Figuring out exactly when you subscribed to a specific YouTube channel isn’t straightforward because the platform doesn’t show subscription dates directly. Sure, you can see your current list, but snagging the date you hit that subscribe button often feels like losing at a treasure hunt. Luckily, there are a couple of workarounds — though some are a little… hacky — that let you peek into your subscription history and give you a better idea of your channel activity over time. If tracking that date matters at all — maybe for a throwback or just curious — following these steps might save a ton of guesswork. Just be ready for some slightly clunky navigation or third-party sites that aren’t 100% official but do the job.
How to Find Out When You Subscribed to YouTube Channels
Using Google My Activity Data
This is probably the most legit way. Google keeps tabs on a lot of your online life, including your YouTube history and subscriptions, so accessing your activity should give you the info you’re after. The reason it works — it logs the date and time you subscribed to each channel, which is exactly what you want. Plus, it’s safe because it’s all on Google’s own servers.
Head over to the My Google Activity page on your desktop or mobile browser. Sign in with your Google account that’s linked to your YouTube. Once you’re in, look on the right side for the Other Activity section. Scroll down until you see YouTube channel subscriptions. Click on View Subscriptions.
Now, here’s the weird part — you’ll get a list of all the channels you’ve ever subscribed to, along with the exact date and time when that subscription was made. It’s not perfect across all devices, but surprisingly, this info is pretty consistent whether you’re on desktop or mobile.
On some setups, it might take fiddling around or a quick refresh, but generally, this works. The only snag? If you’ve cleaned your activity or cleared your data recently, your subscription history might be spotty or incomplete.
Third-Party Sites Can Help, But Be Careful
Okay, so if the Google My Activity route doesn’t show everything, and you wanna go the extra mile, some websites claim to pull your subscription history. One such site is xxluke.de. Basically, you need to enter your YouTube channel URL, and it supposedly returns a list of subscriptions with dates. Sounds cool, but honestly, a lot of these sites can be sketchy, and some might be filled with ads or malware. Use them at your own risk — don’t give out your login info or anything sensitive.
To use it, go to your YouTube channel, copy the URL, and paste it into the site. Then hit continue or submit, and you should see a list of channels with dates. When done, don’t forget to re-enable your privacy setting (Keep all my subscriptions private).Because of course, privacy toggles exist for a reason, and you don’t want to accidentally broadcast all your subscriptions.
How to Check and Manage Your Subscriptions
Sometimes, knowing when you subscribed isn’t enough, especially if your channel list has gotten unruly. Managing subscriptions is pretty straightforward, whether you’re on desktop or mobile, and it can help clean up your feed.
On the Web
- Go to YouTube.com.
- Open the Subscriptions tab on the left menu.
- Click on Manage — it usually appears as a button right above your subscription list.
From here, you can unsubscribe from any channels you no longer care about with just a click of the Subscribe button — which toggles between subscribing and unsubscribing. Sometimes, on certain browsers, refreshing the page or clearing cache helps if these buttons misbehave.
On Mobile Devices
The process is similar on Android and iOS.
- Open the YouTube app.
- Tap on Subscriptions > All.
- Tap on Manage — usually a small link or icon at the top or bottom of the subscriptions list.
To unsubscribe, long-press on a channel name until a menu pops up, then tap Unsubscribe. It’s kinda clunky, but it gets the job done. No, you can’t mass-unsubscribe unless you’ve installed some third-party tools, which are generally not recommended due to security risks.
Honest, it’s not always perfect — sometimes third-party apps claim to fix this, but they’re often full of ads or, worse, malware. Stick to YouTube’s official paths whenever possible, especially if you value privacy and security.