Quick answers about the privacy-first YouTube history extension that keeps progress across multiple accounts, works without login, and stores your data locally.
A: 🎉 This is amazing - your history stays exactly the same!
- YouTube's history: Tied to your account, so you can't access it when you switch accounts or log out
- YT re:Watch: Same history regardless of which account you use
- Switch between work/personal accounts freely
- Share a computer with family without losing your progress
- Log out completely and still keep your viewing history
- Perfect for multi-account users!
Your viewing history works the same across all accounts
A: YES! This is one of our biggest advantages:
- No YouTube login required
- No Google account needed
- Watch YouTube completely anonymously
- Still get full history tracking and progress saving
- Perfect for privacy-conscious users
A: Click the install button for your browser:
- Chrome: Chrome Web Store
- Firefox: Firefox Add-ons
The extension will start working immediately - no setup required!
A: No! The extension works without any accounts, signups, or logins.
A: Yes, completely free. No ads, no premium features, no hidden costs.
A: Click the extension icon in your browser's toolbar (looks like a play button). You'll see tabs for:
- Videos: Your regular YouTube videos
- Shorts: YouTube Shorts you've watched
- Playlists: Playlists you've discovered
- Analytics: Charts showing your viewing patterns
A: The extension adds visual overlays directly on YouTube showing your progress. The label appears after you've watched at least 10 seconds of a video. If you still don't see it:
- Refresh the YouTube page
- Make sure you're on youtube.com (not youtube.tv)
- Check that the extension is enabled
Note: These overlays are fully customizable! You can change the text, colors, and size in Settings.
A: The extension saves your position every 5 seconds. When you return to a video, you'll see:
- A small progress bar showing how much you've watched
- The exact time you stopped (like "5:30 (45%)")
A: Try these steps in order:
- Refresh the YouTube page - this fixes 90% of issues
- Close and reopen the extension popup
- Check if you're on youtube.com (not mobile YouTube or YouTube TV)
- Disable and re-enable the extension
- Restart your browser
A: Your history is stored locally on your device. It might seem missing if:
- You're using a different browser profile
- You cleared your browser data
- You're using incognito/private browsing mode
Check the extension popup - your history should still be there.
A: Make sure:
- You're watching videos for at least 10 seconds
- You're on youtube.com (the extension doesn't work on embedded videos)
- The extension is enabled in your browser settings
A:
- Videos Tab: Regular YouTube videos (usually longer content)
- Shorts Tab: YouTube Shorts (vertical videos under 60 seconds)
- They're separated to help you track different types of content
A: Interactive cards and charts showing:
- How much time you spend watching videos each day
- Your viewing patterns by hour of the day
- Longest unfinished videos (with channel and time left)
- Top 5 watched channels (with links)
- Top 5 skipped channels (with links)
- Completion bar chart for long videos (skipped, partial, completed, with legend)
A: Yes! Use the search box at the top of the Videos tab to find specific videos by title.
A: Yes, click the "Delete" button next to any video to remove it from your history.
A: Yes. Hover a thumbnail to reveal the "Remove from history" button added by the extension. Clicking it removes that video from your local history immediately.
A: YES! We've implemented a robust deletion system:
- Deleted videos stay deleted in your local history, even after migrations or imports
- Tombstone protection ensures deletions are respected locally and prevent reappearance from the archive
- 30-day protection period prevents accidentally restoring deleted videos
- Works across accounts on the same browser profile – deletions persist even when switching YouTube accounts
- Automatic cleanup removes old deletion markers after 30 days
This solves the common problem where deleted videos would reappear in searches.
A: The deletion will be protected locally:
- Video is immediately removed from your history
- A deletion marker is created to protect the deletion
- The video won't reappear in searches or listings
- Protection lasts for 30 days to ensure consistency
A: YES! This is one of our biggest advantages:
- No YouTube login required
- No Google account needed
- Watch YouTube completely anonymously
- Still get full history tracking and progress saving
- Perfect for privacy-conscious users
A: More convenient AND your history stays private:
- YouTube's history: Stored on Google's servers, tied to your account, used for ads/recommendations, inaccessible when you switch accounts
- YT re:Watch: Stored only on your device, history data stays private, Google doesn't get your progress, works across ALL accounts
- Google doesn't get your viewing progress data!
- Never lose your progress when switching between accounts!
A: Yes, your history data is private!
- Your viewing progress stays on your device only
- We don't collect, see, or store any of your history information
- No external servers are involved in history tracking
- Your viewing progress is yours alone
- Google doesn't get your progress data
- Even we can't access your history data
A: Yes! Go to Settings tab and click "Export History" to download a backup file. You can import it later if needed.
A: No, this extension doesn't interact with YouTube's recommendation system at all. Your private viewing stays private!
A: Absolutely! This is perfect for:
- Academic research without creating a "profile"
- Exploring topics without affecting recommendations
- Learning about subjects privately
- Medical research without health profiling
Track your research privately - no Google profiling
A:
What YT re:Watch protects:
- ✅ Your YouTube viewing history (stored locally, not on Google servers)
- ✅ Video progress tracking (private, not shared with Google)
- ✅ Playlist discovery (local only)
What YT re:Watch DOES NOT protect against:
- ❌ IP address tracking
- ❌ Browser fingerprinting
- ❌ Cookie tracking
- ❌ Google Analytics
- ❌ YouTube's advertising profiling
- ❌ Other Google surveillance mechanisms
For broader privacy protection, also use:
- VPN service (hide your IP)
- Privacy-focused browser (Firefox, Brave)
- Ad blockers (uBlock Origin)
- Cookie management tools
- DNS filtering (Pi-hole, AdGuard)
YT re:Watch handles ONLY the history tracking part - it's one tool in a privacy toolkit.
A: Yes! Use the export/import feature to manually transfer your history between devices. There is no automatic cloud sync – export/import is the official way to move your data:
- Go to Settings tab → Data Management → Export History
- Download the JSON file to your computer
- On the other device, go to Settings → Import History
- Select the JSON file and choose "Merge" or "Replace"
A: Unlimited! The hybrid storage system can handle 100,000+ videos and scale to GBs of data, unlike the previous ~50MB limit.
A: Yes. There are two options:
- Global: Enable "Pause history in playlists" in Settings to stop tracking progress during any playlist session.
- Per‑playlist: Use the playlist's "Ignore videos" toggle in the Playlists tab to exclude just that playlist.
A: The extension uses IndexedDB which scales automatically. However, if you have extremely large histories (millions of videos), you may want to use the auto-cleanup feature in Settings to remove old entries.
A: Yes! The migration process is fail-safe:
- Data is never deleted until successfully archived in IndexedDB
- Migration can be resumed if interrupted
- You can always export your data as backup before updates
A: Yes! The overlays are fully customizable. In the Settings tab, you can change:
Example of overlay customization - change colors, text, and size
- Overlay Title: Change "viewed" to any text you prefer (max 12 characters)
- Overlay Color: Choose from blue, red, green, purple, or orange
- Label Size: Small, medium, large, or extra large
- Theme: Light, Dark, or System (follows your computer's theme)
A:
- Quick way: Click the theme button in the extension popup
- Settings way: Go to Settings tab and choose your preferred theme
A: The extension is designed to be minimal and non-intrusive. You can make the labels smaller in Settings, but they can't be completely hidden since that's the main feature.
A: Yes! The export feature creates a JSON file with all your data. You can use this with other tools or for analysis.
A: No, this extension only works with regular YouTube (youtube.com).
A: The extension only works on the main YouTube website (youtube.com) for security and privacy reasons.
A: Every 5 seconds while you're watching a video, plus when you pause or leave the page.
A:
- 💬 Join our community: Community Forum - Get help from other users
- 💬 Telegram group: Telegram Chat - Real-time support
- 📖 Read the detailed guide: Detailed Guide - Complete walkthrough
- 🐛 Report issues: GitHub Issues - Found a bug?
A:
- Go to our GitHub Issues page
- Click "New Issue"
- Describe what you expected to happen vs. what actually happened
- Include your browser version and operating system
A: Absolutely! We welcome:
- Code contributions
- Bug reports
- Feature suggestions
- Documentation improvements
- Translations
Check out our Contributing Guide for more details.
Can't find your question? Join our Community Forum or Telegram community - we're friendly and helpful!
A: English, German, Spanish, French, and Bulgarian. All non-English translations are currently machine-generated. Native speakers are encouraged to help improve translations!
A: See the technical documentation for translation guidelines. You can submit improvements via pull request.
A: The Analytics tab now features summary cards, longest unfinished videos, top watched/skipped channels, a completion bar chart, and new activity charts. All analytics are calculated locally and never leave your device.
For accuracy and responsiveness:
- Short-window charts (Activity last 7 days, Watch Time by Hour) are computed on-the-fly from local history when you open the tab.
- Totals are maintained as a small local snapshot (
totalWatchSeconds, 24-hour buckets, and counters), and included in exports. Daily keys use local dates.
A: The history list now displays the channel name under each video title to make scanning your history faster and clearer.
A: Yes. Starting with dataVersion 1.1, exports include a stats object containing your aggregated watch‑time snapshot used for Analytics. This is optional data used solely to speed up and stabilize charts. Imports accept files with or without stats.
A: It shows the number of long videos you skipped, partially watched, or completed. The legend explains each category.