Manual URL to search my YouTube 'Watch History' isn't working

Question

I'm trying to create a YouTube search URL manually, but it isn't working.

For example, YouTube uses the following URL format to search my 'Watch history, but it doesn't work properly for me:

https://www.youtube.com/feed/history?query=search_text_here

I want to solve this problem so I can create a custom search engine in Chrome that enables me to search my YouTube 'Watch history' in one step without the need to navigate to the page first.

Steps to generate 'Search Watch history' URL

1. If I navigate to my 'Watch history' the URL in the address bar is:

   https://www.youtube.com/feed/history

2. I type one or more search terms in the 'Search watch history' field, "data" in this example, and perform the search using Enter or by clicking the magnifying glass 

3. YouTube displays the search results and the URL is now:

   https://www.youtube.com/feed/history?query=data

   
    

4. If I try to use that same URL, pasting it into another tab, it doesn't work and instead loads the 'Watch history' page without performing the search, and the URL is reset to

   https://www.youtube.com/feed/history
   

   

Answer 1

As of Jun 29, 2024 the URL for YouTube History Search is https://myactivity.google.com/product/youtube?q=your_query

I did not invest time in researching the official announcements on YouTube, just a basic googling. The top result for me of querying youtube search history url was View or delete your YouTube search history as the top result. Your mileage might vary.

Considering this, it seems plausible that the URL you referred to, https://www.youtube.com/feed/history, is a "legacy" URL.

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Notes:

You might use the web browser developers' tools to analyze how web browser (client) and YouTube server communication works. You should look for the type and parameters of HTTP request, i.e., YouTube be using a non-standard GET request by including data on the request options or instead of a single request there might be some orchestration to handle multiple requests.

Answer 2

The URL that YouTube generates when you search your Watch history is not a functional link.

I don't know why it is generated except perhaps it is provided as a visual cue that it performed a search for the listed keywords.

Refreshing the page following your search using F5 or by clicking Enter while in the address bar will clear the current search and revert the URL to

https://www.youtube.com/feed/history

It is necessary to use the search button to trigger a search. It can't be triggered from the URL that YouTube generates from a search.

Pending finding a way to generate YouTube Watch history searches from the address bar, if you want to search the YouTube myactivity data as Rubén suggested, you could try the following syntax to restrict it to Watched videos:

https://myactivity.google.com/product/youtube?query=search&restrict=youtube.com%2Fwatch%3F&q=%s

Your mileage will vary but it seems to support some modifiers and grouping, such as:

• red blue // red and blue
• red OR blue
• red|blue // OR alternate version
• "red blue" // Red next to blue

It is a dog (slooooooooow), especially if there are few or no results. Probably best to save a shortcut to https://www.youtube.com/feed/history and simply use YouTube's search interface.