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Almost all movies And the TV show streaming app you use keeps track of what you’re watching. This is for convenience; by recording your activity, the app can let you pick up where you left off at another time or on another device, you can get notified about new content you might like, and the app can give you more relevant recommendations.
You wouldn’t get the same quality of experience if this tracking didn’t exist. But there are also a couple of good reasons why you might want to review your viewing history and edit it or delete it entirely.
First, there’s the issue of privacy. If you share your account with someone else in your home, or with the whole family, you might not want them to know that you skipped a show or that you enjoy terrible action movies as much as you do.
Second, there are the recommendations your apps offer. Everything you watch contributes to these recommendations, so removing movies and shows you didn’t like (or that your kids watched non-stop) will keep those recommendations relevant.
Netflix
On the Netflix website, hover over your profile picture (top right) and then select Account and Manage profilesand click on your profile. Select Display activity To see everything you’ve watched lately.
Each item in the list has a Hide button on the right. When you hit Hide, that title will no longer affect your recommendations and will not appear on Netflix as watched. If you hide an episode of a show, you will be asked if you want to hide the entire series. There is also a button Hide all Button at the bottom of the list.
You can’t access this full list from the Netflix mobile apps, though you can hide titles you’ve recently watched. Tap My NetflixThen scroll down to the recently watched videos section. Tap the three dots on any thumbnail to find the video. Hide from viewing history option.
Apple TV+
In the TV app on macOS, open the TELEVISION Menu and choose Settings: Under the Advanced tab, there is a Delete game history Button. This resets the list of everything you’ve watched and you can’t select individual titles.
What you can do with individual titles is remove them from the Up Next bar on the main screen. Click the three dots next to any thumbnail and you’ll be able to choose Remove from Next and Remove from Recently Viewed to hide evidence that you’ve watched it. (The show will still be marked as watched if you search for it.)
The same options appear if you tap the three dots next to a show or movie thumbnail in the TV app for iOS and iPadOS. To clear your viewing history on a mobile device, tap your profile picture (top right) and then tap Delete game history.
Youtube
When you’re logged in to YouTube on the web, you can click History in the left navigation panel to see what you’ve been watching recently and click the X next to any video to remove it from your viewing history.
From the same screen, you have options to Clear all viewing history and Pause viewing historyYou can also select Manage all historywhich takes you to a complete list of everything you’ve watched on YouTube. From here you can search for videos, browse by date, and delete some or all videos from your history.