YouTube to show video recommendations only if watch history feature is on

YouTube has the watch history toggle available in a dedicated section on the My Google Activity settings page

American software giant Google’s video sharing platform YouTube will stop showing video recommendations to users who have their watch history switched off, the company said in a blog post. For users who prefer to turn off their watch history, the YouTube homepage could look a lot different. The feed of recommended videos will be empty. Some users could also see a largely blank YouTube homepage both on mobile and the web.

“Starting today, if you have YouTube watch history off and have no significant prior watch history, features that require watch history to provide video recommendations will be disabled — like your YouTube home feed,” the company said in a blog post.

The change will result in a more streamlined browsing experience, showing only the search bar and guide menu, the company said.

The changes will roll out gradually over the next few months, YouTube said. The company said the change should make it more clear which YouTube features rely on watch history to provide video recommendations and make it more streamlined for those of you who prefer to search rather than browse recommendations.

YouTube also said that once the change rolls out to the user's account, one can change the watch history settings to switch views at any time. The toggle is located in a dedicated section on the My Google Activity settings page.

At the current moment, YouTube provides a page full of recommended videos thumbnails that the users may want to watch. Once the change takes place, users can switch their watch history anytime they want to. However, some users may prefer to look out for videos directly on the website rather than getting recommendations based on YouTube's algorithms.