Do you love YouTube but are frustrated with endless video suggestions? YouTube now allows you to watch videos without the accompanying recommendations.
YouTube keeps users entertained by recommending relatable content to the videos they watch. Yesterday, YouTube introduced a setting to eliminate recommendations for users who want to opt out. Users with a limited prior watch history will notice the change more than those with a lengthy viewing history.
Turning off your YouTube watch history disables video recommendations. It will also affect features dependent on your viewing history to work, including your YouTube home feed.
Watch history is a helpful tool to find videos up your alley, filling your home feed with dozens of suggestions based on your viewing habits. However, YouTube said some users clear their search history to avoid suggestions, preferring to use the search bar to find videos over browsing recommendations.
YouTube was not immediately available for comment.
To turn off watch history, sign in and tap the three horizontal lines at the upper left-hand menu. From there, select ‘history’ and toggle off ‘watch history.’ This section also manages and clears all watch and search history. You can turn watch history back on at any time.
Once watch history is deactivated, your home feed will only show the search bar and the guide menu on the left-hand side of the platform. The home screen will no longer provide a video recommendation feed, your library, history, watch later lists, and liked videos. However, YouTube said the change allows users to search manually for videos and browse subscribed channels. Users can also find new content through the Topics tabs.
YouTube will roll out these changes slowly over the next few months. If you don’t see it yet, be patient. Visit YouTube’s Help page for complete instructions to manage your watch history. Also, check out My Google Activity for more instructions and information about activity controls.