Straight answer: No, other users cannot see a list of the videos you have watched on X. There is no public "watch history" feature attached to your profile. The real privacy exposure sits elsewhere: in your own data archive, in your engagement (likes, replies, retweets), and in the ad data X and third party trackers build around your account.
What X tracks when you watch a video
X logs video views the same way every social platform does: for analytics and advertising, not for gossip. When you watch a video, X records the view against the account that posted it, feeding counts like total views, average watch time, and completion rate into that creator's analytics tab. None of that data is tied to your public profile for anyone else to browse.
Say you run a small online shop account and post a 40 second product demo. Within a week it gets 9,400 views. Your analytics tab shows an average watch time of around 7 seconds and a 3 percent full-completion rate. What you will never see is a list of usernames who watched it, because X does not build that list for creators, advertisers, or anyone else on the platform.
Where the real privacy exposure sits
The uncomfortable part people skip over: even though no human on X can see your video watch history, X itself and the advertisers it works with can use it. Watch time, repeated views, and the type of content you linger on feed the ad targeting profile attached to your account. That profile does not stay inside X either, it gets connected to ad networks across other apps and websites through shared tracking IDs. So the question "can my ex see what I watched" is the wrong worry. The bigger exposure is commercial, not social, and it is far harder to switch off than a privacy setting.
If you want the fuller picture of what gets stored and for how long, I went through it in detail in whether Twitter keeps a watch history, including what shows up when you request your own data.
How to check what X has on you
You can pull your own record directly, and it takes one specific step most people never bother with:
- Go to Settings and privacy, then Your account, then Download an archive of your data
- Confirm your password and request the archive
- Wait up to 24 hours for X to prepare it (this is their stated window, not instant)
- Inside the download, look for files labelled ad-engagements or video-engagement
- These files show timestamps of videos you viewed and how long you watched, which tends to surprise people because it is more granular than they expect
That data is for your eyes only, unless someone else has access to your logged-in device or your password. That is the genuine risk: not a stranger browsing your watch history on X, but a partner, ex, or colleague who has physical access to your phone or your email where that data archive link lands.
What is public on X
This is where people get caught out, and it has nothing to do with watching. Liking a video, retweeting it, quoting it, or replying to it is fully public and shows up on your profile and in your followers' feeds. Bookmarking a video is private, nobody sees that. Watching without engaging leaves no visible trace to other users at all. So if you want to watch a video without anyone knowing, just do not tap like, reply, or retweet, and you are fine.
Creators checking their own numbers get a bit more detail if they pay for X Premium, since the paid tier opens up deeper analytics on their own posts. I broke down what that subscription changes for a business account in this piece on the Premium subscription, and even there, the extra detail is aggregate numbers, not a named list of viewers.
The myth that keeps circulating
A lot of the confusion around watch history comes from the same family of myths as "does X notify someone when you save their picture." It does not, and I covered exactly why in this breakdown of saved image notifications. The pattern is the same every time: people assume the platform surfaces passive actions like viewing or saving because it would feel fair if it did, but X was never built to notify on passive behaviour. It notifies on active, public engagement only.
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What to check in your settings
If watch history worries you, the setting worth reviewing is not a "watch history" toggle, because X does not offer one. Instead check Settings and privacy, then Privacy and safety, then Ads preferences, and look at the data-based ad interests X has built from your activity. You can remove interests there and turn off personalised ads based on your activity on other websites and apps. That will not delete your view data outright, but it stops some of it feeding your ad profile going forward.
For the wider list of settings worth knowing on X, including the ones that quietly change after a rebrand or an app update, my guide to X features and fixes walks through the full set.
Why this confusion keeps coming up
Part of the reason people keep asking this question is that X has rebranded and shuffled its privacy menus several times since the Twitter to X switch, and settings that used to sit under one label now sit under another. If you are still deciding whether the rename itself matters for how you manage an account, I wrote about that shift in switching your handle to X, which touches on how much changed under the hood versus just the name.
Frequently asked questions
Can someone see if I watched their video on X?
No. X does not show the person who posted a video a list of who watched it, only aggregate numbers like total views and average watch time.
Does liking a video on X show up to others?
Yes. Liking, retweeting, quoting, or replying to a video is public and can appear on your profile and in your followers' feeds, unlike simply watching it.
How do I see my own watch history on X?
Request your data archive under Settings and privacy, then Your account, then Download an archive of your data. It takes up to 24 hours and includes files showing videos you have viewed.
Can X use my video watching to show me ads?
Yes, this is the main real use of that data. X builds an ad interest profile from what you watch, which you can review and partly turn off under Ads preferences in your privacy settings.
