How To Find your Recently Watched Titles on Netflix

The one thing Netflix has given us is the ability to watch the most random movies and TV shows. One minute you could be watching Chef’s Table, and the next, old episodes of Friends. One day you’re watching Stranger Things, and the next, binging on Sons of Anarchy. For the most part, this is great, but it can make keeping track of the shows you have watched harder than it could be. That is until you discover Recently Watched.

Netflix has minimal tracking, but one thing it tracks is what you watch and when. Part of that is to assess whether the content it provides is popular or not, and the other is to help you find that random foreign language movie you enjoyed last week but cannot remember the name of. It is this feature called Recently Watched that we’re talking about here.

Recently Watched on Netflix

Depending on how you use Netflix, you should have a Watch Again section on the Netflix front page, which will show you what you have seen recently. It won’t cover everything, but if you’re trying to find that movie you watched a little while ago, it is a good place to begin.

All you need to do to view your recently watched content is scroll down Netflix’s homepage until you see the Watch it Again section. But this won’t show you a complete history of content.

Otherwise, there is a full record of the stuff you have watched behind the scenes.

1. Navigate to Netflix and log in.
2. Select your profile icon in the top right and select Account.
   
3. Scroll down and tap on the profile you’re interested in.
   
4. Select Viewing Activity from within My Profile at the bottom of the page.
   

Here you should see every TV show and movie you have watched on that account. If ever you want to see how much you use Netflix or whether you’re getting your money’s worth, this is where you do it! Assuming you want to watch the content again, simply click on the title of the show or movie and hit play.

Clear Recently Watched on Netflix

If you don’t want your roommates or significant other seeing just how much Netflix you have been watching or some suspect shows you would rather keep a secret, you can clear them from your Recently Watched list. This will not only clear them from here but also from your Watch Again section on the main page.

1. Navigate to the My Activity page as above.
2. Select the no-entry icon to the right of a title you want to clear.
   
3. Repeat for all titles you want to hide.

Once you hit that icon, you should see a message that says something like, “Within 24 hours, TITLE will no longer appear in the Netflix service as a title you have watched and will no longer be used to make recommendations to you unless you watch it again.”

You can do the same on the mobile app by selecting My Profile and Viewing Activity. Select the X to the right of any title to remove it from the list.

This will clear your Recently Watched, Watch Again, and Continue Watching sections on the Netflix main page.

Clearing titles from your recently watched list also influences how Netflix shows you new titles to watch. It creates a profile of the things you like to watch and will refine the shows it displays to those it thinks you will like the most.

Reset your Netflix profile

If the viewing suggestions Netflix is presenting to you are too similar, this is because you have spent the last few weeks watching the same kind of stuff. If you feel like a change, you need to reset your viewing preferences so that Netflix no longer profiles you and shows you titles linked to your previous tastes.

This is also one of the first things one of a couple will do after a breakup. If you don’t want to be reminded of your previous partner every time you open Netflix, resetting your profile is one of the first things you do.

To reset your profile, you can clear individual entries from My Activity as above or reset everything. To reset your profile, scroll to the bottom of the My Activity page and select Hide All. You will have to confirm your choice, but once you do, Netflix will gradually wipe all of your history. It takes around 24 hours to do, but once complete, your Netflix selections will now be completely vanilla again, and you can start building your watching profile once more.

Clearing your Recently Watched titles on Netflix is like starting over. It’s a reset that stops the service from showing you all the things it thinks you want to watch and instead provides a much wider spectrum of titles. It’s sometimes refreshing to do and surprising at just how much you’re missing when Netflix thinks it knows better!

Frequently Asked Questions

Netflix offers a lot of great entertainment. If you still have questions, keep reading!

There are shows in my watch history that I didn’t watch. What’s happening?

Unfortunately, Netflix is only secure as your strongest password. If you see activity that doesn’t match the content you’ve watched, it’s likely someone else is using your account too. Activity that doesn’t belong to you is the first indicator that someone has logged into your account. The good news is (in most cases) there is an easy fix for this.

First, you’ll want to head over to your Account page as shown above and tap on the option to see streaming devices. This will give you the date, time, and approximate location of all logins. If you see something that does not match yours choose the option to Log Out of All Devices.

Next, change your password and verify that your email address is correct. This will ensure that the individual who is not supposed to be using your Netflix account can’t log back in.

Lastly, delete their viewing history as shown above. Although the viewing history isn’t, in itself, a security issue, it can mess with Netflix’s recommendations and algorithms. By removing this content, you can continue to receive recommended shows that match your interests.

Can I delete all of my viewing activity at one time?

Absolutely! If you want to get rid of your entire history, scroll to the bottom of the Activity page for each profile and tap on the option to Hide All. Your viewing history will immediately disappear.

Is there a way to know when the content was watched?

Netflix will give you the date that the content was accessed, but it will not give you a timestamp. Unfortunately, if you’re concerned your child is watching Netflix late at night or during school hours, there isn’t a way to know for sure. Your best bet to monitor someone’s Netflix activity is by using the device they’d stream on. If it’s an iOS or Android device, you can set up app limits.

Netflix’s parental controls only allow you to control the maturity rating but not the times that it can be accessed.