[Full Guide] How to Clear YouTube Watch and Search History

We love watching videos on YouTube for it is a treasure trove to find any videos we love, from funny cat videos to informative smart phone reviews. Whenever you search and watch a video on YouTube, this video will be added to your YouTube history. This function makes it convenient to find videos you recently watched and enables YouTube to improve recommendations.

But you may prefer your viewing history not to be tracked or displayed to anyone who might share your computer. Don't worry. This article will show you how to clear YouTube history. It is super easy to delete your YouTube search and watch history. And it won't take you too long.

Besides, your YouTube watch and search history are private things between you and YouTube. The history cannot be seen or accessed by other YouTube users or people who visit your YouTube channel. It just affects how YouTube suggest contents to you.

Part 1. Delete Items From Your Watch History

You can directly pause the watch history function and YouTube will stop collecting your watching history. However, if you've already watched a video, the record is still saved and you'll need to delete the item if you don't want it in your watch history.
Here is how to delete items from your YouTube watch history in the web browser.

STEP 1. Access to YouTube and make sure you've logged in your account.
STEP 2. On the left side of YouTube's page, there is a "History" option and click on it.
STEP 3. Hover over the video with your mouse and click or tap the "X" to the right of the item you want to delete.

Part 2. Delete Items From Your Search History

It seems there is no option to view and delete your search history in YouTube mobile app. But you can also delete items individually from your search history in the web browser.

STEP 1. Head to YouTube and click on "History" on the menu section of the left-hand side. And you'll be taken to your YouTube history page.
STEP 2. Select "Search History" on the right side of the history page.
STEP 3. Here you can see the entire list of searches you've made on YouTube. Click the "X" to the right of the search you want to delete, and you can remove the item.

Part 3. Clear All Watch History

It is also possible to clear your entire watch history in the YouTube mobile app.

STEP 1. Tap the "Library" icon on the toolbar at the bottom of the app, and then tap the "History" option.

STEP 2. You can see the three vertically dots button in the upper right corner of your screen, tap on it and choose "History Controls".

STEP 3. Scroll down and choose "Clear watch history" under "History & privacy" section to clear your entire YouTube watch history.

Part 4. Clear All Search History

To clear all your search history is quite simple as well.

STEP 1. Locate the "Library button" on the bottom right corner of the menu bar and tap on it.
STEP 2. Head to the "History" section and tap on the menu button at the top of the mobile app, and tap the "History controls" option.
STEP 3. Scroll down to "History & privacy" section, and select "Clear search history" to complete the deletion process.

Part 5. Using YouTube's Incognito Mode

You can also use YouTube's Incognito Mode to make things much easier and you don't have to worry about YouTube remembering your search or watch history. The feature was only available in the Android app. Luckily, Google add this feature to the iPhone app.

STEP 1. Launch the YouTube mobile app and tap your profile picture icon at the top right corner of the main page.
STEP 2. Then tap "Incognito Mode" on the menu screen displayed. When you enable "Incognito Mode", any of your search history or watch history will be hidden, and YouTube will not save your history.

Part 6. Pause YouTube Collect Watch & Search History

If you often use YouTube on the desktop, you are also given an option to pause YouTube remembering your watch history or search history. And after enable this setting, YouTube will stop tracking videos you searched or watched on all devices you've signed into.

STEP 1. Navigate to YouTube and choose "History" section in the sidebar.
STEP 2. Click the "PAUSE WATCH HISTORY" option in the right-hand side menu.

STEP 3. Click "Pause" to confirm.

You can also switch off your search history tracking function at this page.

STEP 1. Choose "Search history" and click the "PAUSE SEARCH HISTORY" option to proceed.

STEP 2. Now click on "Pause" in the new tab to stop YouTube from remembering the searches you make.

You can also do the same thing on your mobile app by taping your profile icon > "Settings" and scroll down to pause YouTube collecting your watch and search history.

In the End…

This is all about how to clear your YouTube watch and search history. Just follow the steps to clear your YouTube watch history and search history. Now you may be reassured knowing that YouTube will not collect your watch and search history and perhaps you will quit spending time on re-watching old videos. And don't forget to share this article to your friends if you find it useful.