You Must Turn Off Your YouTube Browsing History

When I open YouTube these days it’s basically a mess. Of course, the videos they recommend I watch vaguely resemble the type of content I’m interested in. But for the most part, I scroll through most of the noise until I see something half decent to click through. More often than not, the videos I enjoy watching most on YouTube are the ones I search for myself, either through search or on channels I subscribe to.

YouTube is changing the way its home page works – at least for some of us. One day, you may log in and see nothing but a search bar, an empty space, and a message: “Your browsing history is disabled.”

Disabling Browsing History Will Improve Your YouTube Experience

As reported by The Verge , YouTube is removing homepage recommendations for anyone with a paused browsing history, as well as those with “no significant previous browsing history.” If you meet these requirements, your YouTube homepage will look pretty blank. You better know what you want to watch because YouTube won’t recommend anything for sure.

Good.

You don’t need another algorithm in your life watching everything you do and trying to keep you by providing you with targeted content, especially if that content is completely irrelevant . In fact, you may find that your social media experience gets better the more you avoid feeding these algorithms . YouTube is a prime example: the site is much more enjoyable when you yourself are looking for the content you want to watch. Heck, you’ll find far more relevant recommendations from a Reddit thread than from the site’s algorithms. (Have you ever had to open the YouTube app in a browser you’re not signed in to? Terrible.)

The funny thing is that YouTube is probably doing this because they want to force users who pause the story to turn it back on. Of course, it might work, but in my opinion, it will only improve the app and site for those of us who are breaking out of the game of algorithms.

How to disable browsing history on youtube

The quickest way to manage your browsing history settings is to select your profile icon in the top right corner of the app or site, and then select Your YouTube Data. In the YouTube Watch History section, select On, then click Off in the YouTube History section. Feel free to scan the popup to see what you’re opting out of (recommendations, etc.) and then hit Pause to commit. Since you are only pausing your browsing history, you can undo this decision at any time.

If you really want to go all-in, you can click “Delete Old Activity” on the pop-up to clear your browsing history.

The changes to the homepage may not take effect immediately: Google says this will happen within the next few months . But be careful that YouTube doesn’t get better in the app or browser closest to you.