Updated July 2025 – Learn how to download your entire YouTube archive including watch history, comments, playlists, likes, channel data and more.
Whether you’re a casual viewer or a content creator, your YouTube account stores a huge amount of personal data — from your viewing habits and likes to your comments and channel activity. Downloading this data can help you back up your digital history, review your content usage, or prepare for closing your Google account.
In this article, we’ll show you how to request and download your full YouTube archive using Google Takeout — safely, quickly, and in the right format.
✅ Why Download Your YouTube Data?
Backing up your YouTube data is useful if you:
- 🎞️ Want a copy of your videos and playlists
- 💬 Want to review or archive your comments
- 👀 Are curious about your watch history
- 🛑 Plan to deactivate your Google or YouTube account
- 🔍 Need access to historical video or engagement metrics
- 📥 Simply want to keep a digital footprint offline
Luckily, Google offers a complete export tool: Google Takeout.
📋 Step-by-Step: How to Download Your YouTube Archive via Google Takeout
1. Visit Google Takeout
🔘 Open the YouTube Export Tool →
Log into the Google account connected to your YouTube profile.
2. Select Only YouTube Data
Google Takeout supports dozens of services. Uncheck all — then scroll to:
- ✅ YouTube and YouTube Music → Check this only
3. Customize the Export
Click the dropdown to select:
- What to include (watch history, comments, likes, playlists, etc.)
- File format:
.zip - File size: Choose 2GB, 4GB or larger (for big channels)
4. Click “Next Step”
Choose how you want to receive the archive:
- ✅ Email download link (most common)
- Or send to Google Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive
5. Click “Create Export”
Google now begins building your YouTube archive.
📩 It may take minutes or several hours depending on file size.
6. Download the ZIP File
You’ll receive an email notification. Click the link and download the full archive to your device.
📦 What’s Included in Your YouTube Archive?
Your archive may contain:
| Data Type | Included |
|---|---|
| Watch history | Every video you’ve ever watched |
| Comments | All your public comments and replies |
| Likes/dislikes | Liked videos and rating activity |
| Playlists | Saved and created playlists |
| Subscriptions | Channels you subscribed to |
| Search history | Terms you’ve searched on YouTube |
| Channel data | If you’re a creator: video metadata, thumbnails, performance metrics |
| Uploads | May include raw files (if you uploaded directly) |
| YouTube Music | Liked songs, music preferences (if used) |
📌 All data is sorted into folders and provided as .json, .csv or .html files — plus media (if selected).
🔧 Tools to Open & Store Your Archive
To manage and secure your downloaded data, we recommend:
✅ WinZip
Extract the ZIP file and explore your files quickly and safely.
✅ pCloud
10 GB free encrypted cloud storage to store and manage your YouTube archive online.
✅ [Excel / Google Sheets]
Open and filter your history, comments, or playlists in
.csvformat.
🔐 Is Your YouTube Archive Safe?
Yes – if you store it responsibly:
- Only download from takeout.google.com
- Store the ZIP file in secure cloud storage like pCloud
- Don’t share your archive (contains sensitive info)
- Delete local copies if stored on shared computers
🧠 Final Tips
- Choose
.zipand split files into 2–4 GB if your archive is large - Don’t download the full Google archive — just select YouTube
- Consider regular exports if you’re an active creator
- If deleting your account, always export first
📌 Summary
Your YouTube data is rich, personal, and valuable — especially if you’ve been using the platform for years. With just a few clicks, you can export everything that matters and store it safely for the future.
🔘 Download Your YouTube Archive Now →
🔐 Extract with WinZip | Store with pCloud