YT re:Watch – Local YouTube History Across Accounts (Firefox Add-ons Listing Draft) Tired of losing your YouTube progress when switching accounts or watching logged out? YT re:Watch is a YouTube history extension that gives you account-independent, local-only history – ideal for multi-account users and anyone who prefers not to rely on Google’s built-in history. What YT re:Watch Does

Keeps your watch history and progress locally in your browser
Shows which videos you have already watched, with progress indicators
Works whether you are logged in, logged out, or switching between accounts
Provides analytics and search for your local YouTube history

Note: There is no automatic cloud sync. Use Export/Import to move history between browsers or devices manually.

Account Independence

Same local history across all YouTube accounts in the same Firefox profile
Works even if you are not logged in to YouTube
Smooth work/personal workflows without losing progress when switching accounts
Predictable behavior on shared machines: each Firefox profile has its own history

Visual Progress Tracking on YouTube

Configurable "viewed" label on thumbnails to show watched videos
Progress bars indicating how much of each video you have watched
Separate tracking for YouTube Shorts
Automatic resume: when possible, videos reopen near your last watched position

Local-Only YouTube History

Uses the browser’s extension storage and IndexedDB only
Does not send your history to external servers
Does not use or depend on YouTube’s own history feature
Lets you watch without filling YouTube’s history or affecting recommendations

Export and Import YT re:Watch uses a hybrid local storage architecture. Cross-device usage is intentionally manual, to keep your data under your control:

Export History
Download your complete history (videos, playlists, and stats snapshot) as a JSON file
Use as a backup or to analyze your viewing habits with external tools
Import History
Restore or merge history from a JSON export
Two modes:
- Merge: combine imported history with existing local data
- Replace: overwrite existing history with the imported file

Key Features

Account-independent history within a Firefox profile
Customizable overlays (text, color, and size) via the Settings tab
Automatic progress saving at regular intervals during playback
Smart search and pagination in the popup history view
Auto-clean options, including:
Fixed retention (for example, 30, 90, or 180 days)
A "forever" mode that disables age-based cleanup
Analytics tab with:
Total watch time
Completion rates (how often you finish videos)
Viewing patterns by day and hour
Top channels and longest unfinished videos

Privacy and Limitations What YT re:Watch protects:

Your YouTube viewing history and progress are stored locally in Firefox
Playback position and playlist information are kept in the browser, not on Google’s servers

What YT re:Watch does not protect against:

IP address tracking
Cookies and browser fingerprinting
YouTube’s recommendation algorithms or advertising systems
Any third-party trackers embedded on YouTube

For broader privacy, you should combine YT re:Watch with:

A privacy-focused browser profile and containerization
Content blockers and script blockers
Optional VPN and DNS filtering tools

YT re:Watch focuses specifically on local YouTube history and progress tracking; it is one component in a larger privacy setup. Who Benefits Most

Users with multiple YouTube accounts (work, personal, side projects) who want consistent progress within a Firefox profile
Privacy-conscious users who want YouTube history without giving that history to Google
Students and researchers who need reliable local tracking for long-form content
People who frequently watch long videos and want a clear, persistent view of what they have finished and what remains

Technical Notes

Browser: designed and tested for modern Firefox, with a compatible build for Chromium-based browsers
Storage:
Local overlay in browser.storage.local for recent and active data
IndexedDB archive for large histories (scales to very large numbers of videos)
Implementation:
Content scripts track video playback and send updates to a background worker
Popup reads from the hybrid storage layer to render Videos, Shorts, Playlists, and Analytics
Open source:
Source code and documentation are available on GitHub
Issues and feature requests are tracked publicly

Support and Documentation

User guide and FAQ: Included in the project documentation and linked from the extension popup
Bug reports and feature requests: Filed via GitHub Issues
Community: Optional chat channel for discussion and help

YT re:Watch is built for users who want reliable, account-independent YouTube history that stays on their machine, with clear trade-offs and transparent privacy boundaries.

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