YouTube: ad settings

Last checked: 19 Oct 2026

Turning off personalised ads on YouTube changes how your ads are chosen, not how many you see. Google says ads are then based on things like the video you're watching rather than your account history. If you're signed in, the switch is shared with the rest of Google.

Personalised ads

Personalised ads (signed in)Ads continue, less personalised

Opens My Ad Centre, which controls personalised ads across Google services, YouTube included. Google says ads are then based on things like the time of day, your location and the video you're watching, not your history.

On the web: myadcenter.google.com → Personalised ads → Off. Your ad topic and brand choices are deleted.

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Personalised ads (signed out)Ads continue, less personalised

Google says it won't personalise ads in the app on that device.

On the web: adssettings.google.com → YouTube → Personalised ads on YouTube → Off. It only applies to that browser or device. On a TV: on an ad, select Ad options → Personalised ads.

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Stop YouTube history being used for adsAds continue, less personalised

Google says your YouTube history won't be used to choose ads on Google Search and YouTube. Your history can still be saved and used for recommendations.

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Google says your watch and search history can also be used for ads. The last switch above stops that while keeping your history. To stop history being saved at all:

Watch and search history

Pause or delete watch historyRelated setting

Untick "Include the YouTube videos that you watch" to pause it. Delete individual videos, or a time range with DELETE, on the same screen.

On a computer: My Activity → Controls. Signed out: Settings → History and privacy → Pause watch history or Clear watch history. Google says deleted history no longer shapes your recommendations.

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Pause search historyRelated setting

Untick "Include your searches on YouTube". Google says searches aren't saved while it's paused.

On a computer you can also set history to delete itself automatically after 3, 18 or 36 months.

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YouTube Premium and Premium Lite

Google says YouTube Premium removes ads before and during videos, and third-party banner and search ads. Promotions that creators build into their own videos still appear (Google). Premium Lite removes ads on most videos, but Google says ads may still appear on music, Shorts, and when you search or browse.

UK prices on youtube.com/premium on 19 October 2026: Individual £12.99 a month, Family £19.99, Student £7.99, Premium Lite £7.99. The page shows prices for your own country only, so we haven't confirmed US prices.

Children

On supervised children's accounts, Google lists personalised ads among the features that are turned off. For other under-18s, Google says personalised ads "might" already be off if the account shows the person is under 18.

For the rest of Google's ad settings, see Google ad settings.

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This page describes your options and how organisations say they handle requests. It isn't legal advice. See About & sourcing to report a correction.