YouTube guide
Marta Kowalczyk writes about design and creative apps for Appcyclopedia, working on a MacBook Air, an iPhone 16 Pro and a Galaxy A55.
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Short answer
YouTube has no reset button. You reset recommendations by changing what they are built from: mark bad suggestions Not interested or Don’t recommend channel, delete the videos that pulled the feed off course from your watch history, and pause history if you want it to stop rebuilding.
The catch: turning watch history off does not give you a neutral feed. With no significant history left, YouTube removes recommendations from Home altogether.
Below: the steps from the lightest fix to a clean start, what each control changes and for how long, and the cases where the feed is not the problem.
How to reset your YouTube recommendations, from one bad video to a clean start
To reset your YouTube recommendations, start with the smallest change that fixes the feed and stop when it looks right. The first group tunes the suggestions you are shown, the second removes the history they come from, and the third stops that history from rebuilding.
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Tune the suggestions you are shown
Mark the worst suggestions Not interested
On Home or in the list beside a video, click or tap More (the three dots) next to the title, then Not interested. For a video, choose Tell us why and pick I don’t like the video or I’ve already watched the video, which tells YouTube what kind of mistake it made. On a TV, press and hold the select button on the remote to get the same menu.
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Block the channels you never want suggested
Open More on a video, Short or post from that channel and choose Don’t recommend channel, or Don’t recommend posts from channel for community posts. This covers every upload from the channel, so it clears a whole run of suggestions faster than marking videos one by one.
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Cut down Shorts from the app
In the YouTube app, scroll Home to a grid of Shorts, tap More at the top of the grid, then Show fewer Shorts. This control is only in the app, and it reduces Shorts rather than removing them.
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Remove the history the feed is built from
Delete the videos that pulled the feed off course
On a computer, go to My Activity, click YouTube History, then Manage history. In the app, tap your profile photo, then Settings and Manage all history. Click or tap the X next to each video you want gone. YouTube stops basing future recommendations on history you delete, and the rest of your record stays in place.
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Clear a stretch of time in one go
On the same page, use DELETE and choose a time range that covers the stretch when things went wrong, or everything for a full clear. This also deletes your search history from that range. Use it when you cannot remember every video you watched.
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Unlike videos that no longer fit
Recommendations are also based on videos you have liked. Open your Liked videos playlist and remove the like from anything you would not want more of.
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Stop the history from rebuilding
Pause watch history
On a computer, open My Activity, click the Controls tab in the left sidebar and select Turn off. In the app, go to Settings, Manage all history, the Controls tab, and unselect Include the YouTube videos you watch. On a TV or console, open Settings from the left-hand menu and select Pause watch history. Videos you watch while it is paused are not recorded.
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Set auto-delete if you want history on but short
In Manage history on a computer, click Auto-delete, choose a time range, click Next, then Confirm. Older history then drops out on its own, so one odd week cannot shape the feed for years.
A common case: a child watched an afternoon of toy unboxings on your account, and Home is now full of them. Steps 1 and 2 on the first few channels, then step 5 with a range covering that afternoon, fix it without touching the years of history that made the feed useful.
Removing the source of a bad suggestion fixes more than hiding the suggestion itself, which is why the history steps matter more than the feedback buttons once a feed has drifted far.
More about YouTube
Google’s video platform, for watching, uploading and live streaming.
Old YouTube recommendations coming back?
- The same kind of videos came back within a few days
Watch history was still on, so the videos you kept watching were recorded and the feed rebuilt from them. Pause history (step 7) or set a short auto-delete window (step 8).
- Home is blank apart from the search bar
This is expected when watch history is off and there is no significant recent history. Turn history back on and watch a few videos you want more of, or use Subscriptions and search instead.
- A device you are not signed in on still shows the old feed
Signed-out history is stored separately. On YouTube in a browser, select History, then Clear all watch history or Pause watch history. In the app while signed out, go to Settings, then History & privacy.
What YouTube builds your recommendations from
YouTube builds recommendations mainly from what you click, how long you watch, survey answers, shares, likes and dislikes, your subscriptions and the feedback you give with buttons like Not interested.
Most of those signals end up in your watch history. That is why deleting history changes the feed more than any single feedback button: YouTube stops basing future recommendations on content you delete.
Search history works the same way for search results, and activity from your wider Google Account can count too.
A reset works by removing inputs, so the fix follows whichever input went wrong.
What each YouTube control changes, and for how long
| Control | What it changes | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| Not interested | Feedback against one video, playlist or post | Until you delete the feedback in My Activity |
| Don’t recommend channel | Stops suggestions from that whole channel | Until you delete the feedback in My Activity |
| Show fewer Shorts | Fewer Shorts on Home and Watch Next | Until you delete it under Other activity |
| Delete one video from history | Future recommendations stop drawing on it | Permanent |
| DELETE by time range | Removes watch and search history for that period | Permanent |
| Pause watch history | New videos are not recorded | Until you turn it back on |
| Auto-delete | Drops history older than the range you choose | Ongoing |
The feedback controls are reversible and narrow. The history controls are broad, and a deletion cannot be undone, so start with feedback when the problem is a handful of channels.
When the problem is the account or the device, not the feed
A TV or games console keeps its own history settings under Settings in the left-hand menu. Pausing history on your phone does not pause it there.
Check which account you are signed in to before deciding a reset failed. A browser signed in to a work account, or a TV signed in to someone else’s, shows that account’s recommendations whatever you change on your own.
If the suggestions track things you searched on Google rather than YouTube, the source is your Google Account activity, which you can review and delete at myactivity.google.com.
How to tell the YouTube reset is working
Over the next few days of normal watching, look for these signs:
- Channels you blocked no longer appear on Home or beside videos.
- The subject you cleared out stops filling the first screen of Home.
- With history paused, Manage history shows nothing new since the pause.
YouTube does not publish how long changes take to show. If nothing moves after a week of watching, the source is usually a device or account from the section above.
Start with the next suggestion you do not want
A YouTube reset rarely needs the full clear. Mark the next few bad suggestions, delete the videos that started the drift, and keep history on if you like a personalised Home.
Pause history only if you are ready for Home to go quiet.
Resetting YouTube recommendations: questions
- Why is my YouTube homepage empty?
- YouTube removes recommendations from Home when watch history is turned off and you have no significant recent history. Turning history back on and watching a few videos brings them back.
- Can I undo Not interested or Don’t recommend channel?
- Yes, all at once. In My Activity, open Other Google activity, find YouTube ‘Not interested’ feedback and select Delete. A Show fewer Shorts choice is cleared the same way, under Other activity.
- Does deleting watch history also delete my searches?
- Only when you use DELETE for a time range, which removes search history for the same period. Removing single videos with the X leaves your searches alone.
- Does my Google activity outside YouTube affect recommendations?
- It can. Data from your Google Account activity can influence recommendations and search results, and you can review it at myactivity.google.com.
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Test log
Followed the steps? Tell us how it went on your device. Entries appear here after we check them.
- Worked Every step, start to finish · Daniel Okonkwo Team
I tested this
Steps performed and confirmed 18 days ago
When you need this
When your YouTube Home feed has drifted somewhere you did not choose, often after videos watched once out of curiosity or played for someone else, you can reset it. Recommendations come from history and feedback you can edit, so the real decision is how much to remove.
- Describes
- YouTube on the web, Android and iPhone · YouTube on smart TVs and game consoles
- Takes
- Two minutes for one video, ten for a full clear
- Platforms
- Web · iOS · Android
- Published
- 4 October 2026
- Facts checked
- 4 October 2026
Steps repeated and verified by 
Daniel Okonkwo
on
- Daniel Okonkwo: the iPhone steps on an iPhone 15 (iOS 27.0.1), the Android steps on a Pixel 9 Pro (Android 17) and the web steps on a MacBook Pro (macOS 27.0.1).
YouTube 
