YouTube remains the source for video content online. Google+ requirement to comment on videos is already annoying users and Google’s push for accounts to be connected with a Google+ page creates tension with users who want to watch videos and remain anonymous. YouTube has kept track of the video history on accounts when logged into an account for a while, it’s a feature they don’t mention often.
While this may not matter with your personal account, on the occasion you may be using a general log-in used by a business it may be a good idea to clear the watch history. It only takes a few steps to complete.
Remove your Watch History
1. From the main page of YouTube, click on your user icon. This will open the options for YouTube, your Google account, and show lists from YouTube like “Favorites,” “Watch Later,” and most importantly “History.”
2. After you click on History, YouTube will load a list of watched videos. The most recent will be at the top.
3. From this list, you have a few options. You can individually delete videos, bulk delete, or add them to different lists and tag them under different categories.
4. If there’s a specific video you want to remove, then you can select that single one. Otherwise it’s easy enough to bulk remove your entire Watch History. Another available option is to pause your watch history and YouTube won’t keep track of the videos you’ve seen.
Monitor your data
Generally all the videos that are in the history are videos you’ve seen, but if you see videos that you haven’t watched your account may be compromised. Since YouTube log-ins are connected to your Gmail account, if you have a breach then it may be visible in your YouTube account.
Otherwise, while your history is only available to you, it’s a good idea to clean your history once in a while.
[Article originally published March 2013]
