All major websites store a history of what is being done. For example on Google there is the history of all the sites visited and also on Facebook there is the history of searches .
Youtube, on the other hand, stores two things on the account of each registered user, the videos viewed and the searches made on the appropriate bar.
This form of memorization can be advantageous if we have to find old searches, titles of songs listened to but forgotten, funny videos that we had seen and also to quickly find videos that we can like.
Thanks to this information, in fact, YouTube populates related videos and suggests new content that he thinks we may like directly on the home.
But if we wanted to better protect our privacy "> How to see YouTube on Now TV, Chromecast, Android TV and Fire Stick
1) Clear YouTube history from the browser
The first step we can do is clear all the browser history, so as to remove the association of the Google account with the computer in use and protect the data collected by YouTube.
To do this, simply press the CTRL + H key combination on any browser to open the history window.
On Google Chrome for example a window similar to the one shown below will open.
To clear the history, click on the Clear browsing data item, open the Advanced tab and select All as the time interval, insert a check mark on all the boxes in the small window and finally click on Clear data .
In a few minutes we will have deleted all traces of our activity on YouTube and on the other sites in the browser.
If someone opened YouTube now they would find the generic page, without our recommended videos and without the search results already carried out.
This deletion method is effective if we have seen videos and searched YouTube without using a registered account.
To learn more about the clearing of browser history, we can read our guide -> Clear history on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and IE .
2) Clear YouTube history from the account
If, on the other hand, we want to permanently delete all the data collected by YouTube relating to the videos viewed and searches made on it, it is not sufficient to delete the browser history, but we will have to access the YouTube history of our account and proceed with the appropriate cancellation.
To do this, we open any web browser and access the YouTube page by clicking on the top right corner on Login and entering the credentials of our account.
After logging in with our YouTube account, let's go to the site here -> YouTube history.
We will have all the videos and searches made with YouTube available on one page.
To clear the displayed videos, make sure that the Watch history item on the right is checked, then select the Clear all watch history item .
To cancel the searches made, simply select the Search history item in the same window seen a little while ago, then click on Delete all the search history.
With these two items we will be able to make every trace of our activity on YouTube disappear directly from the account: combined with the cancellation of the browser history, we will get a computer on which there is no trace of what we have seen or searched on YouTube.
3) How to surf anonymously on YouTube
We want to avoid having to clear all the histories every time when we use YouTube "> how to activate the incognito mode in the Youtube app.
The first method to surf anonymously on YouTube involves the use of incognito mode within the browser: a new tab in which nothing will be saved in the history and which will not be associated with the YouTube account possibly already assigned on the browser.
To activate this mode, simply open the menu at the top right (present on all browsers) and select the item New incognito window (on Google Chrome) or press the keyboard shortcut CTRL + SHIFT + N.
From this mode we will only have to access the YouTube page and search for the videos that interest us, sure that they will not be added to the browser history or to the account history.
To activate anonymous mode on other browsers, we recommend reading our guide -> How to browse privately on the internet .
Another very effective way to surf anonymously on YouTube is to disable the viewing and search history from the YouTube account: in this way, even if we browse in the clear, nothing will be registered on the account.
To do this, let's go to the page already seen in the previous chapter, after logging in with the YouTube account -> YouTube history.
Select the View History item in the right bar and click the Pause View History item.
On the same page, select the Search history item and click the Pause search history item.
By activating both items, our YouTube account will not collect any information on what we do on the site (even if, thanks to cookies, the account will still display relevant videos on the home page).
By combining both the proposed methods, we will be able to surf anonymously on YouTube, without leaving any trace on the computer in use.
To learn more about the data that Google and its associated services collect on our business, we recommend you read our dedicated guide below.
READ ALSO: All the data that Google collects about us
