How to use YouTube in incognito mode on Android
16 May 2025

YouTube's Incognito mode on Android lets you stream videos without a record of your watch history.

The feature comes particularly handy for those who share their devices or want to check out something without affecting their recommendations.

The good part is, you can activate this mode in a matter of few simple steps.

Here's how you can do that.

Accessing the YouTube app
Open App

To start, find the YouTube app on your Android and tap on it to open.

Ensure that you're signed in with your Google account, as it is required to access some of the features of the app.

Once opened, head over to the home screen, where you'll find different options, including trending videos and personalized recommendations.

Navigating to account settings
Account icon

The first thing you need to do is look in the top right corner of the screen.

Here, you will see an icon of your account profile picture or initial. Tap this icon to enter account settings.

Here, you can manage some of the key aspects of your YouTube experience, including privacy settings, subscriptions, notifications.

Enabling Incognito mode
Turn on incognito

Within the account settings menu, find an option called "Turn on Incognito."

Tap on this option to activate incognito mode immediately.

As soon as you do so, you'll see a message confirming that you're now browsing privately.

Your profile icon will be transformed into an incognito symbol, which will show that everything you do is hidden from history.

Browsing privately
Explore content

With incognito mode active, you can explore any content without the fear of it being saved to your watch history or influencing future video recommendations.

Note that while private browsing secures local data from being recorded by YouTube itself, other apps may still follow your activity if they are permitted access during session usage.