Search history is great to find the sites you have visited, videos you have watched, or things that you have searched in past but have you ever noticed some search results that you have never Googled for or YouTube showing the videos in your history, that you have never watched? Yes, this happens. Many users have been complaining about seeing search results they have never searched for, both on Google and YouTube. Don’t worry, it’s not a big issue. You can get rid of these unwanted search results easily. First, let’s see the reasons for getting these search results.
Why are you seeing someone else’s Google searches?
Shared devices – The first and the most common reason is using shared devices. If you are sharing your devices with anyone else, whatever they search will also appear in your search history obviously. Someone must have logged into their Gmail account using your device in the past and forgot to log out. This will also show his/her search history on your device. But if you are sure that no one else is using your devices or has used them in the past, there could be some other reasons too.
- Synchronized accounts – Check if your Google account is synced with someone. Many times we synchronize our Google account with some of our family members or friends and forget about it. In such cases, all their search history will also appear on your Google Search History. Yes, even if you are checking your emails on someone else’s machine, your search results may appear in their search history.
- Added accounts – If there are any other Google accounts added to your device, their Google and YouTube searches will also appear on your Google search history or YouTube history.
- Extensions – Not confirmed, but a Chrome extension may also result in false Google search results. Some extensions and toolbars open the ad pages and other hidden pages alongside the website you are visiting, and these hidden pages and ads can appear in your search results.
YouTube history showing videos you never watched
Exactly like Google, YouTube history may also show the videos you have never watched and the reasons are pretty similar here too. Either someone is using your login credentials, or you have synced your Google account with someone else in the family or friends, or you have more than one Google accounts added to your device.
For YouTube, another reason could be the TV. If you have ever signed in to your YouTube account on your Smart TV at home or at any hotel, then every video watched on that TV by anyone will appear on your YouTube history.
Also, if the autoplay mode is turned on in your YouTube account, some videos start playing automatically when you launch the YouTube app. These videos will also appear in your YouTube history.
However, it is not that big a problem but it could be a little daunting to see some strange and random videos in your watched list or the websites in your search list. The best part is that you can easily fix this.
Google and YouTube History showing searches I didn’t do
If Google and YouTube History shows searches that you have not done or viewed, here are some suggestions to help you:
- Use strong passwords
- Remove extra Google accounts
- Logout from other devices
- Undo Sync
- Remove unwanted extensions and toolbars
- Disable autoplay mode
1] Use strong passwords
Using a strong password is always recommended to maintain your online privacy and security. Do not share your login credentials with anyone and if possible use different accounts for all websites.
2] Remove extra Google accounts
It is possible that you must have added some Google account on your device and forgot about it. To check how many accounts are added to your device-
- Open Google.com on your PC and click on your profile picture in the top right corner.
- Here you will see all the Google accounts added.
- You can remove the unwanted accounts from here or can sign out from all the accounts in one go.
3] Undo Sync
If no one else is using any of your devices, you can keep the Sync on but if any of your devices is used by anyone if your family or friend, it’s better to turn off the sync. Chrome saves all your bookmarks, browsing and search history, passwords, and other settings to all your synced devices, which is really helpful but only if your devices are used only by you.
4] Logout from other devices
Check if you are logged into some other device, a shared computer, or a Smart TV. If you are logged into your Google or YouTube account on a TV, everything searched on the TV will appear on your Google and YouTube accounts. If you using someone else computer or mobile phone to check your email, make sure you log out before you leave the device. Also, if you are staying in a hotel and logged in to your YouTube account on their TV, make sure you log out from your account before you checkout.
5] Remove unwanted browser extensions and toolbars
Many times we download and install the extensions and toolbars that we don’t really need and also forget about them. Check all the extensions installed on your browser and remove the unwanted ones.
6] Disable autoplay mode
When the autoplay mode is turned on, some random videos start playing as soon as you open YouTube, you might not even notice it, but it will show in the list of your watched videos. Though the Autoplay feature on YouTube helps us to decide what to watch next, you can turn it off if you want. Autoplay is turned off for users aged 13-17 on YouTube, by default but it is turned on by default for users above 18 age. To turn it off, open the watch screen of any video, and at the bottom of the video player, you will see the button to set it On or Off.
Once done, you may want to delete Google Search History and remove YouTube Search History.
Why is Google showing searches I didn’t do?
Either someone else has your password or you have logged in to your Google account on a shared device. These two are the most common reasons for seeing the random search results you didn’t do. Occasionally it could be due to some phishing attack so it is advised to change your password immediately.
Why are there videos on my watch history that I didn’t watch?
The most common reason for this error is that someone else is using your account, knowingly or unknowingly to watch the YouTube videos. The other reason is the autoplay mode. When you land on some spam YouTube page and your Autoplay is turned on, it will start playing random videos which will then appear on your YouTube history.
