Retraining my YouTube algorithm saved my sanity

Summary

YouTube uses your history to suggest videos, but you can reset it anytime.
To clear your YouTube history, follow simple steps on browser or mobile.
Prevent YouTube from tracking history by disabling it in Google settings.

You were sent a video one time by a friend on a random subject. You clicked on it. It opened up in YouTube. You watched it. You didn’t think about it again. But your suggested videos page didn’t. The homepage of YouTube suggests a video for you to watch based on a few different aspects. Unfortunately, those suggestions can stick around for a long time.

If you watch a lot of YouTube, your history may be cleansed from the abundance of information that Google has from you. You may have gone through phases where you watched a lot of video game tutorials and then you watched a lot of videos on how to string guitars properly. For a while, your suggested videos likely focused heavily on these topics. But as you search for more videos, it will change to suggest videos similar to others you’ve watched.

Many people don’t see the results that they want quickly enough and they want a fresh start. Maybe they watched a video they weren’t interested in and now are sick of seeing videos that are similar to it. It’s not too hard to retrain your YouTube algorithm. Here are the steps you need to take.

YouTube

YouTube is one of the most popular sites on the Internet, as it streams videos for users to enjoy. You can watch all kinds of videos on YouTube for free.

What to consider first with YouTube

Things are heightened if you use Chrome

An iPhone with YouTube Premium on the screen.

Christian Wiediger / Unsplash / Pocket-lint

YouTube takes into consideration a lot of things when coming up with what videos to suggest. It will remember what videos you’ve watched already and use its powerful engine to suggest videos like them. This counts for videos that you were sent and watched and videos that you searched for to view. On top of that, if you use Google Chrome, it knows what you have searched for in your search bar and can suggest videos based on that as well.

YouTube uses all the information it can to pull in ideas for suggestions. This makes a lot of sense because if you’re searching for a topic on Google, you may be interested to see a video about it on YouTube. It’s also why Google displays YouTube videos prominently in search results. If you don’t want to see certain videos recommended, there are a few things you can do.

A person with a remote pointing it at YouTube TV.

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How to delete your YouTube history

Clear it out and start fresh

For those that are sick of their feed and want to start anew, it only takes a few steps to clear everything out. This goes above and beyond deleting the fact that you watched a video you may not want other people to know about, like a tutorial on how to make your significant other a birthday present so they don’t see videos about it if they open up your phone. You can delete your search history as well as your watched history.

On browser:

Go to YouTube.com.
Log in (if you aren’t automatically logged in.)
On the left-hand side menu, click on History under the You section.
On the right-hand side menu, click Manage all history.
This opens a new tab and brings you to your Google activity. There is a Delete button in the middle of the screen. Click it.
Click Delete all time.

On mobile:

Open YouTube.
On the bottom right, tap on your profile.
This opens up your profile. In the history section, tap View all.
At the top right, tap on the three vertical dots.
Tap Clear all watch history. It will ask you to do so again and tap Clear watch history.

Google does note that your video recommendations will be reset but may still be influence by activity on other Google products.

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How to keep your YouTube history clear

Don’t have YouTube remember what you’ve watched

Now that you’ve cleared your watch history, when you go to the YouTube home page, it should be clear. There should be no videos in the suggested options. If not, you can clear your Google search history by going to Google, clicking History, and deleting browsing data. If you like the way that YouTube looks without video suggestions and want to keep it that way, you can.YouTube uses all the information it can to pull in ideas for suggestions.

On browser:

Type in myactivity.google.com.
Click on YouTube History.
Click Turn Off under YouTube History.
Click Pause when the pop up window shows up.

On mobile:

Open YouTube.
Tap on your profile in the bottom right.
Tap View all under History.
Tap the three vertical dots at the top of the page.
Tap Manage all history.
This opens YouTube History. Tap Controls.
Tap Turn Off under YouTube History.

You can also get there by going to myactivity.google.com on your phone. These methods will keep your YouTube homepage free of any video suggestions, allowing you to enjoy a fresh experience every time you open the app or site.