YouTube keeps a record of your watch history or search history when you are signed in to your account. In a question of privacy, you could choose either choose to keep deleting watch history or pausing search history. But both options might disrupt your watching experience. If you are looking forward to earning a little privacy while perusing through your YouTube searches or watching YouTube videos then turning on Incognito mode is the gem that will help you achieve that.
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What is YouTube Incognito?
The YouTube Incognito feature allows users to privately search and watch videos without YouTube remembering their activity. Once you are logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube will remember all your in-app online activity. Fortunately, that won’t be the case if incognito is turned on. When the Incognito mode is turned on, the app will act as though the user isn’t signed in to their account. Therefore both search and watch history will not reflect or be influenced in fact as soon as the feature is turned off, the search and watch history from the Incognito Mode session will be deleted.
What Happens When you are Browsing in Incognito Mode on YouTube
- While browsing in Incognito mode, the YouTube app behaves as if you aren’t signed in to your account. Your account activity, like your subscriptions or watch history, won’t influence your YouTube experience.
- The Search History is paused when you are Incognito.
- Nothing is added to your library when you are in incognito mode.
- Everything you do while in Incognito mode is private. When you try to do something public like commenting or subscribing, you’ll be asked to sign in to complete that action.
How to Turn on Incognito Mode on YouTube Mobile App
1. Open the YouTube app on your mobile device. Assuming you are signed in to your account, if not please sign in for you can only access this feature if you are signed in to your account.
2. Click on your Profile or Initials in the top right corner of the screen.
3. From the menu list, tap on “Turn on Incognito.”
4. Once the Incognito mode is activated, you will receive a confirmatory notification on your screen “You’ve gone incognito.” Also as you browse, a persistent reminder will show as a black bar at the bottom of the screen to remind you that you’re Incognito.
5. If you wish to turn off the YouTube Incognito mode, tap on the Incognito icon in the top right corner of the screen, and then from the pop-up menu, tap on “Turn Off Incognito.” You will then be reminded that you are no longer in incognito mode the next time you open YouTube.
Quick Note: After turning off the Incognito mode onYouTube app, both your search and watch history from your Incognito session are cleared. This means that none of your Incognito session activity will be reflected/saved on your account. You will be referred to the last account you used before turning on Incognito. Also, the Incognito session will forcefully end if you are inactive for more than 90 minutes.