🔄 Multi-account extension • 📊 History privacy • ✨ No login required • 🎯 Progress tracking
📖 FAQ | 📚 Complete Guide | 🔧 Developer Docs
YouTube progress tracking without account limitations - Your viewing history stays private
Main extension interface showing video history, analytics, and settings
🔄 Tired of losing YouTube progress when switching accounts? Need YouTube history without login?
YT re:Watch is the YouTube history extension that solves account switching problems:
- ✅ Same history across ALL YouTube accounts - switch freely without losing progress
- ✅ YouTube without login - track videos without any account required
- ✅ Account switching made easy - consistent viewing history regardless of login status
- ✅ Multi-account workflow - perfect for work/personal YouTube accounts
- ✅ Family computer friendly - separate histories without account conflicts
- ✅ Progress bars on YouTube - see completion percentage on video thumbnails
- ✅ "Viewed" labels - customizable overlay showing watched videos
- ✅ Resume where you left off - automatic video position tracking
- ✅ YouTube Shorts tracking - separate tracking for short-form content
- ✅ Playlist discovery - track and organize YouTube playlists
- ✅ Local storage only - Google doesn't get your viewing progress data
- ✅ No YouTube tracking - replaces Google's built-in history system
- ✅ Private YouTube browsing - watch without affecting recommendations
- ✅ Cross-device sync (Firefox) - private history sync across devices
What this extension protects: YouTube viewing history and video progress tracking only
What it DOESN'T protect: IP tracking, cookies, browser fingerprinting, or other Google tracking
For complete privacy: Combine with VPN, ad blockers, and privacy-focused browsers
Chrome Users: Get it from Chrome Web Store →
Firefox Users: Get it from Firefox Add-ons →
- Go to YouTube and start watching videos
- The extension works automatically in the background
- Click the extension icon to see your watch history
- "I have work and personal YouTube accounts - hate losing progress when switching"
- "My family shares this computer and we need separate YouTube histories"
- "I manage multiple YouTube channels and need consistent tracking"
- "I want to use YouTube without staying logged in"
- "I want YouTube history without Google tracking my viewing habits"
- "I need to research topics without affecting my recommendations"
- "I want to browse YouTube anonymously but still track what I watch"
- "I need a private alternative to YouTube's built-in history"
- "I watch educational content across different devices and accounts"
- "I need to track my viewing progress without Google profiling"
- "I want consistent YouTube history for research projects"
- "I need to analyze my viewing patterns privately"
The extension adds smart visual indicators directly on YouTube:
- "Viewed" labels - Customizable text showing watched videos
- Progress bars - Visual completion percentage on video thumbnails
- Custom colors - Choose from blue, red, green, purple, or orange
- Adjustable size - Small, medium, large, or extra-large labels
- Works everywhere - Video listings, search results, recommendations
Additionally, the history list now shows the video’s channel name beneath the title for quicker scanning.
Click the extension icon to access:
- Videos Tab - Your main viewing history with progress tracking
- Shorts Tab - Separate tracking for YouTube Shorts
- Playlists Tab - Discovered playlists with metadata
- Analytics Tab - Interactive charts showing viewing patterns
- Settings Tab - Full customization options
- Account Independence: Same YouTube history across all accounts (or no account)
- Local Storage: All data stored securely on your device only
- No Google Tracking: YouTube doesn't get your viewing progress data
- Export/Import: Backup and restore your YouTube history anytime
- Robust Deletion System: Deleted videos stay deleted across all devices with tombstone-based protection
- Visual Overlays: Customizable "viewed" labels and progress bars
- Auto-save: Tracks video position every 5 seconds
- YouTube Shorts: Separate tracking for short-form content
- Playlist Discovery: Track and organize YouTube playlists
- Interactive Charts: Viewing patterns by hour and day
- Longest Unfinished Videos: Quickly resume long videos you haven't finished (shows channel, time left, and link)
- Top Watched Channels: See your top 5 channels by videos watched (with links)
- Top Skipped Channels: See your top 5 channels where you most often skip long videos (with links)
- Completion Bar Chart: Visualize your completion rate for long videos (skipped, partial, completed) with a bar chart and legend
- Weekly Activity: Visualize your YouTube usage patterns
Analytics now prefer locally persisted, privacy-preserving statistics for better accuracy and performance.
- Firefox Sync: Automatic cross-device synchronization
- Conflict Resolution: Smart handling of sync conflicts with deletion protection
- Manual Sync: Trigger sync anytime from settings
- Status Indicator: Visual sync progress tracking
- Stale Device Protection: Automatic handling of devices offline for extended periods
- Modern Interface: Clean, card-based layout
- Dark/Light Theme: Automatic system theme detection
- Smart Search: Find videos quickly in your history
- Responsive Design: Works perfectly on all screen sizes
- 💬 Join our Telegram community - Get help, share tips, and connect with other users
- 📖 Read our documentation - Complete guides for all skill levels
- 🐛 Report bugs on GitHub - Help improve the extension
- ⭐ Rate us on browser stores - Support the project
Chrome Users:
Firefox Users:
Click to expand developer installation instructions
Chrome:
- Run
./build.shto build the extension - Open Chrome →
chrome://extensions/ - Enable "Developer mode"
- Click "Load unpacked" and select the
dist/chromefolder
Firefox:
- Run
./build.shto build the extension - Open Firefox →
about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox - Click "Load Temporary Add-on" and select the
manifest.jsonfile from thedist/firefoxfolder
This extension uses chrome.storage.local (Chrome) or browser.storage.local (Firefox) for secure data storage instead of IndexedDB. This provides better security as the data cannot be easily accessed through browser developer tools.
For faster and more consistent Analytics, the extension maintains a small, local statistics snapshot:
totalWatchSeconds: cumulative seconds watcheddaily: last 7 days of totals keyed by local dateYYYY-MM-DDhourly: array of 24 totals for each hour of day
These stats are calculated and stored locally only. On first upgrade, they are seeded from your existing history when possible.
If you're updating from a previous version that used IndexedDB, the extension will automatically migrate your existing data to the new storage system on first run. The migration process:
- Reads all existing data from IndexedDB
- Transfers it to the new storage system
- Marks the migration as complete to avoid re-migration
The extension stores three types of data:
- Video History: Video IDs, timestamps, progress, titles, and URLs
- Playlist History: Playlist IDs, titles, and URLs
- Settings: User preferences for overlay appearance, cleanup, and theme preferences
- Statistics: Aggregated watch‑time summaries used for analytics (local only)
- Install the extension following the instructions above
- Visit YouTube and start watching videos
- Your progress is automatically saved every 5 seconds with smart timestamp loading to prevent video interruption
- Click the extension icon to view your watch history across multiple tabs:
- Videos: Regular YouTube videos with progress tracking
- Shorts: Dedicated interface for YouTube Shorts
- Playlists: Saved playlists with metadata
- Analytics: Interactive charts and viewing statistics
- Settings: Customize appearance, sync, and preferences
- Enable Firefox Sync (Firefox users) for cross-device synchronization with real-time status updates
- Theme: Choose between System (follows your OS theme), Light, or Dark theme with instant switching
- Overlay Title: Text to show in the overlay (max 12 characters)
- Overlay Color: Color of the progress bar overlay (blue, red, green, purple, orange)
- Overlay Label Size: Size of the overlay label and progress bar (small, medium, large, extra large)
- Auto-clean Period: Automatically remove history entries older than specified days (1-180 days)
- Items per Page: Number of items to show per page in history view (5-20)
- Debug Mode: Enable debug logging for troubleshooting
- Enable/Disable Sync: Toggle Firefox Sync integration
- Sync Status: Real-time sync status with last sync time
- Manual Sync: Trigger immediate sync or full sync with cleanup
- Sync Indicator: Visual status indicator in popup interface
The extension supports a comprehensive theme system:
- System Theme: Automatically follows your operating system's dark/light mode preference
- Manual Themes: Choose Light or Dark theme regardless of system setting
- Dynamic Switching: Theme changes are applied immediately without page refresh
- Browser Integration: Detects and responds to browser theme changes
- Persistent Settings: Your theme preference is saved and restored across sessions
The history view now shows enhanced progress information:
- Watched Time: Shows the actual time you've watched (e.g., "5:30")
- Percentage: Shows the percentage of the video you've completed (e.g., "45%")
- Combined Display: Shows both time and percentage (e.g., "5:30 (45%)")
- Accurate Tracking: Only shows percentage when video duration is available
- Progress Indicators: Modern progress bars and visual indicators for each video and playlist
The Analytics tab provides comprehensive insights into your YouTube viewing habits:
- Watch Time Distribution by Hour: Interactive charts showing when you watch the most content
- Weekly Activity Tracking: Visualize your daily YouTube activity over the past 7 days
- Content Type Comparison: Pie charts comparing time spent on regular videos vs Shorts
- Completion Rate Statistics: Track how often you finish videos you start watching
- Total Watch Time: Cumulative time spent watching videos and shorts
- Video Count Statistics: Track total videos watched and completion rates
- Interactive Charts: All analytics presented with interactive, theme-aware visualizations
- Real-time Updates: Charts update automatically as you watch more content
- Dark Theme Support: Analytics adapt to your chosen theme preference
- No Data Collection: The extension does not collect, transmit, or store any data outside your device
- Local Storage Only: All data is stored locally using the browser's secure storage API
- No External Servers: The extension does not communicate with any external servers
The extension uses the browser's built-in storage API (chrome.storage.local/browser.storage.local) which provides:
- Encrypted Storage: Data is stored in an encrypted format
- Access Control: Only the extension can access the stored data
- No Console Access: Data cannot be easily dumped through browser developer tools
- Check YouTube Page: Make sure you're on a YouTube page (youtube.com)
- Refresh and Retry: Refresh the page and try again
- Extension Status: Verify the extension is enabled in your browser
- Debug Mode: Enable debug mode in settings for detailed logging
- Popup Refresh: Close and reopen the popup interface
- Page Refresh: Refresh the YouTube page completely
- Console Logs: Check browser console for error messages (F12 → Console)
- Storage Check: Verify extension has storage permissions
- Improved Diagnostics: Benefit from enhanced error messages and loading states
- Firefox Sync Status: Check if Firefox Sync is enabled in your browser
- Sync Indicator: Look at the sync status indicator in the popup
- Manual Sync: Try triggering a manual sync from the settings tab
- Full Sync: Use "Full Sync" option to clean up and re-sync all data
- Network Check: Ensure stable internet connection for sync operations
If you experience issues with data migration from older versions:
- Automatic Retry: The extension will automatically retry migration on next startup
- Export First: Export your data before troubleshooting to preserve it
- Clear and Restart: If problems persist, clear extension data and start fresh
- Import Backup: Use the import feature to restore previously exported data
├── src/ # Source files
│ ├── background/ # Background script
│ ├── content/ # Content scripts
│ ├── popup/ # Popup interface
│ ├── shared/ # Shared utilities and components
│ └── manifest/ # Manifest templates
├── dist/ # Distribution packages
├── helpers/ # Build helper scripts
├── build.sh # Build script
└── youtube-local-history.user.js # Userscript version
- Make changes to the source files in the
src/directory - Run
./build.shto build both Chrome and Firefox extensions - Test the built extensions in your browser
- The built extensions will be available in the
dist/directory
MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
See CHANGELOG.md for detailed release notes and version history.
YT re:Watch is the ultimate YouTube history extension for users who:
- Switch between multiple YouTube accounts (work/personal)
- Want YouTube history without login requirements
- Need YouTube progress tracking with visual overlays
- Prefer YouTube privacy over Google's tracking
- Want consistent viewing history regardless of account status
Key Search Terms: YouTube multiple accounts, YouTube account switching, YouTube history extension, YouTube progress tracking, YouTube without login, YouTube privacy extension, YouTube progress bar, YouTube viewed videos, YouTube multi-account, YouTube history sync
Perfect for: Multi-account users, privacy-conscious users, students, researchers, content creators, families sharing computers, and anyone who wants reliable YouTube progress tracking without Google surveillance.
⭐ Install now from Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons
This extension supports multiple languages:
- English (en)
- German (de)
- Spanish (es)
- French (fr)
- Bulgarian (bg)
Note: All non-English translations are currently machine-generated. If you are a native speaker and notice any issues, please consider contributing improvements! See src/_locales/README.md for translation guidelines.
If you find YT re:Watch useful, consider supporting development on Patreon!
