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Free Banner Templates & Makers for YouTube

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Free Channel Art Templates are an important resource for creators. It can be extremely difficult challenging to build channel art from scratch if you don’t have any graphic design experience. aren’t an artist or a graphic designer.

We’ve listed two types of resources in this article: templates and backgrounds you can download, and banner makers which have templates you can customize.

• Free Channel Art Template Downloads
• 9 Banner Makers with Free Channel Art Templates

Touch Up YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface. You can use it to create YouTube thumbnail, or banner easily with the templates and then take a snapshot from the video .

---

Part 1: Free Channel Art Template Downloads

In this section you’ll find 3 sites where you can download free YouTube banners.

1. YouTube Channel Art Templates from Filmora

You can find 50 free YouTube banner templates right here on filmora.io. There are 10 different categories including popular channel types like makeup and gaming.

You have two options for every template: PSD and PNG. If you have Photoshop you’ll be able to edit the PSD file and, if you don’t, you can use the PNG as your banner background when you build your channel art in a free online program like Canva.

2. Behance

Behance is a gallery of creative visual works. There is a very large collection of art you could repurpose for your channel art, but some creators on the site have also created graphics specifically to be used as YouTube banners.

Here are some channel art galleries on Behance: Ej / Vritra , Austin Evans

You can download PSD files from Behance and edit them in Photoshop. There isn’t a PNG or JPG option for people who don’t have Photoshop, though.

In order to download the templates you’ll need to hover your cursor over the Photoshop icon, and then click ‘Download Now’ when it appears. You’ll need to make an account before you can download.

3. YourTube

With over 500 templates available, YourTube has the largest selection on this list. They have every style you can think of, from minimalist to video game themed.

The site is run by two web designers who make the money they need to maintain the site from the few premium/paid options available (although the vast majority of templates are free).

Most of the templates are JPG backgrounds which you will need to add your own text to.

Part 2: 9 Banner Makers with Free Templates

In this section you’ll find 9 YouTube channel art makers.

1. Wondershare PixStudio

Wondershare PixStudio has special features to remove the image background. With a single click, you can quickly remove the image background, and use your image with more flexibility. Just payment of $7.99 per month to use the features.

2. Adobe Spark

To edit the templates available through Adobe Spark, just click on the resources in the template and then click on the images/fonts/etc you want to substitute in. Resources like filters are also very accessible.

Everything you do in Spark starts with clicking on an element in the template. You won’t see all of the menus at once, just the ones related to the element you’ve selected (i.e. the background image or the text).

The only downside of Spark is that free downloads include a watermark. The silver lining is that that watermark is small and located in the bottom-right corner, meaning that it won’t show up for viewers watching your channel on either computers or mobile devices.

Note: for some reason when you click ‘Create your YouTube channel art’ it will load a thumbnail template instead of a banner template. Click Resize in the side menu to switch to channel art or your exported image won’t be big enough.

3. BeFunky

This is a graphics creator that doubles as a banner maker. You’ll need to enter BeFunky’s ‘Designer’ tool in order to find the channel art templates under ‘Social Media Headers’ and ‘YouTube’. There’s actually only 1 free channel art template, but it is a very standard channel art layout which you can customize with your own images.

4. Canva

Canva is one of the most popular free channel art makers. It is an easy to use, drag and drop, program that will automatically resize images to work in the spaces you drag them to. It has great free resources like stock photos. Some resources are paid ($1), but many are free.

The templates on Canva do tend to include paid resources, but it’s easy enough to swap them out with free resources or your own images.

5. Crello

Crello offers 10 examples free channel art templates through their blog, and you can even edit the templates right on the site.

Crello is an easy to use visual editor created for social media and marketing, meaning that it was made to be easy for non-designers to jump into. Beyond the free templates and text options, however, most of their stock photos and backgrounds cost $1. To use Crello for free you either need to use the default images, or upload your own.

6. Design Wizard

This is another program with a small number of free templates that you can make almost anything out of through customization. One of the most useful features of design wizard is that it will show you the ‘safe zone’ – the area of your banner that will show up on any device screen – so you can design with that in mind.

Remember to delete the safe zone marker before you export.

7. Fotor

Another graphics program with free templates for YouTube channel art. Fotor is easy to use – perhaps the easiest program on this list to use. In the ‘background’ tab you don’t even have to drag and drop, you just click on the element in your template and then click on what you want to replace it with. You can even load in your own images.

There are paid options in Fotor which will add a watermark to your design unless you upgrade to their paid service, but there are enough free options to satisfy most creators.

8. Snappa

If you want to get something made fast, Snappa can do that. Just find YouTube Channel Art under Headers and choose one of the free templates (there are a lot). Then it’s just a matter of swapping out the elements in the template with ones that suit your channel and clicking download.

Snappa shows you the safe areas for different devices while you edit.

9. Visme

Visme provides 50 free channel art templates you can edit through their online graphics service. The banner maker is a big more complicated than some of the other makers on this list (it has a lot of options that are more for marketers than YouTubers, which weighs it down a bit), but the free templates are great and you can upload your own images to use with them.

How did you make your banner? Did you use a channel art template?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Free Channel Art Templates are an important resource for creators. It can be extremely difficult challenging to build channel art from scratch if you don’t have any graphic design experience. aren’t an artist or a graphic designer.

We’ve listed two types of resources in this article: templates and backgrounds you can download, and banner makers which have templates you can customize.

• Free Channel Art Template Downloads
• 9 Banner Makers with Free Channel Art Templates

Touch Up YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface. You can use it to create YouTube thumbnail, or banner easily with the templates and then take a snapshot from the video .

---

Part 1: Free Channel Art Template Downloads

In this section you’ll find 3 sites where you can download free YouTube banners.

1. YouTube Channel Art Templates from Filmora

You can find 50 free YouTube banner templates right here on filmora.io. There are 10 different categories including popular channel types like makeup and gaming.

You have two options for every template: PSD and PNG. If you have Photoshop you’ll be able to edit the PSD file and, if you don’t, you can use the PNG as your banner background when you build your channel art in a free online program like Canva.

2. Behance

Behance is a gallery of creative visual works. There is a very large collection of art you could repurpose for your channel art, but some creators on the site have also created graphics specifically to be used as YouTube banners.

Here are some channel art galleries on Behance: Ej / Vritra , Austin Evans

You can download PSD files from Behance and edit them in Photoshop. There isn’t a PNG or JPG option for people who don’t have Photoshop, though.

In order to download the templates you’ll need to hover your cursor over the Photoshop icon, and then click ‘Download Now’ when it appears. You’ll need to make an account before you can download.

3. YourTube

With over 500 templates available, YourTube has the largest selection on this list. They have every style you can think of, from minimalist to video game themed.

The site is run by two web designers who make the money they need to maintain the site from the few premium/paid options available (although the vast majority of templates are free).

Most of the templates are JPG backgrounds which you will need to add your own text to.

Part 2: 9 Banner Makers with Free Templates

In this section you’ll find 9 YouTube channel art makers.

1. Wondershare PixStudio

Wondershare PixStudio has special features to remove the image background. With a single click, you can quickly remove the image background, and use your image with more flexibility. Just payment of $7.99 per month to use the features.

2. Adobe Spark

To edit the templates available through Adobe Spark, just click on the resources in the template and then click on the images/fonts/etc you want to substitute in. Resources like filters are also very accessible.

Everything you do in Spark starts with clicking on an element in the template. You won’t see all of the menus at once, just the ones related to the element you’ve selected (i.e. the background image or the text).

The only downside of Spark is that free downloads include a watermark. The silver lining is that that watermark is small and located in the bottom-right corner, meaning that it won’t show up for viewers watching your channel on either computers or mobile devices.

Note: for some reason when you click ‘Create your YouTube channel art’ it will load a thumbnail template instead of a banner template. Click Resize in the side menu to switch to channel art or your exported image won’t be big enough.

3. BeFunky

This is a graphics creator that doubles as a banner maker. You’ll need to enter BeFunky’s ‘Designer’ tool in order to find the channel art templates under ‘Social Media Headers’ and ‘YouTube’. There’s actually only 1 free channel art template, but it is a very standard channel art layout which you can customize with your own images.

4. Canva

Canva is one of the most popular free channel art makers. It is an easy to use, drag and drop, program that will automatically resize images to work in the spaces you drag them to. It has great free resources like stock photos. Some resources are paid ($1), but many are free.

The templates on Canva do tend to include paid resources, but it’s easy enough to swap them out with free resources or your own images.

5. Crello

Crello offers 10 examples free channel art templates through their blog, and you can even edit the templates right on the site.

Crello is an easy to use visual editor created for social media and marketing, meaning that it was made to be easy for non-designers to jump into. Beyond the free templates and text options, however, most of their stock photos and backgrounds cost $1. To use Crello for free you either need to use the default images, or upload your own.

6. Design Wizard

This is another program with a small number of free templates that you can make almost anything out of through customization. One of the most useful features of design wizard is that it will show you the ‘safe zone’ – the area of your banner that will show up on any device screen – so you can design with that in mind.

Remember to delete the safe zone marker before you export.

7. Fotor

Another graphics program with free templates for YouTube channel art. Fotor is easy to use – perhaps the easiest program on this list to use. In the ‘background’ tab you don’t even have to drag and drop, you just click on the element in your template and then click on what you want to replace it with. You can even load in your own images.

There are paid options in Fotor which will add a watermark to your design unless you upgrade to their paid service, but there are enough free options to satisfy most creators.

8. Snappa

If you want to get something made fast, Snappa can do that. Just find YouTube Channel Art under Headers and choose one of the free templates (there are a lot). Then it’s just a matter of swapping out the elements in the template with ones that suit your channel and clicking download.

Snappa shows you the safe areas for different devices while you edit.

9. Visme

Visme provides 50 free channel art templates you can edit through their online graphics service. The banner maker is a big more complicated than some of the other makers on this list (it has a lot of options that are more for marketers than YouTubers, which weighs it down a bit), but the free templates are great and you can upload your own images to use with them.

How did you make your banner? Did you use a channel art template?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Free Channel Art Templates are an important resource for creators. It can be extremely difficult challenging to build channel art from scratch if you don’t have any graphic design experience. aren’t an artist or a graphic designer.

We’ve listed two types of resources in this article: templates and backgrounds you can download, and banner makers which have templates you can customize.

• Free Channel Art Template Downloads
• 9 Banner Makers with Free Channel Art Templates

Touch Up YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface. You can use it to create YouTube thumbnail, or banner easily with the templates and then take a snapshot from the video .

---

Part 1: Free Channel Art Template Downloads

In this section you’ll find 3 sites where you can download free YouTube banners.

1. YouTube Channel Art Templates from Filmora

You can find 50 free YouTube banner templates right here on filmora.io. There are 10 different categories including popular channel types like makeup and gaming.

You have two options for every template: PSD and PNG. If you have Photoshop you’ll be able to edit the PSD file and, if you don’t, you can use the PNG as your banner background when you build your channel art in a free online program like Canva.

2. Behance

Behance is a gallery of creative visual works. There is a very large collection of art you could repurpose for your channel art, but some creators on the site have also created graphics specifically to be used as YouTube banners.

Here are some channel art galleries on Behance: Ej / Vritra , Austin Evans

You can download PSD files from Behance and edit them in Photoshop. There isn’t a PNG or JPG option for people who don’t have Photoshop, though.

In order to download the templates you’ll need to hover your cursor over the Photoshop icon, and then click ‘Download Now’ when it appears. You’ll need to make an account before you can download.

3. YourTube

With over 500 templates available, YourTube has the largest selection on this list. They have every style you can think of, from minimalist to video game themed.

The site is run by two web designers who make the money they need to maintain the site from the few premium/paid options available (although the vast majority of templates are free).

Most of the templates are JPG backgrounds which you will need to add your own text to.

Part 2: 9 Banner Makers with Free Templates

In this section you’ll find 9 YouTube channel art makers.

1. Wondershare PixStudio

Wondershare PixStudio has special features to remove the image background. With a single click, you can quickly remove the image background, and use your image with more flexibility. Just payment of $7.99 per month to use the features.

2. Adobe Spark

To edit the templates available through Adobe Spark, just click on the resources in the template and then click on the images/fonts/etc you want to substitute in. Resources like filters are also very accessible.

Everything you do in Spark starts with clicking on an element in the template. You won’t see all of the menus at once, just the ones related to the element you’ve selected (i.e. the background image or the text).

The only downside of Spark is that free downloads include a watermark. The silver lining is that that watermark is small and located in the bottom-right corner, meaning that it won’t show up for viewers watching your channel on either computers or mobile devices.

Note: for some reason when you click ‘Create your YouTube channel art’ it will load a thumbnail template instead of a banner template. Click Resize in the side menu to switch to channel art or your exported image won’t be big enough.

3. BeFunky

This is a graphics creator that doubles as a banner maker. You’ll need to enter BeFunky’s ‘Designer’ tool in order to find the channel art templates under ‘Social Media Headers’ and ‘YouTube’. There’s actually only 1 free channel art template, but it is a very standard channel art layout which you can customize with your own images.

4. Canva

Canva is one of the most popular free channel art makers. It is an easy to use, drag and drop, program that will automatically resize images to work in the spaces you drag them to. It has great free resources like stock photos. Some resources are paid ($1), but many are free.

The templates on Canva do tend to include paid resources, but it’s easy enough to swap them out with free resources or your own images.

5. Crello

Crello offers 10 examples free channel art templates through their blog, and you can even edit the templates right on the site.

Crello is an easy to use visual editor created for social media and marketing, meaning that it was made to be easy for non-designers to jump into. Beyond the free templates and text options, however, most of their stock photos and backgrounds cost $1. To use Crello for free you either need to use the default images, or upload your own.

6. Design Wizard

This is another program with a small number of free templates that you can make almost anything out of through customization. One of the most useful features of design wizard is that it will show you the ‘safe zone’ – the area of your banner that will show up on any device screen – so you can design with that in mind.

Remember to delete the safe zone marker before you export.

7. Fotor

Another graphics program with free templates for YouTube channel art. Fotor is easy to use – perhaps the easiest program on this list to use. In the ‘background’ tab you don’t even have to drag and drop, you just click on the element in your template and then click on what you want to replace it with. You can even load in your own images.

There are paid options in Fotor which will add a watermark to your design unless you upgrade to their paid service, but there are enough free options to satisfy most creators.

8. Snappa

If you want to get something made fast, Snappa can do that. Just find YouTube Channel Art under Headers and choose one of the free templates (there are a lot). Then it’s just a matter of swapping out the elements in the template with ones that suit your channel and clicking download.

Snappa shows you the safe areas for different devices while you edit.

9. Visme

Visme provides 50 free channel art templates you can edit through their online graphics service. The banner maker is a big more complicated than some of the other makers on this list (it has a lot of options that are more for marketers than YouTubers, which weighs it down a bit), but the free templates are great and you can upload your own images to use with them.

How did you make your banner? Did you use a channel art template?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Free Channel Art Templates are an important resource for creators. It can be extremely difficult challenging to build channel art from scratch if you don’t have any graphic design experience. aren’t an artist or a graphic designer.

We’ve listed two types of resources in this article: templates and backgrounds you can download, and banner makers which have templates you can customize.

• Free Channel Art Template Downloads
• 9 Banner Makers with Free Channel Art Templates

Touch Up YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface. You can use it to create YouTube thumbnail, or banner easily with the templates and then take a snapshot from the video .

---

Part 1: Free Channel Art Template Downloads

In this section you’ll find 3 sites where you can download free YouTube banners.

1. YouTube Channel Art Templates from Filmora

You can find 50 free YouTube banner templates right here on filmora.io. There are 10 different categories including popular channel types like makeup and gaming.

You have two options for every template: PSD and PNG. If you have Photoshop you’ll be able to edit the PSD file and, if you don’t, you can use the PNG as your banner background when you build your channel art in a free online program like Canva.

2. Behance

Behance is a gallery of creative visual works. There is a very large collection of art you could repurpose for your channel art, but some creators on the site have also created graphics specifically to be used as YouTube banners.

Here are some channel art galleries on Behance: Ej / Vritra , Austin Evans

You can download PSD files from Behance and edit them in Photoshop. There isn’t a PNG or JPG option for people who don’t have Photoshop, though.

In order to download the templates you’ll need to hover your cursor over the Photoshop icon, and then click ‘Download Now’ when it appears. You’ll need to make an account before you can download.

3. YourTube

With over 500 templates available, YourTube has the largest selection on this list. They have every style you can think of, from minimalist to video game themed.

The site is run by two web designers who make the money they need to maintain the site from the few premium/paid options available (although the vast majority of templates are free).

Most of the templates are JPG backgrounds which you will need to add your own text to.

Part 2: 9 Banner Makers with Free Templates

In this section you’ll find 9 YouTube channel art makers.

1. Wondershare PixStudio

Wondershare PixStudio has special features to remove the image background. With a single click, you can quickly remove the image background, and use your image with more flexibility. Just payment of $7.99 per month to use the features.

2. Adobe Spark

To edit the templates available through Adobe Spark, just click on the resources in the template and then click on the images/fonts/etc you want to substitute in. Resources like filters are also very accessible.

Everything you do in Spark starts with clicking on an element in the template. You won’t see all of the menus at once, just the ones related to the element you’ve selected (i.e. the background image or the text).

The only downside of Spark is that free downloads include a watermark. The silver lining is that that watermark is small and located in the bottom-right corner, meaning that it won’t show up for viewers watching your channel on either computers or mobile devices.

Note: for some reason when you click ‘Create your YouTube channel art’ it will load a thumbnail template instead of a banner template. Click Resize in the side menu to switch to channel art or your exported image won’t be big enough.

3. BeFunky

This is a graphics creator that doubles as a banner maker. You’ll need to enter BeFunky’s ‘Designer’ tool in order to find the channel art templates under ‘Social Media Headers’ and ‘YouTube’. There’s actually only 1 free channel art template, but it is a very standard channel art layout which you can customize with your own images.

4. Canva

Canva is one of the most popular free channel art makers. It is an easy to use, drag and drop, program that will automatically resize images to work in the spaces you drag them to. It has great free resources like stock photos. Some resources are paid ($1), but many are free.

The templates on Canva do tend to include paid resources, but it’s easy enough to swap them out with free resources or your own images.

5. Crello

Crello offers 10 examples free channel art templates through their blog, and you can even edit the templates right on the site.

Crello is an easy to use visual editor created for social media and marketing, meaning that it was made to be easy for non-designers to jump into. Beyond the free templates and text options, however, most of their stock photos and backgrounds cost $1. To use Crello for free you either need to use the default images, or upload your own.

6. Design Wizard

This is another program with a small number of free templates that you can make almost anything out of through customization. One of the most useful features of design wizard is that it will show you the ‘safe zone’ – the area of your banner that will show up on any device screen – so you can design with that in mind.

Remember to delete the safe zone marker before you export.

7. Fotor

Another graphics program with free templates for YouTube channel art. Fotor is easy to use – perhaps the easiest program on this list to use. In the ‘background’ tab you don’t even have to drag and drop, you just click on the element in your template and then click on what you want to replace it with. You can even load in your own images.

There are paid options in Fotor which will add a watermark to your design unless you upgrade to their paid service, but there are enough free options to satisfy most creators.

8. Snappa

If you want to get something made fast, Snappa can do that. Just find YouTube Channel Art under Headers and choose one of the free templates (there are a lot). Then it’s just a matter of swapping out the elements in the template with ones that suit your channel and clicking download.

Snappa shows you the safe areas for different devices while you edit.

9. Visme

Visme provides 50 free channel art templates you can edit through their online graphics service. The banner maker is a big more complicated than some of the other makers on this list (it has a lot of options that are more for marketers than YouTubers, which weighs it down a bit), but the free templates are great and you can upload your own images to use with them.

How did you make your banner? Did you use a channel art template?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Pause Non-Selected YouTube Video Suggestions

YouTube Recommended Videos - Block the Videos I Don’t Like

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube is forever recommending videos for you whether it’s in your dashboard or next to the video you’re already watching. In theory, these recommendations are based on your viewing habits and you’re only directed to videos you’re interested in.

Except we all know that’s not always what happens.

YouTube’s recommendations are based on more than just what you’ve watched and searched for, and sometimes even the data on that can get skewed over time. Not all your searches reflect your real tastes, and as your search history builds up the algorithm can start having trouble with all that data.

Here’s what you can do about it:

1. Manage Your Watch History
2. Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested
3. But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Manage Your Watch History

Scroll to the bottom of any page on YouTube and you will see a button marked History with an hourglass icon. To access this feature using a mobile device, go to the Account tab and tap History.

You will be able to completely clear your watch history, remove specific videos from it, or pause your history while you look at videos you don’t want a record of you visiting. By taking control of your history, you can make sure nothing you looked up on a random whim is reflected in your recommendations.

If you are being recommended more things you aren’t interested in than things you are, you might want to clear your history completely and start fresh. Maybe your tastes have changed since YouTube started keeping track of them.

Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested

Based on your watch history, YouTube knows what you like. However, they have no way of automatically collecting data on what kinds of videos you’d rather not see.

What they do have is a system for you to flag recommendations you don’t like.

Hover over the thumbnail of a video you don’t want to be recommended to you and a small icon that looks like three stacked dots will appear next to the title. Click on that, and then click Not Interested.

When you tell YouTube you aren’t interested in certain videos they use that data to adjust what they recommend for you.

But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Your search/watch history is not the only thing that determines what YouTube recommends for you. Nobody outside of Google knows exactly how the algorithm works, but we do know one of the major factors influencing it is to watch time.

Watch time refers to how a video effects the session time of a viewer. If a video has proven it can keep viewers on YouTube for longer it is more likely to get recommended, even if it isn’t closely related to the interests of individual viewers. The ultimate goal of the algorithm is to keep you on the site longer. Part of that is recommending things, surely, you’ll be interested in, and part of that is trying to get you interested in things that’ll keep you around.

A video that is simply watched for longer, because it is engaging and can hold viewers’ attention for a long time, will have a high watch time. So will a video that is short, but which leads into a playlist which holds peoples’ attention. If a video is a frequent session starter – people see it outside of YouTube (i.e. in a Google search) and get to the site through it – then its watch time will be high because it is given credit for all of the time viewers are spending on YouTube watching other videos after they get there.

The only way to stop certain types of videos from being recommended for you is to take advantage of the ‘not interested’ feature.

Are you usually happy with YouTube’s recommended videos?

What video editing software did YouTube suggested videos are used?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube is forever recommending videos for you whether it’s in your dashboard or next to the video you’re already watching. In theory, these recommendations are based on your viewing habits and you’re only directed to videos you’re interested in.

Except we all know that’s not always what happens.

YouTube’s recommendations are based on more than just what you’ve watched and searched for, and sometimes even the data on that can get skewed over time. Not all your searches reflect your real tastes, and as your search history builds up the algorithm can start having trouble with all that data.

Here’s what you can do about it:

1. Manage Your Watch History
2. Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested
3. But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Manage Your Watch History

Scroll to the bottom of any page on YouTube and you will see a button marked History with an hourglass icon. To access this feature using a mobile device, go to the Account tab and tap History.

You will be able to completely clear your watch history, remove specific videos from it, or pause your history while you look at videos you don’t want a record of you visiting. By taking control of your history, you can make sure nothing you looked up on a random whim is reflected in your recommendations.

If you are being recommended more things you aren’t interested in than things you are, you might want to clear your history completely and start fresh. Maybe your tastes have changed since YouTube started keeping track of them.

Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested

Based on your watch history, YouTube knows what you like. However, they have no way of automatically collecting data on what kinds of videos you’d rather not see.

What they do have is a system for you to flag recommendations you don’t like.

Hover over the thumbnail of a video you don’t want to be recommended to you and a small icon that looks like three stacked dots will appear next to the title. Click on that, and then click Not Interested.

When you tell YouTube you aren’t interested in certain videos they use that data to adjust what they recommend for you.

But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Your search/watch history is not the only thing that determines what YouTube recommends for you. Nobody outside of Google knows exactly how the algorithm works, but we do know one of the major factors influencing it is to watch time.

Watch time refers to how a video effects the session time of a viewer. If a video has proven it can keep viewers on YouTube for longer it is more likely to get recommended, even if it isn’t closely related to the interests of individual viewers. The ultimate goal of the algorithm is to keep you on the site longer. Part of that is recommending things, surely, you’ll be interested in, and part of that is trying to get you interested in things that’ll keep you around.

A video that is simply watched for longer, because it is engaging and can hold viewers’ attention for a long time, will have a high watch time. So will a video that is short, but which leads into a playlist which holds peoples’ attention. If a video is a frequent session starter – people see it outside of YouTube (i.e. in a Google search) and get to the site through it – then its watch time will be high because it is given credit for all of the time viewers are spending on YouTube watching other videos after they get there.

The only way to stop certain types of videos from being recommended for you is to take advantage of the ‘not interested’ feature.

Are you usually happy with YouTube’s recommended videos?

What video editing software did YouTube suggested videos are used?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube is forever recommending videos for you whether it’s in your dashboard or next to the video you’re already watching. In theory, these recommendations are based on your viewing habits and you’re only directed to videos you’re interested in.

Except we all know that’s not always what happens.

YouTube’s recommendations are based on more than just what you’ve watched and searched for, and sometimes even the data on that can get skewed over time. Not all your searches reflect your real tastes, and as your search history builds up the algorithm can start having trouble with all that data.

Here’s what you can do about it:

1. Manage Your Watch History
2. Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested
3. But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Manage Your Watch History

Scroll to the bottom of any page on YouTube and you will see a button marked History with an hourglass icon. To access this feature using a mobile device, go to the Account tab and tap History.

You will be able to completely clear your watch history, remove specific videos from it, or pause your history while you look at videos you don’t want a record of you visiting. By taking control of your history, you can make sure nothing you looked up on a random whim is reflected in your recommendations.

If you are being recommended more things you aren’t interested in than things you are, you might want to clear your history completely and start fresh. Maybe your tastes have changed since YouTube started keeping track of them.

Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested

Based on your watch history, YouTube knows what you like. However, they have no way of automatically collecting data on what kinds of videos you’d rather not see.

What they do have is a system for you to flag recommendations you don’t like.

Hover over the thumbnail of a video you don’t want to be recommended to you and a small icon that looks like three stacked dots will appear next to the title. Click on that, and then click Not Interested.

When you tell YouTube you aren’t interested in certain videos they use that data to adjust what they recommend for you.

But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Your search/watch history is not the only thing that determines what YouTube recommends for you. Nobody outside of Google knows exactly how the algorithm works, but we do know one of the major factors influencing it is to watch time.

Watch time refers to how a video effects the session time of a viewer. If a video has proven it can keep viewers on YouTube for longer it is more likely to get recommended, even if it isn’t closely related to the interests of individual viewers. The ultimate goal of the algorithm is to keep you on the site longer. Part of that is recommending things, surely, you’ll be interested in, and part of that is trying to get you interested in things that’ll keep you around.

A video that is simply watched for longer, because it is engaging and can hold viewers’ attention for a long time, will have a high watch time. So will a video that is short, but which leads into a playlist which holds peoples’ attention. If a video is a frequent session starter – people see it outside of YouTube (i.e. in a Google search) and get to the site through it – then its watch time will be high because it is given credit for all of the time viewers are spending on YouTube watching other videos after they get there.

The only way to stop certain types of videos from being recommended for you is to take advantage of the ‘not interested’ feature.

Are you usually happy with YouTube’s recommended videos?

What video editing software did YouTube suggested videos are used?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube is forever recommending videos for you whether it’s in your dashboard or next to the video you’re already watching. In theory, these recommendations are based on your viewing habits and you’re only directed to videos you’re interested in.

Except we all know that’s not always what happens.

YouTube’s recommendations are based on more than just what you’ve watched and searched for, and sometimes even the data on that can get skewed over time. Not all your searches reflect your real tastes, and as your search history builds up the algorithm can start having trouble with all that data.

Here’s what you can do about it:

1. Manage Your Watch History
2. Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested
3. But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Manage Your Watch History

Scroll to the bottom of any page on YouTube and you will see a button marked History with an hourglass icon. To access this feature using a mobile device, go to the Account tab and tap History.

You will be able to completely clear your watch history, remove specific videos from it, or pause your history while you look at videos you don’t want a record of you visiting. By taking control of your history, you can make sure nothing you looked up on a random whim is reflected in your recommendations.

If you are being recommended more things you aren’t interested in than things you are, you might want to clear your history completely and start fresh. Maybe your tastes have changed since YouTube started keeping track of them.

Tell YouTube You Aren’t Interested

Based on your watch history, YouTube knows what you like. However, they have no way of automatically collecting data on what kinds of videos you’d rather not see.

What they do have is a system for you to flag recommendations you don’t like.

Hover over the thumbnail of a video you don’t want to be recommended to you and a small icon that looks like three stacked dots will appear next to the title. Click on that, and then click Not Interested.

When you tell YouTube you aren’t interested in certain videos they use that data to adjust what they recommend for you.

But Why Does It Recommend Stuff I Don’t Like?

Your search/watch history is not the only thing that determines what YouTube recommends for you. Nobody outside of Google knows exactly how the algorithm works, but we do know one of the major factors influencing it is to watch time.

Watch time refers to how a video effects the session time of a viewer. If a video has proven it can keep viewers on YouTube for longer it is more likely to get recommended, even if it isn’t closely related to the interests of individual viewers. The ultimate goal of the algorithm is to keep you on the site longer. Part of that is recommending things, surely, you’ll be interested in, and part of that is trying to get you interested in things that’ll keep you around.

A video that is simply watched for longer, because it is engaging and can hold viewers’ attention for a long time, will have a high watch time. So will a video that is short, but which leads into a playlist which holds peoples’ attention. If a video is a frequent session starter – people see it outside of YouTube (i.e. in a Google search) and get to the site through it – then its watch time will be high because it is given credit for all of the time viewers are spending on YouTube watching other videos after they get there.

The only way to stop certain types of videos from being recommended for you is to take advantage of the ‘not interested’ feature.

Are you usually happy with YouTube’s recommended videos?

What video editing software did YouTube suggested videos are used?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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