How I improve my YouTube recommendations in 5 easy steps

I budget for streaming services monthly, but YouTube still plays a core role in my entertainment routine. Unlike the relatively limited list of movies and shows on these services, YouTube houses hundreds of millions of videos on its servers, covering a broad range of topics from millions of creators. This wide array of content is beneficial to viewers, but it also means that YouTube’s recommendation punts can often be way off the mark.

In recent weeks, I’ve noticed an uptick in disgruntled users online complaining about this very issue. Some lament seeing videos that were previously suggested re-recommended ad nauseam, while others call out suggestions that don’t align with their subscriptions or searches. In short, users aren’t seeing suggestions for videos they’re likely to watch or are happy to discover. That’s an annoying problem that ultimately ruins the YouTube experience, whether you pay for it or not.

Thankfully, I haven’t experienced these recommendation issues of late, and that’s potentially thanks to my years of meticulous and thoughtful YouTube use. But what does this entail exactly? After some introspection, I’ve outlined a handful of core guidelines that help keep my YouTube recommendations focused and pointed. Hopefully, these will help you, too.

While YouTube’s algorithms play a role in recommending content and make for a sensible scapegoat, a curated YouTube feed is ultimately down to user discipline.

As much as I wish YouTube knew exactly what I wanted to watch when I wanted to watch it, this just isn’t possible. It can only make assumptions based on watch history, current watch trends, subscriptions, and searches. Therefore, it’s imperative that we’re careful with the content we view on our accounts.

What does this mean in practice? If I’m curious about topics or channels that I’m not yet subscribed to or interested in, I’ll view that content in incognito mode or through a secondary, inconsequential account. Here, I can evaluate whether I actually enjoy that channel’s style, content, and feel, and then decide whether to subscribe. Importantly, this subscription will directly affect my recommendations afterward, so this decision will have ripple effects, too.

This pedantic practice largely keeps my main account a sanitized space where I receive recommendations based on the narrow band of content I genuinely enjoy. And isn’t that what recommendations are all about?

Of course, I don’t always “evaluate” new channels. If a new channel’s content aligns with the topics I enjoy watching, I’ll often view it on my main account. Importantly, the more focused your viewing history is, the more likely you are to encounter similar channels. It’s a satisfying feedback loop.

As I’ve mentioned, YouTube also uses your search terms to inform your recommendations, and you can use this to your advantage.

This tip overlaps with my first and primary point, but if you’re searching for “latest political news,” you will likely see more and more recommended videos that mesh with that particular topic.

For instance, I’m on a mild balcony gardening bend, so searching for “gardening tips,” “building balcony garden,” or “balcony gardening strategies” helps signal to YouTube my focus.

Of course, this only works for topics at the core of your interest, though. I’d suggest searching for “history of spacecraft” if you’re really interested in humankind’s various lunar missions and beyond, but not if you only want to briefly catch up on news surrounding the Artemis program. For this, I’d rope in my secondary account once again.

And, on that note, utilizing a secondary YouTube account is a huge part of keeping your main account’s recommendations focused. I could’ve mentioned this in either of the first two sections, but it’s so important that it arguably deserves to be reiterated here.

Separating your digital life into silos is a great way to keep cross-contamination to a minimum, including YouTube and other Google services.

Notably, this system doesn’t have to take the shape of a dedicated secondary account. You could use incognito mode in the YouTube app, a secondary YouTube app you use without an account, or a web browser designed for this purpose.

So how and when should you use this secondary space?

• When you want to view a random YouTube video that doesn’t fit your established interests.
• When you’re looking to trial a channel from a creator you aren’t immediately sure of, or that lies beyond your immediate topic scope.
• Music videos, if you don’t want your feed inundated by music-adjacent recommendations.
• Any videos sent to you by others.
• Any video that you don’t want influencing your main account. This ultimately boils down to your choices.

Subscribing to a new YouTube channel is powerful. Not only does it benefit the creator, but it also causes substantial ripples through your YouTube account. After subscribing, you’ll likely see a flurry of recommendations stemming from this account. This makes it incredibly important to be sure before hitting that subscribe button.

Every few months, I’ll run through my YouTube subscriptions list, dropping any that I no longer enjoy watching or haven’t watched in ages. I also make sure to watch a video or two from a channel I haven’t seen a recommendation for in ages, but have forgotten I’m subscribed to. This gives the recommendation system a kick, and no sooner are you done watching this video than YouTube overwhelmingly recommends content from this channel.

I’ve seen plenty of users online suggest that using these two features on YouTube helps guide recommendations to the right path, but I’m not so sure.

Although Google News and Discover are two completely different experiences and platforms, using these similar controls only encourages that content to appear on my feeds. What works is when I positively engage with the content I like and ignore that which I don’t. This lack of interaction appears to be a stronger driver of recommendations.

For YouTube users, this means liking videos that appeal to you more often than using the “Not interested” or “Don’t recommend channel” options. This, again, also benefits the channel creator.

I will note that sometimes I will use one of these features, but largely to highlight an issue with the channel itself. If it has a significant amount of AI-generated content, I’ll be sure to let Google know via the Report option.

The fresh start: Nuke your Watch history

Finally, if your YouTube account is just too far gone, it’s best to clear your entire watch history. You can go one step further and systematically remove channels from your subscription list, too, but starting with a clean watchlist is a good place to start.

Judging by the flood of comments on various forums, users are inundated with YouTube recommendations that either don’t appeal to their tastes, are wildly dissimilar to anything they’ve watched before, or are simply serving up slop. Thankfully, with a few careful viewing tweaks, you can have a more direct influence over the content YouTube suggests.

These guidelines are almost entirely based on anecdotal experience, but I believe they have some merit — these steps have kept my account clean and focused for years. While the odd random recommendation will always make its way through, my YouTube home screen feels like something I’ve curated rather than a place where content is forced upon me.