When you open your YouTube app, the first videos you’ll see are recommended content based on your watch and explore histories. While this is a great way to find videos you savor watching, it can be quite unhelpful when other people use your account, or you’re using YouTube for anything other than personal entertainment. Say your kid or a guest used the YouTube app on your smart TV, or you’re working on homework and need to research on YouTube.
If you don’t want these searches and watched videos to affect your recommendations, there are two things you can do to impede unwanted videos from appearing in your YouTube history.
The first is by turning on incognito on YouTube. This mode essentially works as if you’ve signed out of your account. Therefore, you won’t see your subscriptions, and anything you do won’t affect your history. Here’s how to use it:
- To activate the incognito mode:
- Tap the You tab.
- Select “Turn on Incognito.”
- To exit incognito mode:
- Return to the You tab.
- Press “Turn off Incognito.”
The second method involves pausing your YouTube history. Here’s how to do so:
- Select the You tab.
- Tap on the gear icon at the upper right.
- Select handle all History.
- select your account.
- On the YouTube History page, go to the Controls tab.
- Press the Turn Off button.
- Tap Pause to confirm.
With only your history paused, your subscriptions remain visible, but your watch and explore activities won’t be recorded.
