How to delete your Netflix history

OtherTips & tricks
4 mins
A pencil erasing the user interface of Netflix.

Your Netflix account lists your viewing history, and that can be useful. Not only does it help the streaming service recommend other shows and movies for you based on what you gravitate toward, but it also makes it easy for you to keep track of what you’ve been watching and lets you conveniently start again where you left off.

But your viewing history is also visible to anyone who has access to your account—say, if you’re sharing with family members—or people you’re Netflix-and-chilling with. You might find that your watch history doesn’t reflect what you want to watch going forward. Or you might just think algorithms are creepy. (And with services like Netflix, VPN does not prevent the app or site from tracking your streaming activity if you’re signed in.)

Whatever your reason, here’s how to delete items from your Netflix history.

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Why should you delete your Netflix history?
What happens when you delete your Netflix history?
How to delete your Netflix history
FAQ: About deleting your Netflix history

Why should you delete your Netflix history?

Your Netflix history is a record of what shows and movies you have watched as a Netflix user—it’s all part of your profile. Netflix uses this information to recommend other titles it thinks you would like as you scroll through the app.

You can see the shows and movies that you have watched on your profile in your account. The more recent ones you’ve started but not finished yet show up in the “Continue Watching” section on the homepage.

Here are a few main reasons you might want to remove your Netflix history:

  • You don’t want someone spending time with you (like a date) or using your account (like a parent or child) to see what you’ve been watching. Who needs to know you watched (and cried over) The Notebook last night?
  • You don’t want Netflix to keep recommending movies or shows based on what you previously watched, perhaps because you don’t think your viewing history really represents your tastes or you don’t wish to be influenced by an algorithm.
  • You want Netflix’s algorithm to show you certain types of shows and not others by selectively deleting types of shows from your history that you don’t want to see more of.
  • Someone else used your account, and you want to remove their watch history.

What happens when you delete your Netflix history?

Netflix lets you delete the shows or movies you’ve watched one by one or all at once. After that, they’ll no longer appear in your account’s viewing activity or “Continue Watching” section or be used to recommend similar shows or movies to you.

This also means that you’ll no longer be able to conveniently continue watching a show where you left off.

Removing your Netflix history using one device will be reflected on all your other devices. Your Netflix history isn’t recoverable once deleted.

It’s also important to note that Netflix will likely still have a record of what you’ve watched, even if you delete your watch history from your account.

How to delete your Netflix history

You can delete your watch history on your computer or the Netflix mobile apps, depending on what you need to delete. If you’re using Netflix on your computer, you can remove individual shows or movies or your entire history. Netflix mobile apps only let you remove entries one by one.

The removed entries should stop appearing in “Continue Watching” immediately, but it’ll still take up to 24 hours for similar titles to stop being recommended to you.

Delete your Netflix history on computer

There are two ways to remove your Netflix history. You can remove a show or movie directly from your feed by following these steps:

  1. On your computer, sign in to your account.
  2. Go to the “Continue Watching” section.
  3. Move your cursor to the show or movie you want to remove.
  4. Click the remove icon that appears.
  5. Select a reason you want to remove the show or movie.

If you want to see a full list of your watch history to decide which shows or movies to remove, follow these steps:

  1. On your computer, sign in to your account.
  2. At the top-right, click the profile icon > Account.
  3. For Profile & Parental Controls, click the downward arrow next to your profile.
  4. Click Viewing activity.
  5. You’ll see a full list of your watch history.
    • Click the remove icon next to the entry you want to delete.
    • To delete all entries, scroll to the bottom, then click Hide all.

Delete your Netflix history on mobile

  1. In the Netflix app, sign in to your account.
  2. In the “Continue Watching” section, tap the three-dot icon under the show or movie you want to delete.
  3. Tap Remove From Row > OK.

Read more: Our foreign Netflix picks, based on your favorite shows

FAQ: About deleting your Netflix history

Can you delete your Netflix history?
How do you delete Netflix history on TV?