How to Clear YouTube Search History, and Pause It for Good
Search and watch history are two separate lists in your Google account. You can clear either, pause either and set both to delete themselves.
How to clear YouTube search history: in the app, tap your profile picture, then Settings, then Manage all history, and tap the X next to any search or use Delete to remove a date range. On a computer, open myactivity.google.com/product/youtube. Deleted searches stop shaping recommendations and stop appearing as suggestions in the search box.
Two things trip people up. Search history and watch history are separate lists, and clearing one leaves the other alone, except when you use the bulk Delete button, which removes both for the period you pick. And both lists live in your Google account rather than in the YouTube app, so clearing them on one device clears them everywhere you're signed in.
As of October 2026, YouTube's Help Center sends both histories to the same place: the YouTube History section of Google's My Activity. Each search and each watched video is stored there as an activity entry with a date, and the same page holds the three controls that matter: delete, pause and auto-delete.
That's why the steps look the same on every device. The app's Manage all history screen is My Activity inside the app; the computer route is My Activity in a browser. What you change in one shows in the other.
The effect reaches past the search box. YouTube's help says deleted searches will no longer influence your recommendations, and the same is true of deleted watch history. So clearing history is also a way to steer what YouTube suggests, which is the subject of how to reset the YouTube algorithm. It works in the other direction for creators: a viewer with a cleared or paused history finds videos through search and subscriptions, where the public view count next to each result, the number YouTube views adds to, is part of what they judge before clicking.
How do you clear YouTube search history, step by step?
In the YouTube app on Android or iPhone:
1. Tap your profile picture.
2. Tap Settings, then Manage all history.
3. To remove one search, tap the X next to it. To find a specific search, use the search icon; to browse by day, use the calendar icon.
4. To clear a period, tap Delete and choose a range, such as the last hour, the last day or all time. This removes watch history from that period too.
On a computer:
1. Go to myactivity.google.com/product/youtube and sign in.
2. Click the X next to any search to remove it, or click Delete to clear a range.
In both cases you're editing the same list in your Google account, so the change shows on every device where you're signed in.
How do you delete your YouTube watch history?
From the same place. On a computer, go to My Activity, open YouTube History and choose Manage history, which lists the videos you've watched alongside your searches. Click Delete to remove a range, or the X next to a single video. In the app, Settings and Manage all history open the same list.
The Help Center flags one detail worth repeating: using Delete for a time range removes both search and watch history from that range. If you only want searches gone, remove them one at a time with the X, or pause watch history separately before you clear.
There's also a quicker in-app route for recent viewing: the History section of your library lists what you watched, and each item there can be removed from watch history from its menu.
How do you remove one video from your history?
Find it and delete just that entry. In the app's history list, open the menu on the video and choose to remove it from watch history. On a computer, find the entry in My Activity and click the X next to it.
This is the precise tool, and usually the better one. If a single odd video is filling your home feed with similar content, deleting that one entry removes its influence without throwing away years of history that make the rest of your recommendations useful. YouTube says it won't base future recommendations on watch history you delete.
What happens when you pause YouTube history?
New activity stops being saved; old activity stays until you delete it. Pausing is a separate switch for each list:
- Search history: in My Activity, open the YouTube History controls and untick Include your searches on YouTube. New searches won't be saved or suggested back to you.
- Watch history: in the same controls, turn off Include the YouTube videos you watch. Videos you watch while it's off don't show up in your history.
- In the app, the same switches are on the Controls tab of Manage all history.
Can you auto-delete YouTube history?
Yes. In My Activity, open YouTube History and choose Auto-delete. As of October 2026 the options are to delete activity older than 3 months, 18 months or 36 months, or not to auto-delete at all. Google applies the rule from then on, removing entries as they age past the limit.
Auto-delete is the middle ground between keeping everything and pausing everything. A 3-month window keeps recent viewing, so recommendations stay relevant, while stopping old searches from piling up. Switching auto-delete off later doesn't bring back anything it already removed.
If you want a session that never enters history in the first place, the app's Incognito mode does that, and nothing you search or watch in it is saved.
Does clearing history reset recommendations?
Partly. YouTube's help says deleted searches will no longer influence your recommendations, and deleted watch history stops being used for future suggestions. So clearing removes the signals; it doesn't wipe the system's view of you completely. Your subscriptions, likes, saved playlists and the videos you tap next keep shaping what you're shown, and the home feed rebuilds from them quickly.
The bigger switch is pausing watch history, because YouTube turns off home feed recommendations for people who've paused it and have no watch history to work from. How to reset the YouTube algorithm covers that trade-off and the gentler options in between, such as Not interested and Don't recommend channel.
Is YouTube history tied to your Google account?
Yes. YouTube History is one of your Google account's activity controls, stored in My Activity alongside things like Web and App Activity, which is why it follows you to every device where you're signed in. It's also why the controls can be reached from your Google account settings as well as from YouTube itself.
Two practical consequences. A shared device signed in to your account adds other people's searches to your history, and to your recommendations; a separate account or Incognito mode avoids that. And a brand account or channel you manage has its own history, so switch to it before clearing if that's the one whose suggestions are off.
For creators, the same controls explain part of how viewers find you. Viewers with paused history lean on search and subscriptions instead of the home feed, and seeing your own YouTube comments lives in the same activity tools. Every YouTube service, including YouTube views for the public count viewers read in search results, is on the YouTube page.
Questions people ask about YouTube search history
How do I clear my YouTube search history?
In the app, tap your profile picture, then Settings and Manage all history, and tap the X next to a search or use Delete for a date range. On a computer, go to myactivity.google.com/product/youtube.
Does deleting search history also delete watch history?
Only if you use the bulk Delete button, which removes both for the period you choose. Removing searches one by one with the X leaves watch history alone.
How do I stop YouTube saving my searches?
Pause search history. In My Activity or the app's Controls tab, untick Include your searches on YouTube. New searches won't be saved until you turn it back on.
Can YouTube history delete itself automatically?
Yes. In My Activity, choose Auto-delete for YouTube History and pick 3, 18 or 36 months. Older entries are removed as they pass that age.
Does clearing YouTube history change my recommendations?
Yes. YouTube says deleted searches and watch history stop influencing recommendations. Subscriptions, likes and what you watch next still shape the feed, so it rebuilds quickly.
Is my YouTube history the same on all my devices?
Yes, when you're signed in. YouTube History is stored in your Google account, so clearing or pausing it on one device applies everywhere you use that account.
Keep reading
- YouTube views — Viewers with paused history find videos through search, where YouTube views add to the count shown next to each result.
- How to reset the YouTube algorithm — Using history and feedback controls to steer recommendations.
- How to see your YouTube comments — Finding your comment history in the same activity tools.
- How to get more views on YouTube — The creator side: which surfaces send viewers to a video.