YouTube recommending awful videos? Here’s how to fix that

We’ve recently seen a number of posts online complaining about YouTube’s algorithm, with some users seeing just downright awful video recommendations. In truth, YouTube’s recommendation system may not be the issue, and it’s easy to address if you’re seeing sketchy suggested content.

Why am I seeing bad recommendations?

Like any ad system or recommendation algorithm, YouTube’s approach considers what you already watch and what channels or videos you return to. Any time you’re watching a video and you’re logged on, YouTube is already working on suggested videos to hand you when that video is finished, or even before.

Usually, you can get around this by logging out or pausing watch history. Doing so will freeze YouTube’s algorithm on the last videos in your history.

Now, it might be confusing when YouTube’s recommendations start to get a little… rough. Videos that would generally be considered weird or even a little weird may start popping up.

YouTube has been keying in on its algorithm over the years, and even implementing machine learning to ensure it’s doing what it’s supposed to. That said, if you’re seeing weird recommendations, it’s likely because YouTube is suggesting content like the content already being watched.

How to reset recommendations

Sometimes, though, recommendations can be thrown off by a family member using your account or other factors. In those cases, you can have the app start fresh on recommended content.

To do so, you’ll need to clear your history. Here’s how:

YouTube app

1. Tap the You tab.
2. Next to History, hit View all.
3. Tap the three-dot menu button at the top, and hit Clear all watch history.

YouTube on web

1. Click You in the side menu.
2. Next to History, hit View all.
3. Click Clear all watch history.

If you’re keen on turning off watch history at the account level to reset YouTube recommendations, you can head to your Google Account dashboard and turn off YouTube history entirely. You can also turn off personalized ads, which will automatically be turned off for minors when YouTube rolls out AI age verification.

It might take a bit, but this generally allows the YouTube app to reset itself regarding recommendations. From there, watching different content will contribute to different results.