular basis. --- ## YouTube: Permanently deactivate history – here’s how To permanently disable your YouTube history, go to ‘**History**’ in the left sidebar and ‘**Saving activity**’ in the history menu. [![Image: YouTube: ‘Saving activity’ menu](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/b/a/csm_yt_verlauf14_en_2506141159.webp "YouTube: ‘Saving activity’ menu")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf14_en.png) YouTube: ‘Saving activity’ menu Flip the blue switch to **permanently disable YouTube history**. You can switch the option back on at any time. [![Image: Option to de(activate) your YouTube history](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/d/3/csm_yt_verlauf15_en_9d32e89a4f.webp "Option to de(activate) your YouTube history")](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2022/yt_verlauf15_en.png) Option to de(activate) your YouTube history This is a markdown version of: [https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/social-media/how-to-clear-youtube-history/](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/social-media/how-to-clear-youtube-history/) for AI/LLM consumption.