How do I delete videos from my YouTube library?

Last reviewed: October 14, 2026 · Markdown version

One section at a time. YouTube's page on the You tab lists History, Watch later, Playlists, Liked videos and the rest as separate sections, and describes no single button that empties them all (YouTube Help: Explore the You tab (computer), read 14 October 2026). So pick the part you mean below. One of them, history, takes more with it than most people expect, so read that section before you tap anything. What the library is and where to find it is on our page about the YouTube Library.

History: the videos you watched

In the YouTube app on Android: tap your profile photo, then Settings and Manage all history. Tap the delete icon next to a video to remove it, or DELETE to remove more than one at a time (YouTube Help: View, delete, or turn on or off watch history (Android), read 14 October 2026). On a computer the same controls sit in My Activity under YouTube History (YouTube Help: View, delete, or turn on or off watch history (computer), read 14 October 2026).

The warning printed on both versions of that page: “Using DELETE to delete your watch history will also delete your search history from the selected time frame.” A bulk delete clears what you typed in that window as well as what you watched.

Three more things the same page documents:

Effect on Home. “If you delete some or all of your watch history, YouTube won’t base future video recommendations on that content.” What a full clear does to Home is set out on our recommendations reset page.
Auto-delete. On a computer, Manage history, then Auto-delete, then choose a time range.
Signed out. In the app, the profile picture, Settings, History & privacy, then clear watch history or pause it.

Watch later

On Android, tap your profile picture, select Watch later under Playlists, tap More next to the video and choose Remove from Watch later (YouTube Help: Add & remove videos from Watch later (Android), read 14 October 2026). On a computer it is You in the guide, then More below the video under Watch Later (YouTube Help: Add & remove videos from Watch later (computer), read 14 October 2026).

Both versions describe removing one video at a time. Neither describes a way to empty Watch later in one go.

Playlists you made

Deleting a whole playlist, in the app: profile picture, tap the playlist under Playlists, tap More, then Delete playlist and confirm (YouTube Help: Create & manage playlists (Android), read 14 October 2026). Two notes from that page:

It may not vanish everywhere: “Your old playlist may continue to exist in viewers’ watch histories.”
Hide is not delete. Swiping left on a video in the watch page's playlist panel, or More then Hide, is what YouTube calls a way “To temporarily hide videos”.

That page does not give steps for taking a single video out of a playlist you keep. It covers creating, filtering, reordering, hiding and deleting, so we will not guess at the button.

Playlists you saved from someone else

A playlist someone else made can be taken out of your library the same way you saved it. On a computer: “Go to the playlist you'd like to remove. In the playlist box, click Remove” (YouTube Help: Save playlists, read 14 October 2026).

Liked videos

YouTube's recommendations page confirms you can take videos out of this list: “You can like, dislike, and remove liked videos to influence your recommendations and search results” (YouTube Help: Manage your recommendations & search results, read 14 October 2026). It gives no steps for doing it, and neither does the You tab page, which only says liked videos “can be found under Liked videos”. So the most we can say is that removal exists and affects recommendations; the route isn't on the pages we read.

What deleting does not touch

None of this removes a subscription. The channels you follow are not a section of the You tab, and clearing history or playlists leaves that list exactly as it was. If the list is the thing you want to thin out, start with how to clean up your YouTube subscriptions.