How To Delete Your YouTube History? Useful Tips

How is our data protected on Youtube

Data on YouTube is protected using encryption and secure servers.

The platform also uses secure socket layer (SSL) technology and digital certificates to provide secure communication channels for transmitting data. You already know about the two-factor authentication to verify user accounts. All video hosting and uploads are protected by strong passwords.

YouTube provides the ability to set privacy settings, control who can view or comment on videos, and restrict certain types of content. So before you ask how to delete YouTube history, check some other options for keeping your data safe.

Does Youtube track you?

YouTube, being one of the prominent Google products, falls under the umbrella of Google user-related policies. As a result, Google has full control over the website, its content, and advertising.

YouTube tracks its users – you can feel its effect after you accidentally click a video of the Paris Fashion Week and end up in 2 hours watching the history of a male costume in southern India. Whatever caught your interest a second ago – you will always be offered more of that in the “Up Next” section or in your recommendations. Just like the No-Face of “Spirited away” tempted the bath workers with more gold.

YouTube wants you to enjoy content more and have a positive attitude about your experience – that’s the ultimate goal. To offer you more relevant videos, Youtube tracks the device being used, the user’s approximate location, and other data related to user activity.

Let’s make sure we share the understanding of how YouTube algorithms work and then find out how to delete YouTube search history.

Types of algorithms used by YouTube

YouTube algorithms work in a number of ways to determine what videos to show to users:

One example is the recommender system. This system uses user data such as watch history, likes, and dislikes to generate personalized recommendations for each user.

Quality Control algorithm identifies and removes content that violates its policies, such as videos that are sexually explicit, violent, or contain hate speech. Additionally, YouTube uses algorithms to detect fake views, spam comments, and other malicious activities.

Trending algorithm surfaces videos that are popular or have recently become popular and shows the most popular comments

Content ID system, which detects copyrighted content and prevents it from being uploaded or shared on YouTube.

Ad Targeting algorithm, which determines which ads to show to users based on their interests. Youtube uses the data it collects to serve ads that are more relevant to its users. Ads may include videos from YouTube creators, as well as sponsored content from brands and businesses.

In a nutshell, Youtube algorithms are responsible for providing users with the content they are most likely to watch.

This is done by analyzing the content a user has already watched, liked, and interacted with, as well as their search history and demographics. The algorithms also take into account trending topics, the amount of views and likes a video has received, and the age and geographic location of the user. By analyzing this data, Youtube can identify the type of content a user is likely to be interested in and display it in the “Up Next” section or on the homepage.

So as you choose what you choose, the service still has some control over your attention. And whoops, they made it addictive too.

The shadow watch of your choices results comes in handy: you can always revive the recent search results, you can easily find what you liked and whatever has been recommended can be organized in a notorious Watch Later folder!

Users who wonder how to delete YouTube search history share 2 principal motivations:

People-related. A user doesn’t want people he knows, in reality, to learn about their YouTube browsing activities.
Big Tech-related. A user is concerned with how YouTube and search engines use their history.

You can handle both and we’ll explain how it works.

How to clear the Youtube history on a laptop

1. Log in to your YouTube account and go to Settings.

2. Find the History and Privacy section and click on the “View history” button.

3. Select the videos that you want to delete from your history by clicking the checkboxes.

4. Click the “Delete” button to remove the selected videos from your history.

5. Once you have deleted the videos, click the “Clear all watch history” button to clear your entire history.

How to delete search history on YouTube in the app.

1. Open the YouTube app and tap on the profile icon in the top right corner.

2. Tap on “History” and then tap on “Search History”.

3. Tap on the “Clear All” button at the top right of the page.

4. Confirm the action by tapping “OK”.

Be aware that you have complete control over this feature. You can refer to Youtube helpdesk and pause your watch history, which prevents other users from learning about what kind of video you watch, or you can delete your history entirely.

Is my search confidential?

Despite being the Peeping Tom, Youtube has undertaken a policy to ensure your data does not leave its domain. Here are some facts about YouTube confidentiality system:

• All user data is kept confidential and is not shared with any third-party organizations.
• Encryption system ensures that all videos and user data is securely transmitted and stored.
• YouTube follows the latest privacy standards and regulations to protect the privacy of its users.
• A two-factor authentication system has been implemented to ensure that users’ accounts are always secure.
• Zero-tolerance policy for any users found to be in violation of its terms of service.
• YouTube provides its users with the ability to control the visibility of their videos and user data.

YouTube Analytics and my watch history

Analytics is one of the powerful drivers of YouTube economics. Once logged in, users can access their analytics dashboard to view trends in their content’s performance. They view detailed reports to gain insight into what content is resonating with viewers and how it is performing. By using the data from Youtube analytics, users can make informed decisions about their content and adjust their strategy accordingly.

The service will still collect information for its Analytics even if you clear YouTube history. Youtube collects data from all viewers, regardless of whether or not they have a watch history. The data collected includes information such as view count, watch time, demographics, and more. This data helps Youtube understand how users interact with content and allows it to provide more tailored content recommendations.

Is my watch history deleted alongside with cookies?

If you have extra concerns about your privacy, you need to dig deeper and ask questions about the browser and the search engine you use. Even if Youtube doesn’t share your information, a popular browser still knows what online life you lead. Learn about healthy browsing habits in this article.

If you have extra concerns about your privacy, you need to dig deeper and ask questions about the browser and the search engine you use. Even if Youtube doesn’t share your information, a popular browser still knows what online life you lead. Learn about healthy browsing habits in this article.

Use Incognito mode or clear Youtube history?

Your YouTube history will not be visible if you use Incognito mode. Incognito mode prevents Google or Firefox from saving your browsing history and searches, so your YouTube history will not appear. Problem is, this is only a superficial solution and in case you opt for the best security, it doesn’t prevent your data from being tracked by your browser.

5 ideas on how to turn off Google’s ability to track the videos you watch on Youtube.

1. Use a Private Browser: it won’t track your history and your data will be safe from third-parties use. We’ll talk more about it in the next chapter.

2. Change Your IP Address: Changing your IP address will make it difficult for Google to track you since they’ll have a harder time linking your online activities to your identity. You can do this by using a VPN or a proxy.

3. Use an Ad Blocker: Ad blockers can prevent Google from tracking your activity by blocking the cookies on webpages.

4. Disable Third-Party Cookies: Third-party cookies are often used to track your activity, so disabling them can help reduce Google’s ability to track the videos you watch.

5. Use Google Search Alternatives: Using search engines other than Google can reduce Google’s ability to track your activity since they won’t be able to follow you from one engine to the next. A browser with an open-source search engine like Sidekick will be a relevant substitute.

Private browsing and Youtube – what is the connection?

Private browsers work in a more dedicated way than Incognito mode on Chrome or Private Browsing on Firefox and are designed to let you browse the web without saving your browsing history or cookies, which means Google won’t be able to track your videos.

The main advantage of using YouTube on a private search engine is that it provides greater control over what content is shown in search results. Additionally, private search engines used by some browsers, are often more secure than public search engines, providing an extra layer of protection against malicious websites.

The browser, that doesn’t store and share any of your online actions is called Sidekick . It is a solution based on an open-source engine, that has been modified to fight for your online safety and provides an ad-free environment, where you can focus on your needs. With it “How do I clear my YouTube history” is solved pretty easily as it is made to keep private things private.

Special Sidekick features include:

A comfy sidebar for all your favorite apps and tools in one place. Close all your other windows -with a single focus mode shortcut and focus on the content in question.

Sessions. If you watch a lot of YouTube videos, they rapidly create a mess on your tab bar. In Sidekick, you can create a special Video watch session and never worry about the tab clutter in your life.

Powerful Adblock to keep the ads that jiggle-jiggle away from your eyes.

How does Sidekick protect the data safety?

Privacy pledge. Sidekick keeps only the trackers that enable you to get to your work faster and blocks everything else. It never collects your Youtube watch history.

Fingerprint defense. Sidekick randomizes data used by fingerprinting algorithms so that every request looks like it’s coming from a different browser. It becomes very difficult to trace your visits to different sites and build your behavioral profile. As a result, third parties have a hard time building a device fingerprint on you.

VPN in Sidekick Teams. Virtual Private Network (VPN) conceals your IP address. And Sidekick changes the network parameters often so that tracking you is nearly impossible. This option is available on a subscription mode.

As a sweet bonus, with Sidekick you’ll be able to watch YouTube without any distractions as you will own a Mute-all-notifications mode, loved by many in Sidekick community.