Do you feel embarrassed and uncomfortable to show your YouTube search history to others?
Don’t worry.
You can always clear your YouTube search history whenever you want.
In this post, we’ll show you how to delete YouTube search history from your mobile or computer device in just a few steps.
On top of that, we’ll even show you how you can completely turn off the search history on your YouTube account for better privacy.
So let’s get started.
How to Delete YouTube Search History (iPhone & Android)
If you primarily watch YouTube videos on your iPhone or Android device, here is how you can delete your YouTube search history.
Step 1: Open the YouTube app on your iPhone or Android smartphone.
Step 2: Tap on your profile photo in the top-right corner.
Step 3: Now tap on Settings.
Step 4: Here, tap on Manage All History.
Step 5: If you have multiple Google Accounts, select the one for which you want to delete the YouTube search history.
Step 6: This will redirect you to your Google Account, and you will see the YouTube History page.
Step 7: Here, you have to find the “DELETE” button with the drop-down arrow. Tap on it and then select the Delete All Time option.
Step 8: This will open a confirmation page. Simply tap on the Delete button at the bottom.
This will delete your entire YouTube search history.
Apart from that, you can also:
- Manually delete your search history one by one by tapping on the cross icon next to each video.
- You can tap on the “DELETE” button with the drop-down arrow and then select the “Delete custom range” option to delete search history from a chosen time period.
- Or you can even delete a specific video from the search history.
Furthermore, there’s another easy method that you can use to remove YouTube search history from your smartphone:
For iOS
- Open the YouTube app.
- Tap on the search icon.
- Swipe left on the search term that you want to remove from the YouTube search history.
- Then tap DELETE.
For Android
- Open the YouTube app.
- Tap on the search icon.
- Tap and hold the search term that you want to remove from the YouTube search history.
- Then tap Remove.
That’s how you can clear YouTube search history on mobile phones using multiple ways.
How to Delete YouTube Search History (Computer & Laptop)
If you like to watch YouTube videos on your computer or laptop device, then here is how you can delete your YouTube Search history:
Step 1: Go to YouTube.com.
Step 2: Now click on your profile photo in the top-right corner.
Step 3: From the list, select “Your data in YouTube.”
Step 4: Scroll down and tap on Manage your YouTube Search History under YouTube Search History.
Here you’ll have multiple options to clear YouTube search history.
- If you want to delete the entire search history, simply click on the “DELETE” button and then select the Delete all time option. This will open a confirmation page. Click on the Delete button at the bottom. Doing so will delete your entire YouTube search history.
- You can Manually delete your search history one by one by tapping on the cross icon next to each video.
- You can tap on the “DELETE” button with the drop-down arrow and then select the “Delete custom range” option to delete search history from a selected time period.
- Finally, you can tap on the search bar and search for the video you want to remove from the search history.
Or, you can just simply click on the search bar and then click on the “Remove” icon to remove a particular search history.
How to Clear YouTube Search History on TV
The method to clear YouTube search history on a smart TV is a bit different. Here is how you can do it:
Step 1: Open the YouTube app on your smart TV.
Step 2: Go to the left side panel. Scroll down all the way and open Settings.
Step 3: Again scroll down and then tap on Clear watch history under HISTORY & DATA.
That’s it!
How to Auto Delete YouTube Search History
Interstingly, YouTube already has a built-in feature that allows you to auto-delete the YouTube search history.
You can enable it from both your smartphone and computer. Here is how to do it:
Step 1: Open the YouTube app or YouTube website.
Step 2: Now click on your profile photo in the top-right corner.
Step 3: From the list, select “Your data on YouTube.”
Step 4: Scroll down and tap on Manage your YouTube Search History under YouTube Search History.
Step 5: Tap/click on the Auto-delete option.
Step 6: Select the “Auto-delete activity older than” option and choose a time period. Then click on Next.
Step 7: Save the preferences, and you are all set.
How to Turn Off or Pause YouTube Search History
If you do not want YouTube to record your search history, you can turn it off or pause it. Here is how to do it:
Step 1: Open the YouTube app or YouTube website.
Step 2: Now click on your profile photo in the top-right corner.
Step 3: From the list, select “Your data on YouTube.”
Step 4: Scroll down and tap on Manage your YouTube Search History under YouTube Search History. This will open the YouTube History page.
Step 5: Under YouTube History, click on TURN OFF. You will see a pop-up. Again click on Pause.
Doing so will pause your YouTube search history.
Why Should You Keep Your YouTube Search History Clear?
Keeping your YouTube search history clear is important for a couple of reasons.
First of all, it is vital for your privacy.
Your search history contains information about the videos you’ve watched and the topics that interest you.
Regularly clearing your search history can help protect your privacy by preventing others from seeing your YouTube activity.
Your search history also plays a massive part in the video recommendations that YouTube provides you.
If you’re not careful, this can create a filter bubble that limits the types of content you see.
Clearing your YouTube search history can help you get a wider range of recommendations and discover new content.
How Long Does Search History Stay on YouTube?
It’s unclear whether YouTube keeps your search history forever or not, but it keeps it indefinitely for sure.
For accounts created after 2020, YouTube only keeps the search history for 36 months.
Users do have the option to select the time frame for how long they want their search history to stay on YouTube.
Can Your Parents See Your YouTube Search History?
As long as your parents don’t have access to your Google account or the device on which you watch YouTube videos, they can’t access your YouTube Search History.
Conclusion
Knowing how to delete YouTube search history is essential for your privacy on the platform.
It won’t take more than a minute to delete your YouTube search history by following the easy steps we’ve explained in this post.
If you don’t want to delete your search history manually every time, you can even use the “Auto Delete” feature to remove your search history automatically on a set time frame to keep your feed fresh and secure.
