YouTube is one of the most popular platforms with billions of videos ranging from funny cat videos to vlogs, movie trailers and music videos uploaded and shared by its users since its inception.
If you’ve amassed lots of videos in your watch history and just want to clear out all your activity and comments that you no longer want to be associated with, or you’re just sick of YouTube’s recommendations, you can delete your YouTube account and everything in it in one fell swoop.
The good news is that it’s not tied to other Google services like Gmail, Google Drive, Hangouts, Google Meet and others. Plus it won’t delete your Google account, but it’ll obliterate any videos you may have purchased and any other videos on your channel.
If you’re absolutely done with your YouTube account forever, follow along to learn how to delete your YouTube account using a browser or the YouTube mobile app. We’ll also cover any implications that come with permanently removing your account from the platform.
How To Delete Your YouTube Account In A Browser
You can delete a YouTube account with all your videos and other data in a web browser. To do this:
Visit YouTube.com and sign into your YouTube account. Select your user account icon at the upper right side of the screen.
Click Settings.
Next, go to the Google account section and click View or change your Google account settings.
In the Privacy & Personalization section, click Manage your data & personalization.
Scroll down to the Download, delete or make a plan for your data section and click Delete a service or your account.
In the Delete a Google service section, click Delete a service.
Sign in again to verify that it’s you.
If you want to download and save all your data before deleting your YouTube account entirely, you can select the Download Data option. Check or uncheck the list of Google services you have to download your data, and select the type of file and method of delivery.
Click the Delete/Trash can icon next to YouTube. You may get a prompt asking you to sign in again for verification purposes.
To delete your YouTube account and all the content in it, click I want to permanently delete my content. To confirm to Google that you understand what is being deleted, check the relevant box and then click Delete My Content.
How To Delete A YouTube Account In The YouTube Mobile App
To delete your YouTube account from the YouTube mobile app:
Open the YouTube app in your mobile device and tap the user account icon at the upper right side of the screen.
Tap Manage Your Google Account.
Next, tap Privacy & Personalisation > Manage your data & Personalisation.
Scroll down to the Download, delete or make a plan for your data section and tap Delete a service or your account.
Tap Delete a service under the Delete a Google service section. Sign in to your account to verify that you’re the one deleting the account.
Click the trash icon next to YouTube and sign in again to verify that it’s you.
If you’re sure that you want to delete your YouTube account and all its content, tap I want to permanently delete my content.
Check the box to confirm that you understand what’s being deleted, and tap the blue Delete My Content button at the bottom of the screen.
Note: You cannot undo the deletion once you confirm the action. Deleting your account doesn’t mean you won’t be able to continue using YouTube for your own pleasure, because it’s not a must that you have an account to enjoy its services.
It just cleans up your online presence by deleting that content. You can still leave comments on other videos, subscribe to other channels, save videos to a Youtube playlist or Watch Later section, share and more because your YouTube account is still associated with your Google account.
How To Hide/Delete a YouTube Channel
If you’re not sure whether you’re ready to delete your YouTube account, you can choose to hide or delete your YouTube channel instead, which just sets your YouTube content and activity to private without deleting everything altogether. To delete a YouTube channel, open YouTube in a browser on your computer or mobile device and sign into your account.
Note: You can only delete a YouTube channel from the web, not from the mobile app.
Click or tap on your user account icon at the upper right side of the screen and click/tap Settings. Go to Channel status and features to access the settings for the YouTube channel you want to delete, if you have multiple channels. If you want to switch to a different one, click Switch account, pick the right channel and take the same steps above to go to the channel’s settings.
Select Advanced settings in the menu on the left pane to open the page with all your channel’s settings.
Just below the Advanced Settings page, you’ll see the Delete Channel link. Click it and then sign into your account to verify that it’s you. This action won’t affect your Google account, Gmail, Google Drive and other Google products or existing channels associated with the channel you’re deleting.
Sign in to confirm that it’s you deleting your channel, and then select I want to permanently delete my content, which will permanently erase your playlists and videos.
If you want to hide your channel instead of deleting it entirely, details such as your channel page, likes, subscriptions, art and icon will remain unhidden and the channel will be set to private. To do this, select I want to hide my content option, check all the relevant boxes to confirm to Google that you understand the actions you’re taking, and click/tap the Hide My Content button.
Go back to YouTube on your browser, sign into your account and check whether the channel has been deleted by clicking or tapping on the user account icon at the upper right side of the screen. If you have multiple channels, the one you’ve just deleted won’t appear on the list.
To see the list of channels tied to your Google account, go to Settings > See all my channels or create a new channel.
Note: As long as you have your Google account, you’ll still have a YouTube account even if you delete the content and data in your channel. The only difference is that the channel won’t have any content or any trail of your previous activity on the platform.
If you want to completely remove everything from Google services and associated products, you can delete your entire Google account, though this isn’t recommended if you still want to use Google services like Gmail, Drive, Docs and others.
Erase Your Watch History
If you’ve followed the steps above to delete a YouTube account, it’s now permanently gone from the platform. We have other useful guides if you want to quit many other social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram. Check out our guide on how to delete a Gmail account, or watch our YouTube channel once you’ve used our tips to delete your account from the site.
