YouTube history: Here's how to stop your preferences from being tracked and analysed

Nowadays, surfing the internet without being tracked is very difficult. Thus, many delete their history records to prevent being tracked.

YouTube is the most popular video-sharing website in the world, as well as one of the most browsed websites on the internet. Each visitor spends about 20 minutes each day on average on the site. It's also controlled by Alphabet, the holding company that runs the world's most popular search engine, Google, and uses Gmail to process the majority of our email.

Although keeping your YouTube activities separate from your banking information, search history, and work email can be tough, there are various solutions.

YouTube's record of your streaming activity

People use YouTube to look for a variety of topics, going from health information that share their medical history to political searches, expressing their political leanings and their hobbies & interests.

Visit the data and privacy page of your Google account, or the My Activity page linked to your Google account.

You can see all the videos you've watched on YouTube if you're connected into your Google account.

To see only YouTube activity, go to the top and select filter by date & product, then YouTube alone. This will display the history of the clips you've watched in the last month. You won't be able to see it unless you turn off the YouTube history tracking setting.

Remove all of your YouTube history

On the YouTube website, go to your user library and check your viewing history. This page displays a variety of information, including which videos you've seen and liked.

You can delete all of your history or temporarily suspend it using the bar on the right-hand side. More precise options to manage the videos you've watched can be found on YouTube's Watch history page.

If you're logged in to YouTube, everything you watch on your device is reflected in the suggestions displayed on your TV app. Simply log out of one or the other to break the connection.

Remove from Watch History allows you to eliminate videos that you no longer wish to be linked with you.

Google's dedicated YouTube History page displays all of your YouTube activity and allows you to turn on or off your search and watch history. This page also has a setting for automatically erasing your YouTube activity records every 3, 18 or 36 months.

You can pause your YouTube search history in the same way that you can pause your watch history. If you've controlled YouTube's algorithm to give you videos that you want, be careful when deleting the data.

Stop YouTube from tracking your location

YouTube monitors your location to show you videos that are suitable to your location. If you have location turned on, it will use your GPS data. If you're at home and don't want your location history saved, go to the Your data in YouTube page and turn it off.

Restrict the advertising profile

Google keeps track of you across all of its services, including YouTube. The information you provide on all of the websites helps to generate an image of who you are, as well as which videos you should watch.

The Ad personalization page on Google gives you some insight into the type of person Google thinks you are.

You would be relieved to learn that Google does not know everything there is to know about you and that it occasionally makes mistakes. If you absolutely want to change it, click Turn off next to any of the interests or categories Google has given to you.

Manage your streaming recommendations

YouTube's algorithm is what makes it so addicting; it can suggest videos that you might prefer.

You may view YouTube incognito mode through your web browser or by turning on Incognito Mode in the YouTube app if you'd prefer not to be tracked and are willing to find videos on your own. Account > Menu > Turn on Incognito is where you'll find it. However, keep in mind that Chrome's incognito mode isn't as private as you may assume.

While on YouTube, you can log out of your Google account, which functions as a type of barrier between your YouTube activity and other Google activity.

When signed out, clicking on a single WWE video on YouTube's page and then returning to the home page, the recommended videos were turned into a tsunami of wrestling and boxing.