How do you fix your YouTube recommendations?
Clear your watch and search history, then send feedback, to bring your YouTube homepage back to what you actually watch.
Short answer
Open History from the left menu on YouTube, then use "Clear all watch history" and "Clear all search history" in the right-hand panel. Next, tap the three dots on unwanted videos on your homepage and choose "Not interested" or "Don't recommend channel". Watch a few videos from your new interest all the way through; the feed settles within a day or two.
What you need
Step by step
Save the videos you want to keep
Before deleting anything, add videos you plan to rewatch to "Watch later" or a playlist you create yourself. Once history is cleared, finding those videos again through search gets hard, while playlists stay untouched.
Open the History page
On a computer, go to youtube.com and click "History" in the left menu. On a phone, open the "You" tab at the bottom right and tap "View all" next to the History heading. This screen shows the main data the algorithm uses to profile you.
Clear your watch history
In the right-hand panel, or under Settings > History & privacy on a phone, tap "Clear all watch history" and confirm. Watch history is the heaviest signal in YouTube's recommendation decisions, so resetting it gives your homepage a largely blank start.
Clear your search history too
In the same panel, choose "Clear all search history". A single curious search can pull in irrelevant suggestions for weeks. If you would rather not wipe everything, tap "Remove" on individual entries under the search box.
Give feedback on videos you don't want
On the homepage, tap the three dots next to an annoying video and pick "Not interested" or "Don't recommend channel". "Not interested" targets one video; "Don't recommend channel" pulls the whole channel out of your feed. Keep doing it for a few days as new ones appear.
Review subscriptions, likes and playlists
Unsubscribe from channels you no longer care about and unlike irrelevant videos in your liked videos list. These are lasting signals that survive a history wipe, so old recommendations creep back if you skip them.
Feed your new interest
Watch 5 to 10 videos on the topic you want from start to finish, like a few, and subscribe to two or three channels. Half-finished videos are a weak signal; completed watches steer the algorithm much faster.
Set history to auto-delete
Under Settings > History & privacy, set YouTube history to delete automatically every 3, 18 or 36 months. That keeps old habits from shaping recommendations forever. You can also pause history collection entirely from the same place.
Tips
Watch out
Clearing watch history cannot be undone. Add any videos you want to find again to a playlist first, or that clip you watched years ago may be gone for good. Clearing history also leaves your subscriptions and likes in place, so you need to clean those up separately.
Frequently asked questions
+How long does it take for recommendations to improve?
The homepage empties right away, but new suggestions need a few watched videos to settle. Usually the feed reshapes around your new interests within a day or two.
+Can I delete a single video from my history?
Yes. On the History page, tap the X next to that video; only that one watch record is removed and the rest stay.
+Does "Not interested" actually work?
One tap rarely makes a visible difference, but the effect builds as you repeat it. To cut a channel off completely, "Don't recommend channel" is sharper.
+Is pausing history better than clearing it?
If you want better recommendations, clear and retrain instead. Pausing doesn't improve suggestions, it mostly just leaves your homepage bare.
+Can I fix YouTube recommendations on my TV?
Yes. History is tied to your account, so cleanup done on a phone or computer carries over to the smart TV app. Just make sure you're signed in with the same account.
Sources and verification
Last verified: 13 Eylül 2026. tell us.
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