How to Switch to Incognito Mode on YouTube Right Now
Google knows a lot about you, and much of that information comes from YouTube. By default, the video site keeps track of everything you watch and search for (including the time I played the sameTaylor Swift video on a loop for 2 hours ), so it can offer better videos – and of course, target you more relevant ads.
If you don’t like that YouTube suggestions are cluttered with some of your unfamiliar video views (like the aforementioned Tay Tay), or you simply don’t want YouTube to follow what you’re watching, it looks like the service is gearing up to add a new private browsing mode. … Android Police reports that YouTube is currently testing a new “incognito mode” that will make it easy to hide your activity.
Aside from keeping your guilty pleasures a secret, it can also be a good way to manage the video suggestions you get on the site. YouTube has a nasty habit of nudging viewers into taking their interests more seriously (be it left-wing politics, right-wing conspiracies, or even veganism). Once this new feature arrives, you will be able to watch a few of Bernie Sanders’ performances without worrying about YouTube forever labeling you as a socialist.
Luckily, you don’t have to wait – there is an easy way to stay incognito right now.
If you mainly watch YouTube on your iPhone or Android device, here’s what to do. First, open the app and click on your profile picture in the upper right corner. Then click on Settings and scroll down to the History & Privacy heading. From here, you can toggle between “Pause Browsing History” and “Pause Search History” to prevent YouTube from tracking your activity. You can also clear your entire browsing history on this same page.
If you prefer to stream streams from your web browser to your desktop or laptop, the process is slightly different. Open YouTube and click on the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines) in the upper left corner. Then select “History” and find on the right side of the page “Clear all browsing history” and “Pause browsing history”.