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Script to remove all videos from Youtube Watch Later playlist

UPDATED 22.11.2022

It's been two years since the last update, so here's the updated working script as per the comments below.

Thanks to BryanHaley for this.

setInterval(function () {
    video = document.getElementsByTagName('ytd-playlist-video-renderer')[0];

    video.querySelector('#primary button[aria-label="Action menu"]').click();

    var things = document.evaluate(
        '//span[contains(text(),"Remove from")]',
        document,
        null,
        XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE,
        null
    );

    for (var i = 0; i < things.snapshotLength; i++) 
    {
        things.snapshotItem(i).click();
    }
}, 500);

Non-english users will need to change "Action menu" and "Remove from" to what YouTube uses for their localization.

@LisichkinVlad
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LisichkinVlad commented Feb 12, 2023

Russian version

setInterval(function () {
    video = document.getElementsByTagName('ytd-playlist-video-renderer')[0];

    video.querySelector('#primary button[aria-label="Меню действий"]').click();

    var things = document.evaluate(
        '//span[contains(text(),"Удалить из плейлиста")]',
        document,
        null,
        XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE,
        null
    );

    for (var i = 0; i < things.snapshotLength; i++)
    {
        things.snapshotItem(i).click();
    }
}, 500);

@niklas-a
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Swedish version:


setInterval(function () {
    video = document.getElementsByTagName('ytd-playlist-video-renderer')[0];

    video.querySelector('#primary button[aria-label="Åtgärdsmeny"]').click();

    var things = document.evaluate(
        '//span[contains(text(),"Ta bort från")]',
        document,
        null,
        XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE,
        null
    );

    for (var i = 0; i < things.snapshotLength; i++) 
    {
        things.snapshotItem(i).click();
    }
}, 500);

@colejd
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colejd commented Mar 2, 2023

YouTube appears to rate limit you after 200ish deletions in a short time - so while the deletions appear to work on the UI side, the videos aren't actually removed from the playlist. Absolutely infuriating.

Here's a modified version of the script that deletes 200 at a time, waiting 5 minutes between each batch to avoid doing any deletions that, uh, don't actually delete. With a 5000-video playlist, this should take 167ish minutes to run. Just put it on overnight or something.

function deleteVideoFromWatchLater() {
    video = document.getElementsByTagName('ytd-playlist-video-renderer')[0];
    video.querySelector('#primary button[aria-label="Action menu"]').click();
    var things = document.evaluate(
        '//span[contains(text(),"Remove from")]',
        document,
        null,
        XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE,
        null
    );
    for (var i = 0; i < things.snapshotLength; i++) {
        things.snapshotItem(i).click();
    }
}

async function deleteWatchLater() {
  // Fiddle with these if you'd like
  let batchSize = 200; // Number to delete at once before waiting
  let waitBetweenBatchesInMilliseconds = 1000 * 60 * 5; // 5 minutes
  let waitBetweenDeletionsInMilliseconds = 500; // Half a second

  let totalWaitTime = ((5000 / batchSize) * (waitBetweenBatchesInMilliseconds / 1000 / 60)) + (5000 * (waitBetweenDeletionsInMilliseconds / 1000 / 60))
  console.log(`Deletion will take around ${totalWaitTime.toFixed(0)} minutes to run if the playlist is full.`);

  let count = 0;
  while (true) {
    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, waitBetweenDeletionsInMilliseconds));
    deleteVideoFromWatchLater();
    count++;

    if (count % batchSize === 0 && count !== 0) {
      console.log('Waiting for 5 minutes...');
      await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(waitBetweenBatchesInMilliseconds));
    }
  }
}

deleteWatchLater();

The batch sizes and wait times are guesses, but they worked for me. You may need to run this more than once if any rate limiting happens - just reload the page and run the script again.

@papiforcex
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papiforcex commented Mar 25, 2023

There's the french version:

To launch it:

const watchLaterCleaner = setInterval(function () {
    video = document.getElementsByTagName('ytd-playlist-video-renderer')[0];

    video.querySelector('#primary button[aria-label="Menu d\'actions"]').click();

    var things = document.evaluate(
        '//span[contains(text(),"Supprimer de")]',
        document,
        null,
        XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE,
        null
    );

    for (var i = 0; i < things.snapshotLength; i++) 
    {
        things.snapshotItem(i).click();
    }
}, 500);

To stop it (if you want to):

clearInterval(watchLaterCleaner);

@nataliepjlin
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works well! thanks a lot

@drkbzx
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drkbzx commented Apr 12, 2023

It works like a charm! TIP: Disable display images on your browser settings, it runs smoother!

@HaBiX02
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HaBiX02 commented Apr 23, 2023

For Spanish from Spain users the code is:

setInterval(function () {
    video = document.getElementsByTagName('ytd-playlist-video-renderer')[0];

    video.querySelector('#primary button[aria-label="Menú de acciones"]').click();

    var things = document.evaluate(
        '//span[contains(text(),"Quitar de")]',
        document,
        null,
        XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE,
        null
    );

    for (var i = 0; i < things.snapshotLength; i++) 
    {
        things.snapshotItem(i).click();
    }
}, 500);

It is awesome to finally see my list in a manageable size, thank you!

@PETROUNKNOWN
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Nice

@Adham380
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Adham380 commented May 5, 2023

I made a version that allows one to remove only watched videos or all.
Simply change the <= 10 with your preferred progress bar (how much of the video you watched) threshold.

var counter = 0;
setInterval(function () {
    let video = document.getElementsByTagName('ytd-playlist-video-renderer')[counter];
    let progress = "0";
    console.log(video.querySelector('#video-title').innerText)
    if(video.querySelector('#progress') !== null && video.querySelector('#progress') !== undefined){
    progress = video.querySelector('#progress').style.getPropertyValue("width")
    console.log(progress)
    } else {
    console.log("not deleted");
    counter++;
    return;
    }
    video.querySelector('#primary button[aria-label="Action menu"]').click();
    
    var things = document.evaluate(
        '//span[contains(text(),"Remove from")]',
        document,
        null,
        XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE,
        null
    );

if(parseInt(progress.substring(0, progress.length -1)) >= 50){
    console.log("deleted")
    for (var i = 0; i < things.snapshotLength; i++) 
    {
        things.snapshotItem(i).click();
    }
    } else {
    console.log("not deleted")
    counter++;
    }
}, 800);



@AndersMoberg
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This thread was a good reference when I need similar functionality (many thanks!), so I implemented it into a web extension. But my code was a little bare, and private extensions doesn't seem to be a thing, so just recently I converted it into a Userscript.

https://gist.github.com/AndersMoberg/0a9f996a49d7b3a9e9c01065ce29abf4

If you have a Userscript manager, press the Raw button and you should get the dialogue for installing it.
It only works with Swedish interface for now, but feel free to request your language if you'd like I can put it in.

Again, many thanks for this Gist and comment section

@deleonjenmar0
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Still works, thanks!

@fluffeon
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fluffeon commented Jun 1, 2023

It's giving off a "Uncaught TypeError: video.querySelector(...) is null" error and not actually doing anything.

@hi-skittles
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hi-skittles commented Jun 5, 2023

YouTube appears to rate limit you after 200ish deletions in a short time - so while the deletions appear to work on the UI side, the videos aren't actually removed from the playlist. Absolutely infuriating.

Here's a modified version of the script that deletes 200 at a time, waiting 5 minutes between each batch to avoid doing any deletions that, uh, don't actually delete. With a 5000-video playlist, this should take 167ish minutes to run. Just put it on overnight or something.

function deleteVideoFromWatchLater() {
    video = document.getElementsByTagName('ytd-playlist-video-renderer')[0];
    video.querySelector('#primary button[aria-label="Action menu"]').click();
    var things = document.evaluate(
        '//span[contains(text(),"Remove from")]',
        document,
        null,
        XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE,
        null
    );
    for (var i = 0; i < things.snapshotLength; i++) {
        things.snapshotItem(i).click();
    }
}

async function deleteWatchLater() {
  // Fiddle with these if you'd like
  let batchSize = 200; // Number to delete at once before waiting
  let waitBetweenBatchesInMilliseconds = 1000 * 60 * 5; // 5 minutes
  let waitBetweenDeletionsInMilliseconds = 500; // Half a second

  let totalWaitTime = ((5000 / batchSize) * (waitBetweenBatchesInMilliseconds / 1000 / 60)) + (5000 * (waitBetweenDeletionsInMilliseconds / 1000 / 60))
  console.log(`Deletion will take around ${totalWaitTime.toFixed(0)} minutes to run if the playlist is full.`);

  let count = 0;
  while (true) {
    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, waitBetweenDeletionsInMilliseconds));
    deleteVideoFromWatchLater();
    count++;

    if (count % batchSize === 0 && count !== 0) {
      console.log('Waiting for 5 minutes...');
      await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(waitBetweenBatchesInMilliseconds));
    }
  }
}

deleteWatchLater();

The batch sizes and wait times are guesses, but they worked for me. You may need to run this more than once if any rate limiting happens - just reload the page and run the script again.

the promise is rejected returning a completed state. see below:

message: "Cannot read properties of null (reading 'click')"
stack: "TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'click')\n

@ArthurYdalgo
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ArthurYdalgo commented Jun 10, 2023

Not sure how good this is, but worked for me. Since there's no language dependent querySelector, should work for most people (I hope...)
Caveat: It might take a while, but just leave it doing it's thing

It works on this url: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=WL

There were over 2000+ videos on my watch later. I tried removing the ones I had already watched using the Youtube's built in feature, but the request would eventually throw me a 502 after a minute or so of waiting.

function sleep(ms) {
    return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
}

async function deleteFirstVideo(){   
    let menu = document.querySelectorAll("yt-icon-button[class='dropdown-trigger style-scope ytd-menu-renderer']")[1]; 
    menu.click(); 

    // Tiny delay to give the menu time to render
    await sleep(300); 
    let menuItems = document.querySelector("tp-yt-paper-listbox[class='style-scope ytd-menu-popup-renderer']").children;
    
    // In case of unavailable videos, there's only the remove button
    let button = menuItems[2] ?? menuItems[0]; 
    button.click();  
}

// Just check how much you have in the playlist
let videos_count = 2000;
for (i=0; i < videos_count ; i++){ 
    deleteFirstVideo(); 
    // 1500ms would get me 429 response after a couple of requests
    await sleep(1750);
}

@js6pak
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js6pak commented Jun 15, 2023

Made my own userscript which doesn't rely on the language and allows you to delete with progress threshold: https://gist.github.com/js6pak/33bdefdefac09c387f55d08c5b9526fa

@jackcarey
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Made my own userscript which doesn't rely on the language and allows you to delete with progress threshold: https://gist.github.com/js6pak/33bdefdefac09c387f55d08c5b9526fa

I modified this to also remove videos published over X days old, and those that are private or deleted. This currently relies on the language though (English). It could be updated to look for 'no_thumbnail' in the thumbnail source though

@mpr1255
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mpr1255 commented Aug 3, 2023

This one saves them all out to a json blog FWIW

var videos = document.querySelectorAll('.yt-simple-endpoint.style-scope.ytd-playlist-video-renderer');
var json = [];

videos.forEach(function(video) {
    var url = video.getAttribute('title') + "   " + 'https://www.youtube.com' + video.getAttribute('href') ;
    url = url.split('&list=WL&index=');
    json.push(url[0]);
});

// Create blob and object URL
var blob = new Blob([JSON.stringify(json, null, 2)], {type : 'application/json'});
var link = document.createElement('a');
link.href = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
link.download = 'videos.json';

// Append to the document for Firefox compatibility
document.body.appendChild(link);

// Programmatically click the link
link.click();

// Clean up after ourselves
document.body.removeChild(link);

@rip747
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rip747 commented Aug 26, 2023

Works perfectly!!!! Thank you so much!!!

@JaiganeshKumaran
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JaiganeshKumaran commented Nov 13, 2023

It worked for some time but then started saying 'this operation cannot be performed'. Not only can I delete stuff now but I cannot even add stuff. Google really wants you to not clear watch later to keep you addicted.

@iacopocarlini
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Suited for Italian users

setInterval(function () {
    video = document.getElementsByTagName('ytd-playlist-video-renderer')[0];

    video.querySelector('#primary button[aria-label="Menu Azione"]').click();

    var things = document.evaluate(
        '//span[contains(text(),"Rimuovi da")]',
        document,
        null,
        XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE,
        null
    );

    for (var i = 0; i < things.snapshotLength; i++) 
    {
        things.snapshotItem(i).click();
    }
}, 500);

@ArthurYdalgo
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It worked for some time but then started saying 'this operation cannot be performed'. Not only can I delete stuff now but I cannot even add stuff. Google really wants you to not clear watch later to keep you addicted.

depending on how long you take between one request and the other, you might get a 429 http error (too many requests in a short time period). try spacing them a little bit. my sweet spot (from a test in june 9th, 2023) was 1750ms between requests. fast enough, but not enough to get blocked by their api

@Cero-Pointer
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Updated for german users:

setInterval(function () {
    video = document.getElementsByTagName('ytd-playlist-video-renderer')[0];

    video.querySelector('#primary button[aria-label="Aktionsmenü"]').click();

    var things = document.evaluate(
        '//span[contains(text(),"entfernen")]',
        document,
        null,
        XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE,
        null
    );

    for (var i = 0; i < things.snapshotLength; i++) 
    {
        things.snapshotItem(i).click();
    }
}, 500);

@LosAlamosAl
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Sadly, as of 1/8/2024, none of these (English versions) work. Various errors (POST errors at YouTube, "Something went wrong", "This functionality currently not available; please try again later"). A common theme is that they work for a while (maybe 100 or so videos) then they die.

If you get stuck with continuously running Javascript as I did:

  • in the JavaScrip console window type debugger; throw 1
  • then from the Chrome "Window" menu --> "Task Manager"; find the Watch Later tab and kill it.

FYI, I'm running Chrome version 120.0.6099.71 (Official Build) (arm64) on MacOS 14.2

@jzisser9
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jzisser9 commented Jan 9, 2024

@LosAlamosAl if I had to guess, it's YouTube rate-limiting at work. Especially if it's a nice round number like 100.

@LosAlamosAl
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@jzisser9 Almost certainly, since it's about the same number (+- 10) with the user script by @js6pak. I cranked it down to about 5 seconds per deletion--same results.

@x94fujo6rpg
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x94fujo6rpg commented Feb 15, 2024

They somehow managed to break this thing again.
They seemed rolling back years of everything you'd already watched and then shoved it all back in.
My home is full of videos from the WL list like 80% of them.
Even after using the [remove watched] there are still over 1000 videos in the list.
And still tons of videos that I'm pretty sure I've already watched.

(async function fkYoutubeWatchLater() {
	let list = document.querySelectorAll("#contents.ytd-playlist-video-list-renderer>ytd-playlist-video-renderer");

	if (list.length > 0) {
		for (let item of list) {
			let target,
				target_index = 3,
				title;

			item.querySelector("#button").click();
			await sleep(500);

			target = document.querySelector("tp-yt-paper-listbox#items.style-scope.ytd-menu-popup-renderer");
			if (!target) {
				continue;
			}

			title = item.querySelector("#meta #video-title").textContent.trim();
			console.log(`removing video: ${title}`);
			target = target.childNodes[target_index];
			target.click();

			await sleep(1750);
		}

		setTimeout(() => fkYoutubeWatchLater(), 5000);
	} else {
		return;
	}

	function sleep(ms = 500) {
		return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
	}
})();

@x94fujo6rpg
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x94fujo6rpg commented Feb 15, 2024

Sadly, as of 1/8/2024, none of these (English versions) work. Various errors (POST errors at YouTube, "Something went wrong", "This functionality currently not available; please try again later"). A common theme is that they work for a while (maybe 100 or so videos) then they die.

If you get stuck with continuously running Javascript as I did:

  • in the JavaScrip console window type debugger; throw 1
  • then from the Chrome "Window" menu --> "Task Manager"; find the Watch Later tab and kill it.

FYI, I'm running Chrome version 120.0.6099.71 (Official Build) (arm64) on MacOS 14.2

I think the issue is you have to scroll down to load more video.
And it will stop loading after a while somehow. (like they know what you're doing)

My script started randomly stopping at around 100 after successfully delete 700+ videos in one go.

@AttiliaTheHun
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Not sure if somebody mentioned it already, but you can click on your profile icon and select "Change language" (select English) and then there is no need for localized versions of the script. Next time you open youtube you simply change the language back, if it doesn't happen automatically.

@mpr1255
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mpr1255 commented Feb 15, 2024 via email

@derharry
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derharry commented Mar 11, 2024

Thanks for the script :-) I set the seconds down to 200ms - that speeded it up for me.
I was looking for hours for the button to remove everything at once, but it seems that Google removed it.

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