- What Not interested and Don't recommend channel do
- The difference between deleting history and turning it off
- Choosing the right action for your goal, and its limits
The short answer
Pick the action that fits your goal. For a single video or channel, use Not interested or Don't recommend channel. To remove the effect of past viewing, delete history. To stop recording what you watch from now on, turn history off. None of these is guaranteed to make everything you see change right away.
Actions by goal
| Goal | Action | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Stop seeing this video recommended | Not interested, from the video's More menu | Search results may also change |
| Stop seeing this channel recommended | Don't recommend channel, from the More menu | Feedback for tuning recommendations |
| Remove one video's influence | Delete it from watch history | Deleted items are no longer used for recommendations |
| Remove one search's influence | Delete it from search history | Deleting a whole date range also deletes watch history for that range |
| Stop recording from now on | Turn off watch or search history | Existing history stays |
| Undo your feedback | Delete the YouTube "Not interested" feedback in My Activity | Clears both Not interested and Don't recommend channel |
For example, say you played a children's video once on your own account, and now similar videos fill your home page. Deleting that one video from your watch history is the least disruptive fix.
Deleting is not the same as turning off
Deleting removes history that already exists. According to YouTube Help, deleted history is no longer used to decide recommendations. Turning history off stops recording from now on, and videos you watch while it is off do not appear in your history.
YouTube Help notes that clearing and turning off watch history is one way to avoid recommendations on the home page. It also says that when you have little relevant or recent history and have chosen not to get recommendations based on it, features such as home page recommendations are turned off. If you turn history off and forget, your home page can look very different.
Deleting and turning off are different
- Removes what was recorded
- Deleted items are no longer used for recommendations
- Stops recording from now on
- Existing history stays
Hiding from recommendations is not blocking
Don't recommend channel is described as feedback used to improve your recommendations. YouTube Help does not say the channel will disappear from search results or your subscriptions. Do not rely on it if your goal is never to see that channel anywhere, including search.
How to check, and where to look next
On a computer, open Google's My Activity, go to YouTube History, then manage history, and remove items one by one with the close icon next to each video. In the Android app, tap your profile picture, open settings and go to the option to manage all history. On TVs and game consoles, the settings in the left menu include options to pause and clear watch history. Steps vary by device and app version, and screen names may differ in the English interface compared with the Japanese help pages cited here. If unsure, read the YouTube Help article on managing your recommendations and search results.
Checklist
- Did you decide whether your goal concerns a video, a channel or your history?
- Did you delete only what you needed, instead of everything?
- Do you know that deleting search history by date range also deletes watch history?
- Will you remember that you turned history off?
- Are you treating Don't recommend channel as something other than a full block, including search?
One thing to check today
Open your watch history and see whether there is one video you do not want shaping your recommendations.