Last updated: 4 September 2026
Unwatched History is a browser extension that remembers YouTube videos you scrolled past, so you can find them again later. This policy explains exactly what it does with data.
The short version: everything Unwatched History records stays in your browser. There is no account, no server, no analytics, and no tracking of any kind.
Everything below is written to storage inside your own browser and is never uploaded.
When a video card stays on your screen long enough to count as "seen", the extension records:
- the YouTube video ID
- the video title, and the channel name
- the thumbnail URL
- the video's duration, as shown on the card
- when you first saw it, when you last saw it, and how many times
- which YouTube surface you saw it on — home, search, sidebar, subscriptions or Shorts
- the playlist or mix ID, and its name, if the video was shown as part of one
- whether the card was marked as sponsored
- a random session identifier (see below)
- whether you pinned it, saved it for later, and whether you have opened it
Capture thresholds, which YouTube surfaces to track, retention limits, light/dark theme, whether to include sponsored cards, the list of channel names you have muted, and whether to look up missing titles.
Each time your browser starts, the extension generates a random string such as
s-m0xk21-a8f3q and tags that session's saved videos with it. It exists so the popup can
tell you how many videos you've saved this session. It is regenerated on every browser
start, is not derived from anything about you or your device, is never sent anywhere, and
cannot be used to identify you.
Saved videos are kept in your browser's IndexedDB. Settings are kept in the browser's extension storage, and the session identifier in session storage, which the browser clears when it closes.
None of this leaves your device. It is not uploaded, synced, shared, or sold. No one but you can read it — not the developer, not anyone else.
Unwatched History contacts exactly two YouTube addresses, and nothing else. There is no server belonging to this extension, because there is no server at all.
The gallery shows video thumbnails, which are loaded from YouTube's image servers
(i.ytimg.com), exactly as they would be on any page displaying a YouTube thumbnail.
These requests are made with referrerpolicy="no-referrer", so no referring page is
disclosed. They happen only while you are looking at the gallery.
YouTube builds its feed cards in stages, and a card can scroll away before its title has appeared. When that happens the video is saved without a title, and the extension asks YouTube's public oEmbed endpoint for it:
https://www.youtube.com/oembed?format=json&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
- Only the video ID is sent, and only to YouTube.
- The request is made without cookies (
credentials: 'omit'), so it is not tied to your YouTube or Google account. - Nothing about you, your browsing, or the rest of your saved list is included.
- The only thing received back is the video's title and channel name.
You can switch this off in Settings → Titles → Look up missing titles. With it off, no title lookups are made at all, and the only remaining network activity is loading thumbnail images while the gallery is open.
- No analytics, telemetry, crash reporting, or usage statistics.
- No advertising, and no advertising identifiers.
- No selling or sharing of data with third parties.
- No reading of pages other than
www.youtube.com. - No access to your YouTube account, watch history, subscriptions, cookies or credentials.
- No remotely-loaded or remotely-executed code.
- No tracking across sites, and no profile of you anywhere.
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
storage |
Save your settings, and the session counter, in the browser. |
unlimitedStorage |
Keep the saved-video list in IndexedDB without hitting the small default quota, which would silently lose entries. |
alarms |
Run housekeeping once an hour — delete entries past your retention window, and fill in missing titles. Manifest V3 background scripts do not stay running, so a periodic alarm is required. |
scripting |
Start capture in YouTube tabs that were already open when the extension was installed or updated. Without it, those tabs would never begin saving. It is only ever used to inject this extension's own capture script, and only into www.youtube.com tabs. |
www.youtube.com host access |
Read video cards on YouTube pages. This is the only site the extension can see. |
Unwatched History deliberately does not request the tabs permission, so it cannot
see the addresses of your other tabs.
- Export — Settings → Your data → Export JSON writes everything to a file you keep.
- Delete individually — remove any saved video from the gallery.
- Delete everything — Settings → Your data → Clear log.
- Mute a channel — nothing from that channel is saved again.
- Pause capture — from the popup, or the on-page indicator.
- Automatic deletion — by default, saved videos are removed after 14 days, or once there are more than 300, whichever comes first. Both limits are adjustable. Pinned videos are never deleted automatically.
- Uninstalling the extension removes all of its stored data from your browser.
Unwatched History is not directed at children and collects no personal information from anyone.
If this policy changes, the updated version will be published here and the "last updated" date above will change. Material changes will be noted in the extension's store listing.
Questions about this policy: badmugex@outlook.com
Unwatched History is an independent, unofficial extension. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube, Google LLC, or Opera. "YouTube" is a trademark of Google LLC.