YouTube is a great resource for entertainment, news, and education. But if you're not careful, it can also be a source of embarrassment. That's because YouTube keeps track of everything you search for on the site. So, if you've ever searched for something embarrassing or controversial, there's a good chance it's still stored in your YouTube search history.
In this article, we'll show you how to delete your YouTube search history so that no one can see what you've been looking up.
Pros and Cons of Deleting Your YouTube Search History
Before we get into the instructions, it's worth taking a moment to consider the pros and cons of deleting your YouTube search history.
Pros:
It's a good way to protect your privacy. If you're worried about someone seeing what you've been looking up, deleting your search history is a good way to cover your tracks.
It can also help improve your YouTube recommendations. YouTube uses your search history to personalize the content it shows you. So, if you're not interested in seeing certain types of videos, deleting your search history can help YouTube show you more relevant content.
Cons:
It can make it harder to find videos that you've previously watched. If you often watch the same videos, deleting your search history can make it difficult to find them.
It can make YouTube less personalized. As we mentioned, YouTube uses your search history to personalize the content it shows you. So, if you delete your search history, YouTube won't be able to show you as much relevant content.
How to Clear Your YouTube Search History on Mobile
Ready to get rid of your YouTube search history? The process is pretty simple. Here's how to do it:
- Launch the YouTube app.
- Tap on your profile icon in the top right corner of the main screen.
- Select Your data in YouTube from the resulting menu.
- Scroll down and tap on Manage your YouTube Search History under YouTube Search History.
- Tap Delete and select your preferred delete duration (Delete today, Delete custom range, and Delete all time).
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The steps are similar if you're using a computer; simply look out for the corresponding prompts.
That's all it takes to delete your YouTube search history. If you're worried about someone snooping through your YouTube account, you can go one step further and delete your YouTube history.
Should You Delete Your YouTube Search History?
Only you can decide whether or not you want to delete your YouTube search history. If you're worried about privacy, then it's probably a good idea to delete your search history regularly. But if you find that YouTube is less personalized without your search history, you may want to keep it around.
By India Today Web Desk: YouTube keeps a track on all your search history and videos that you have ever watched on the channel. If you don't want to share your browsing details with anyone one but also want to maintain a log for your personal use, then you have to take a few steps and change your settings.
How to clear your YouTube search history the computer:
Step 1: Visit the YouTube website
Step 2: Sign in into your account
Step 3: Click on the menu icon on the top left of the corner (three parallel lines drawn just near the YouTube icon)
Step 4: When the menu pops in, select history
Step 5: On the next page, and click on search history
Step 6: List of all your searches appear on your screen
Step 7: To delete a single item on the screen, click the 'x' button
Step 8: Or if you want to clear all your past searches then click on clear all search history
Step 9: To confirm that you want to delete your search history click on 'clear all search history'.
How to clear search history on the YouTube devices
Step 1: Open up your YouTube app first.
Step 2: Then tap on your profile icon.
Step 3: After that click on settings.
Step 4: A new page will appear, scroll down and tap on clear search history.
Step 5: To confirm that you want to delete your entire search history tap on Clear history.
How to clear search history on the YouTube android devices
Step 1: Start up the YouTube app.
Step 2: Then tap on your profile picture or icon to open the main menu.
Step 3: After that click on settings.
Step 4: Then select history and privacy.
Step 5: At last tap clear search history to delete all your search items.
Pause your YouTube search history
Well, clearing the search history, again and again, can be inconvenient. So you have a better option to save your searches being tracked from YouTube. You can pause your search history so that YouTube can track it anymore.
How to pause your YouTube search history
Step 1: Start up the YouTube app
Step 2: Then go to your profile
Step 3: After that click on settings
Step 4: Then click on history and privacy
Step 5: At last click on 'history'
YouTube will be unable to keep a track on your search list. Your pause search option will remain on pause until you turn it back on again.