As a long-time YouTube TV user, I recently ran into a common problem: my library was getting overrun with old shows I no longer wanted to watch. I spent hours trying to figure out how to delete them, only to find out that YouTube TV doesn’t have an obvious way to do it. After doing some research, I was able to find a few methods that worked.
In this blog post, I’ll show you how to delete shows from your YouTube TV library. I’ll also share some tips and tricks I’ve found, as well as the pros and cons of each method. Hopefully, my experience and research can help you get rid of those old episodes cluttering up your library!
| Method | Steps | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delete Shows from YouTube TV Library | 1. Sign in to YouTube TV 2. Click “Library” 3. Scroll to “Recordings” 4. Find the program you want to delete 5. Click the vertical ellipsis and uncheck “Added to library” | Stops recording new episodes and reruns | Old episodes will still be in the library until expiry |
| Customize Your Live TV Guide | 1. Open YouTube TV 2. Click the profile icon 3. Select “Settings” 4. Navigate to “Live guide” 5. Uncheck channels you don’t want to see 6. Arrange channels in your preferred order | Allows you to easily find your preferred channels | Requires manual customization |
| Remove Recommended Shows on Home Screen | 1. Load YouTube TV 2. Find a recommended show you don’t want to see 3. Click the vertical ellipsis next to the program title 4. Select “Don’t show me this” | Improves recommendations on the home screen | May need to delete search and watch history for better results |
Table of Contents
How to Delete Shows from YouTube TV Library
YouTube TV doesn’t allow you to just save a standalone episode from a show. Once you save one, all future episodes and even reruns are automatically saved in the Cloud for nine months.
If you’ve lost interest in a certain program, you can easily delete it. Yet, all the episodes you’ve already watched will still be there until they expire.
Nevertheless, knowing the right way to delete shows from your library will stop all future and in-progress recordings.
Here’s a step-by-step guide for you to delete shows in your library. You can do this on your mobile app or through the desktop version.
- First, sign in to your YouTube TV account.
- Once on the main page, click on “Library” next to the “Home” button.
- Next, scroll down to the “Recordings” section.
- Then, all your recorded programs will now be displayed.
- Afterward, navigate to the program you want to delete.
- Click on the vertical ellipsis located next to the program title, which will prompt a list of options.
- From the list, uncheck the “Added to library” option to remove the program.
- If you’re on your mobile app, long-press on the program thumbnail.
- Wait for the checkmark icon to appear, then, tap on it.
- This will stop recording new episodes and retain old ones until expiry.
How to Customize Your Live TV Guide
While on the subject of organizing your library, it also helps to look into your Live TV Guide.
YouTube TV has over 85 channels in its lineup. By default, these channels appear on your Live TV in no discernable order.
Fortunately, an option for a customized TV guide is available. This will enable you to easily spot programs that are within your interests.
Here’s how you can do this:
- To start, open your YouTube TV account on your web browser or mobile app.
- Click or tap on the profile icon located at the upper right corner of the page.
- This will pop up a menu.
- From this, select “Settings.”
- Afterward, navigate to “Live guide.”
- This will give you a list of available channels, each with a check mark to their right.
- Next, uncheck channels that you don’t want to see on your Live TV.
- Then, the screen will flash that the channel has been removed from the custom view.
- If you have channel preferences, you can drag them up or down to the order you want.
- Clicking on the vertical ellipsis can also load options to move to the top, up, down, or the bottom.
- Next, open your Live guide and click on the three horizontal lines icon.
- Lastly, change the setting to custom instead of default.
- This will display your preferences and how many channels you’ve hidden.
How to Remove Recommended Shows on Your Home Screen
On your YouTube TV home page, you’ll see recommended channels and programs. These are DVR versions, which don’t have ads or on-demand content with unskippable commercials.
However, not all will be interesting to you and may hinder you from seeing other valuable shows.
Luckily, you can remove these programs so that you can navigate your account more easily.
Here’s a quick guide for you to filter recommendations:
- To begin, load your YouTube TV on your web browser or mobile app.
- You’ll be automatically directed to the home screen.
- Next, go through the shows to see what you don’t like in your recommendations.
- If you’ve found one, click or tap the vertical ellipsis next to the program title.
- From the list, select “Don’t show me this.”
If your home page recommendations still miss the mark after following these steps, try deleting your search and watch history.
Conclusion
YouTube TV allows you to stream live content. It also enables you to automatically save unlimited recordings in your library.
While this setup is beneficial, your YouTube TV library can contain lots of programs that can be hard on the eyes. To make it more organized, it helps to remove shows that you’re no longer interested in.
Follow our simple guide on how to delete shows from YouTube TV library and make your account more manageable!