What is TikTok Watch History
TikTok’s watch history feature tracks all the videos you watch in the app. It stores this information for up to 180 days. Your watch history affects what content shows up in your For You page (FYP) feed.
TikTok uses your watch history to personalize your FYP recommendations. The more videos you watch in a certain niche or topic, the more of that content TikTok will show you. Your likes, comments, shares, and other interactions also influence the algorithm.
TikTok tracks your watch history to improve the relevance of video suggestions. The goal is to show each user content that matches their interests and engagement. Watch history provides key signals to the recommendation system about your preferences.
While watch history affects what you see in your FYP feed, it is not public information. Other users cannot see your full history of watched videos. Only you have access to view your complete TikTok watch history.
Where to Find Your TikTok Watch History
Your TikTok watch history can be accessed directly from the TikTok mobile app. To view it, open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right corner. This will open up your profile page.
Next, tap on the 3 horizontal lines “hamburger” icon in the top right corner to open the side menu. Here you will see an option called “Watch History” – tap on this to open up your full watch history page.
The watch history page provides an overview of all the videos you have recently watched on TikTok. It displays them in reverse chronological order, with the most recently watched videos at the top. You can scroll down to go back further into your history.
Each video in your watch history shows a thumbnail preview, the video title and username, and how long ago you watched it. There are also options to replay videos or remove them from your history.
Your entire TikTok watch history can be accessed this way going back to when you first started using your account. It provides a helpful way to rediscover videos you’ve previously enjoyed watching on the platform.
Viewing Your Full Watch History
TikTok allows you to view your full watch history for the past 7-10 days. This lets you scroll back through all the videos you’ve watched during that time period. To see your full history:
1. Tap the profile icon in the bottom right corner.
2. Select “Settings and privacy” from the menu.
3. Choose “Content and activity.”
4. Tap “Watch history.”
Here you will be able to continuously scroll to view your entire watch history for the past 7-10 days. TikTok does not allow you to see your watch history beyond this time frame. The limit is likely in place to protect user privacy and prevent storage of unnecessary data.
While you can’t see beyond 7-10 days, this watch history allows you to rediscover videos you’ve recently watched and revisit your interests over the past week or so. It provides an easy way to find that funny video you remember watching or the interesting DIY you wanted to save for later.
Deleting Videos From Watch History
TikTok allows you to delete individual videos from your watch history to prune videos you don’t want kept in your history. Here’s how to remove videos:
1. Open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right corner.
2. Tap on the 3-line menu icon in the top right corner and select “Settings and privacy.”
3. Choose “Watch history” from the list of options.
4. Find the video you want to delete and tap on the “X” icon next to it to remove it.
5. Confirm that you want to delete the video from your history.
Deleting videos from your watch history can help keep your history focused on videos you want to remember or refer back to. It also gives you more control over your privacy by removing videos you don’t necessarily want associated with your account.
Keeping your watch history trimmed down can also help improve your recommendations in the For You page since TikTok won’t be factoring in videos you’ve explicitly removed.
Clearing All Watch History
If you want to delete your entire TikTok watch history all at once, you can do so through the settings. Clearing your full watch history removes the record of everything you’ve watched on the app across all devices.
To clear your complete TikTok watch history:
- Open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right.
- Go to Settings > Privacy > Watch History.
- Tap on the gear icon in the top right corner.
- Select “Clear History” then tap “Clear” to confirm deleting your full watch history.
Once you clear your entire watch history, TikTok will no longer have a record of any videos you’ve watched. This means your For You page will need to rebuild recommendations from scratch based on your interactions. So you may see more random content before the algorithm learns your preferences again.[1]
Clearing your history can be useful if your recommendations have gone off track or you don’t want certain videos influencing what you see. But keep in mind it may take some time before you get tailored suggestions again.
Turning Off Watch History Tracking
If you don’t want TikTok to save your viewing history, you can turn off watch history tracking. This prevents TikTok from collecting data on the videos you view. To disable watch history:
- Open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right.
- Go to Settings > Privacy.
- Tap on “Data” and scroll down to Watch History.
- Switch the toggle next to Watch History to the off position.
Turning off watch history means TikTok will stop collecting data on what videos you view in the app. As a result, your For You page recommendations may become less personalized over time. TikTok uses watch history to understand viewer interests and serve relevant content. Without this data, its algorithm has less information to go on.
However, for some users, more generalized recommendations are preferable to having your viewing history stored. Disabling watch history prevents TikTok from creating a detailed profile of your interests and habits. You can always turn it back on later if you want personalized suggestions again.
Watch History By Device
TikTok keeps track of watch history separately for each device you use the app on. This means the videos you’ve watched on your iPhone will be different than the watch history on your Android tablet or desktop computer.
To view the watch history for a specific device, simply open the TikTok app on that device and check your watch history using the steps outlined above. The history shown will only include videos watched on that particular device.
This separation of watch history by device can be useful if you want to check what videos you’ve watched in the past on a certain phone or tablet. It also means clearing your watch history on one device won’t affect the history on your other devices.
Some users choose to regularly clear their watch history on individual devices to ensure their For You page stays fresh with new content recommendations. Keeping device watch histories separate gives more granular control over this.
Overall, the per-device tracking allows tailoring your TikTok experience across all the different places you use the app while retaining the ability to manage watch history individually.
Other Users Seeing Your History
One common question about TikTok’s Watch History feature is whether other users can see your viewing history. The short answer is no – your Watch History is private and cannot be accessed by anyone else on TikTok.
TikTok has strong privacy settings when it comes to your Watch History. Other users have no way to see which videos you have watched in your feed or which profiles you have visited. Your full watch history is only visible to you when you access it in your account settings.
The only way another TikTok user could know you watched one of their videos is if you engage with it by liking, commenting, sharing, etc. But they have no access to your full history of watched videos.
Some key points about privacy and your TikTok Watch History:
- Other users cannot see which videos you’ve watched in your feed or which profiles you’ve visited
- Your full watch history is private and only viewable by you
- Liking or commenting on a video lets the creator know you’ve seen it, but not your full history
- You have complete control over your Watch History visibility and can delete it anytime
So you can rest assured that your TikTok Watch History remains private as you browse the app. TikTok does not share viewing data with other users or accounts. Your full history is yours to manage alone.
Using Watch History to Improve FYP
One of the benefits of being able to view your watch history on TikTok is that it allows you to better curate your “For You” page (FYP) recommendations. By reviewing your watch history, you can identify videos that you consistently watch and engage with through likes, comments, shares, etc. You can then use this information to improve the relevance of videos that TikTok recommends on your FYP.
For example, if you notice you consistently watch and engage with workout challenge videos, you can purposely seek out and engage with more of that type of content. By actively liking, commenting on, and watching similar videos, you are signaling to TikTok’s recommendation algorithm that you want to see more of that content. Over time, your FYP will become populated with more workout challenge and fitness-related content catered to your interests.
Additionally, reviewing your watch history gives you the opportunity to update your likes/dislikes on videos. For example, you may come across an old video you liked but no longer enjoy. You can remove your like, or even mark it “Not Interested,” to help retrain the algorithm. This “refreshing” of your preferences helps TikTok serve you better recommendations moving forward. So be sure to periodically review videos you’ve watched and toggle your likes/dislikes to keep improving your FYP experience.
Watch History and Account Security
TikTok users don’t need to worry about their watch history being linked to account security or personal data leaks. TikTok stores watch history locally on each device, so it is not connected to users’ accounts or sensitive personal information.
According to TikTok’s privacy policy, watch history data is not used for advertising or recommendations unless users opt into the related setting. The company states that “the Watch History is stored only on your device and is not connected to your account”.
Overall, while TikTok collects certain data for recommendations and ads, watch history specifically remains private and isolated on users’ devices. There is no evidence of watch history being linked to data leaks or security breaches. Users can delete their watch history at any time for additional privacy.
As Gizmodo reports, “Worry not, you can actually view your watch history on TikTok quite easily. TikTok stores every video you’ve watched for the past 180 days, even if you don’t have an account on the platform.”