Until recently, my YouTube feed constantly served up junk instead of gems. However, some simple but powerful tweaks I made transformed my recommendations from an out-of-control list of random videos into a truly personalized content stream.
All screenshots below are taken from the iOS YouTube app and the YouTube website on Microsoft Edge. The processes may differ slightly on other devices or in different browsers.
I pruned my YouTube watch history
One of the primary signals that YouTube’s systems consider for recommendations is our watch history. As a result, as soon as I started pruning it, my YouTube experience improved significantly. This so-called “surgical fix” involved manually deleting specific videos that were generating bad recommendations, while preserving those that were generating good ones.
On my mobile, after logging in to my account on the YouTube app, I navigated to my watch history by tapping my profile picture and clicking “View All.” Then, when I found a video I wanted to remove, I swiped it to the left and tapped the trash icon.
You can also do this on your PC. Click the three horizontal lines in the top-left corner of the YouTube home page, and click “History.” Then, click the three dots next to a video in your watch history, and click “Remove From Watch History.”
Even though this was a time-consuming task at first, now that I’ve got into the habit of deleting an unwanted video from my history as soon as I’ve finished watching it, it’s a simple way to keep on top of my recommendations.
Alternatively, completely deleting your watch history—the “nuclear reset”—removes all traces of any watched videos. However, I didn’t choose this option because I didn’t want to lose personalized recommendations that did work for me. Had I taken this route, my feed would be disorganized until YouTube relearned my preferences once I’d chosen more relevant videos to watch.
However, it’s worth doing if your feed is completely flooded with recommendations unrelated to your interests. On your YouTube mobile app, tap your profile icon, and select “View All” next to History. Then, tap the three dots in the top-right corner, and select “Clear All Watch History.”
On your PC, click the three horizontal lines in the top-left corner of the YouTube home page, and click “History.” Then, click “Clear All Watch History.”
I refined my YouTube search history
Just as pruning my watch history helped YouTube understand the types of videos I consume, refining my search history redefined my intent. Indeed, removing certain keywords that were skewing my recommendations stopped the algorithm from thinking I was still interested in that subject.
There are various options for deleting keywords from your YouTube search history. The method I’ve found the most efficient is to remove them as soon as I’ve used them. On the YouTube mobile app, after tapping the “Search” magnifying glass in the search bar, I can swipe a previous search term to the left and tap “Delete.” On my PC, I simply click the “X” next to the search keyword I want to remove.
You can also make more wholesale changes to your search history. Specifically, you can delete all keywords you’ve ever used, those you entered between two specified dates, or those you’ve typed into the YouTube search today. On your YouTube mobile app, tap your profile icon, then select the “Settings” cog in the top-right corner. Next, tap “Manage All History,” and select “Delete.” You can then choose from the three options in the drop-down menu.
To delete your YouTube search history in your internet browser, click the three horizontal lines in the top-left corner, and select “History.” Then, click “Manage All History” on the right-hand side to be taken to the YouTube History section of the Google My Activity page. Scroll down until you see the word “Delete,” and click it to see the three options.
I tell YouTube what I don’t want to watch
Managing my watch and search histories was a good first step in removing junk from my YouTube feed. However, after doing this, I’ve continued training the app’s recommendation algorithm by telling YouTube what I don’t want to watch.
When a video doesn’t interest me, I click or tap the three dots beneath the thumbnail, and select “Not Interested.” This tells YouTube that the combination of the video topic, channel, title, and thumbnail didn’t tickle my fancy.
However, a more effective tool is the “Don’t Recommend Channel” option in the same menu. Research shows this can block up to 43% of irrelevant suggestions, making it one of the most efficient ways to get rid of content you dislike.
If I watch a video and then decide I don’t want similar content, as well as removing it from my watch history, I click the “thumbs-down” icon.
I removed YouTube videos from my Liked Videos list (and continue “liking” videos that fit the bill)
The YouTube recommendation algorithm is partly driven by likes. When I hit the “thumbs-up” icon beneath a video, it’s added to a list called Liked Videos.
You can access this on the YouTube mobile app by tapping your profile icon, scrolling to “Playlists,” and opening “Liked Videos.” On the YouTube website, the same list is available when you click the three horizontal lines in the top-left corner and select “Playlists.”
Then, I removed any videos that were adversely affecting my recommendations from this list by swiping left on the mobile app, or clicking the three dots on the YouTube website and selecting “Remove From Liked Videos.” By the same token, I continue to add any videos I love to the Liked Videos list by tapping or clicking the “thumbs-up” icon.
I binge-watched my favorite content
Pleasingly, binge-watching my favorite, high-quality content effectively retrains my future suggestions. This is especially true if I watch videos from start to finish, as the algorithm views a fully complete video as a much stronger positive signal than one I abandon after 30 seconds.
Also, if I stay on the platform for a long, continuous session, jumping from one favorable video to another, YouTube understands this as another indicator of preference. Also, being aggressively positive about the content I love—such as “liking” videos and subscribing to channels that produce good content—goes a long way to training YouTube’s recommendations algorithm in my favor.
I reviewed my YouTube channel subscriptions
A final step I took to clean up my YouTube recommendations was reviewing the channels I subscribe to. Going through my subscription list and unsubscribing from any channel I no longer wanted to watch not only decluttered my Subscriptions feed but also reduced the likelihood of seeing this content on my YouTube welcome page feed.
The subscription list is easy to find. On the YouTube mobile app, tap “Subscriptions” in the menu at the bottom of the home screen. Then, tap “All.”
On PC, click “Subscriptions” in the left-hand menu before clicking “Manage” on the following page.
Taking control of my YouTube recommendations is good for my digital hygiene, and the steps I’ve taken are the most efficient ways to achieve this for free. However, upgrading to YouTube Premium can further improve your viewing experience by removing ad interference, allowing for offline downloading, and enabling background play—making your newly curated feed even more enjoyable.
Subscription with ads
No, all ad-free
Price
$14/month ($8/month for students)
For $14 a month, you get ad-free videos, YouTube Music, and offline video downloads.
