YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine. How many videos have you searched for this week? How would you feel if someone used your device, or hacked your account, and saw the list of videos you’ve watched, and searches you’ve done?
Maybe you’ve uploaded your videos to YouTube, for others to find and watch. How would you feel if you found out that several of the videos you thought were private were public, and had been viewed by hundreds of people?
Did you know YouTube is owned by Google? Google knows more about you than almost any other entity on Earth, including governments.
Google is known for building strong security in its software. However, Google is also known for not respecting user privacy. As an advertising company, it’s in Google’s best interests to collect data about its users and use that data for its advertising.
For these reasons, you must know how to use YouTube more privately. Let’s walk through them.
This guide shows the full, desktop version of the YouTube website. The steps can be used on Youtube’s mobile website and YouTube apps too. The links throughout the guide will take you directly to the pages referenced.
Improve Youtube Privacy Through YouTube Account Settings
In the top right corner of the YouTube website, click your profile photo in the top right corner of the screen, then click the settings gear icon. You’ll see a menu on the left side of the screen with various categories of settings.
Privacy
In the menu on the left side of the screen, click Privacy.
Under Likes and subscriptions, check the box for any items you’d like to keep private. The choices are liked videos, saved playlists, and subscriptions. I recommend checking all the boxes, then clicking Save.
Delete YouTube History
YouTube keeps track of your activity. You can delete individual items, clear all past items, or disable (pause) history entirely. I recommend disabling history unless there’s a reason you need it. If you choose not to do that, at least consider deleting some or all of the past items.
From the YouTube homepage, click History on the left side. On the right side, you’ll see a list of several types of history. At the bottom of that are options to clear and pause history.
In the middle of the screen, you’ll see individual items, if your history hasn’t been cleared or paused. To delete an item, hover over it, and click the X.
Clear erases all past items of that type, but new items will be saved. Pause will prevent future activity from being saved, but will not erase your past activity.
Clear and/or pause for each history type you wish.
Set Visibility of Videos You Upload
When you upload a video to YouTube, you choose its visibility (privacy). Here are the options, with descriptions from YouTube:
- Public: “can be seen by anyone on YouTube. They can also be shared with anyone using YouTube. They’re posted on your channel when you upload them and show up in search results and related video lists.”
- Unlisted: “can be seen and shared by anyone with the link. Your unlisted videos won’t appear to others who visit the ‘Videos’ tab of your channel page. They won’t show up in YouTube’s search results unless someone adds your unlisted video to a public playlist. You can share an unlisted video’s URL with other users. The people you share the video with don’t need a Google Account to see the video. Anyone with the link can also re-share it.
- Private: can only be seen by you and the users you choose. Your private videos won’t appear to others who visit the ‘Videos’ tab of your channel page. They also won’t show up in YouTube’s search results.”
- Scheduled: “schedule a private video to go public at a specific time.”
You can change the visibility of videos you’ve previously uploaded in YouTube Studio > Videos.
Youtube Privacy: Using YouTube in Private Browsing
Another way to keep your YouTube activity from appearing in your YouTube account is to use YouTube in a private browsing window (called Incognito Mode in Google Chrome).
Simply open a new private browsing window and go to YouTube.com, but don’t sign in to your account. YouTube will treat you like a stranger; you won’t see anything you’ve saved in your YouTube account, and nothing you do will be saved to your account.
Youtube Privacy: Using Your YouTube Account Safely
The security of your YouTube account largely depends on the security of your Google account. Be sure to follow my Google Account Security and Privacy Guide.
If you use someone else’s device (computer, phone, tablet, etc.) to log into YouTube, be sure to log out when you’re finished! Otherwise, the other person can use YouTube as you after you leave.
ProtonVPN offers secure VPN through an encrypted VPN tunnel, so your passwords and confidential data stay safe, even when you are using public or untrusted Internet connections.
Private Internet Access provides state of the art, multi-layered security with advanced privacy protection using VPN tunneling. It helps block unwanted connections, hide your IP address, and defend yourself from data monitoring and eavesdropping.
TorGuard protects you from hackers, net censorship, identity theft, and ISP's monitoring activities. It provides easy to use services that protect your online identity.
ExpressVPN hides your IP address and encrypts your network data so no one can see what you're doing. You can access any content, no matter your location using ultra-fast VPN servers.
TunnelBear encrypts your internet connection to keep your online activity private and anonymous. It's very easy to use for both consumers and teams.
Windscribe helps you browse the web privately as it was meant to be. It encrypts your web activity and blocks ads for a better web browsing experience.
SurfShark enables you to access the Internet anonymously. It prevents malware and phishing attempts, and blocks ads for a better web browsing experience.
NordVPN provides a secure VPN service for everyone. It keeps your data safe and helps keep your online identity anonymous.
