How to Watch a YouTube Video Without Your Parents Knowing

Last Updated: February 1, 2023

So, you want to watch that video about how to bypass parental controls, or maybe something more sinister, but maybe you want to research how to plan a surprise for your parents and don't want to get caught. Well, this video will save you.

1

Know what your parents count as "inappropriate".

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Depending on your parents, being secretive may not be needed after all. Consider asking your parents what you are and aren't allowed to watch before going all secretive!
- To minimize the chances of getting caught, do this a few weeks before you plan to watch inappropriate videos.

2

Use YouTube signed out.

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If you use YouTube signed in, your view history will be recorded to your Google Account, which is evidence for your parents to find and use against you. While this means you can't comment, subscribe, like, etc, it is better than getting in trouble until the end of time because your parents looked at your YouTube history.

3

Clear your browser search history after watching the video.

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If it will be suspicious if the entire history is clear, then only delete the incriminating pages, like this article, and any videos you watched.

4

Use incognito mode.

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If you are worried about history being kept in periodic backups or your Google Account (chrome) or Mozilla account (firefox), then use incognito. This way, the history cannot be recovered from any backups or accounts, as the history was never created in the first place.

5

Watch the video on a different browser.

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Download a different browser such as Brave or DuckDuckGo to watch videos you can't watch normally. Most people use Google to search for and find videos. Your parent(s) can see what you've been watching when you do this. By using another browser such as Brave, you can hide this.
- Make sure you aren't signed in when watching inappropriate videos on another browser, because the videos will still show up in your YouTube history if you're signed in.

6

Use a VPN.

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If your parents are very tech savvy, they may look through the internet hub or contact the provider to get history, so using a VPN to avoid the provider will combat this step.

7

Be wary of parental controls.

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These can be hard to circumvent and if you disable it, your parents will probably be notified. If this is an issue, then try using a device like your phone, a friend's computer, etc without parental controls.

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Question

Even if you're not on a YouTube account, can parents still see what you search?

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Community Answer

Yes, even if you're not logged in, your parents can still see it. However, it's deleted after 24 hours.

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What if I'm banned from YouTube?

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You'll just have to wait until you are no longer banned.

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If you get caught, be prepared to have your device(s) taken away for a considerable amount of time.

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If you get caught, you may have parental controls put on your device if you didn't already have them enabled.

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How to Watch a YouTube Video Without Your Parents Knowing

Steps

Know what your parents count as "inappropriate".

Use YouTube signed out.

Clear your browser search history after watching the video.

Use incognito mode.

Watch the video on a different browser.

Use a VPN.

Be wary of parental controls.

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