YouTube
What the default settings do
YouTube records what you watch and search by default, using that activity to drive recommendations on the Home tab, Up Next, and Shorts. This is the same underlying account activity covered in the Google Account guide, but the YouTube app also has its own History & privacy screens for pausing or auto-deleting that history without leaving the app. Google has reorganized this screen more than once, splitting a single toggle list into separate “Manage all history” and “Privacy” areas, so exact submenu labels may shift again.
Autoplay is on by default in two ways: a related video plays automatically once the current one ends, and shorter previews play silently with captions as you scroll the Home feed, search results, and Shorts. Neither requires a tap, so YouTube can log watch signals from videos you never deliberately chose to start.
In the US, since August 2025, YouTube also uses AI to estimate whether a signed-in user is under 18, based on signals such as the kinds of videos you search for and watch and how long your account has existed, regardless of the birthday you entered. If it estimates you are under 18, teen protections switch on automatically: personalized ads are turned off, age-restricted videos are blocked, digital wellbeing reminders such as take-a-break prompts are enabled, and repeated viewing of some types of content is limited. If that estimate is wrong, you can confirm you are an adult with a government ID, a selfie, or a credit card.
Ads personalization on YouTube follows the same account-wide default described in the Google Account guide, and Google has consolidated ad controls across its products into a single Ad Center rather than a YouTube-only toggle. YouTube also lets you link your account to a small number of gaming partners for reward eligibility, and made-for-kids videos automatically disable personalized ads and some data collection for every viewer, regardless of the viewer’s own age or settings, due to children’s privacy regulation.
A reasonable privacy baseline
These settings are found by tapping your profile picture and then Settings within the YouTube app, unless noted otherwise.
History controls
Settings → History & privacy → Manage all history → Controls tab → Include the YouTube videos you watch → Off (pause watch history)
Pausing watch history stops new videos you watch from being logged, without deleting what is already there. This is the same setting covered in the Google Account guide's "YouTube History" item, reachable directly from within the app instead of a separate account page.
Manage all history → Controls tab → Include your searches → Off (pause search history)
Pausing search history separately stops future searches from being saved, even if watch history stays on. The two can be paused independently.
Manage all history → Auto-delete → 3 months (if you keep history on)
If you would rather keep history on for better recommendations than pause it outright, auto-delete removes entries older than a chosen window, commonly 3, 18, or 36 months. A shorter window limits how much history accumulates without turning the feature off.
Ads personalization
Settings → General (or Privacy) → Google ad settings → Review in My Ad Center
Tapping this entry opens Google's shared My Ad Center rather than a YouTube-specific screen, since Google folded its per-product ad settings into one place. Turning personalized ads off there applies to YouTube along with Search and other Google surfaces, and is covered in more depth in the Google Account guide.
Autoplay and passive playback
Settings → Autoplay (or General → Autoplay next video) → Off
Turning this off stops YouTube from automatically starting a related video once the current one finishes. You keep control over what plays, and can still tap the on-screen Autoplay switch to re-enable it for a single session.
Settings → General → Playback in feeds → Off
This controls whether videos and Shorts play automatically on mute, with captions, as you scroll the Home feed and search results. Turning it off means videos only play when tapped, reducing passive watch-time signals generated just from scrolling past a thumbnail.
Connected apps
Settings → Connected apps → Review and disconnect unused services
This screen covers a specific category: gaming partners that YouTube can link to for reward eligibility when you watch their livestreams. Disconnecting a service here stops future reward tracking, though a partner may retain a record of past watches. Broader third-party sign-in access (apps that used "Sign in with Google," for example) is reviewed separately under Google Account security, as covered in the Google Account guide.
Made-for-kids content
Videos marked "made for kids" → No setting to change; informational
YouTube treats anyone watching a made-for-kids video as a child for that video, regardless of the viewer's actual age or account settings. Personalized ads, comments, notifications, and save-to-playlist features are disabled on that video by regulation. Ads still appear, shown by context rather than viewer history. Worth knowing as a viewer, not just a channel owner: features you rely on elsewhere may simply not work on this category of video.
Age estimation
Age check prompt after an under-18 estimate → Decide whether you need it, then choose the least revealing option
If YouTube decides you are probably under 18 when you are not, you will be prompted to verify. Nothing breaks if you skip it: you keep watching with teen protections, which mainly means no age-restricted videos and no personalized ads. If you do want to verify, a credit card check generally reveals less than a photo of your ID or a selfie. For more on whether to hand over ID, see Should I upload my ID for age verification?
Incognito mode
Profile picture → Accounts → Turn on Incognito → Use for a session you don't want tied to your account
Incognito requires you to already be signed in; it does not sign you out, it just stops that session from being saved to or influenced by your account. Searches and watches while it's on are not added to your history, and your existing subscriptions won't shape what you see during that session. A persistent bar at the bottom reminds you it's active, it turns off automatically after about 90 minutes of inactivity, and commenting, liking, or subscribing will prompt you to confirm your identity first.
Trade-offs
- Pausing watch and search history means Home tab and search suggestions become noticeably less tailored over time.
- Auto-delete at 3 months keeps some personalization benefit while limiting long-term history; it is a middle ground, not full privacy.
- Turning off personalized ads through My Ad Center does not reduce how many ads you see, and affects Google’s ad products generally, not just YouTube.
- Turning off autoplay means videos stop after each one ends, requiring more manual tapping for background viewing.
- Turning off Playback in feeds means losing the quick preview that helps judge whether a video is worth opening.
- Disconnecting gaming-reward connected apps means losing eligibility for reward programs tied to those partners.
- Made-for-kids restrictions are not adjustable by a viewer; they apply automatically and cannot be turned back on.
- Declining to verify after an incorrect under-18 estimate leaves teen protections on, so age-restricted videos stay blocked; verifying hands YouTube an ID, selfie, or card check.
- Incognito mode only protects the current session; it doesn’t clean up prior history and still requires an active sign-in in the background.
Who should not change these settings
- If personalized recommendations matter to how you use YouTube day to day, pausing watch and search history will make the Home tab and Up Next noticeably less useful.
- If you participate in gaming reward programs through a linked publisher account, keep that connection active rather than disconnecting it.
- If you rely on autoplay for background listening or long viewing sessions, such as music or podcasts, turning it off adds friction with limited privacy benefit.
- If you use Playback in feeds to quickly screen videos before opening one, there is no privacy reason to give that up.
- If YouTube has estimated you are under 18 and you rarely watch age-restricted videos, living with the teen protections may be easier than verifying, and turned-off ad personalization is a privacy plus.
- If you mainly watch YouTube signed out already, Incognito mode is not something you need, since it exists specifically to protect an otherwise signed-in session.