You ever post something on a video three years ago and suddenly wonder if you sounded like a total idiot? Or maybe you're trying to find a specific link you shared in a thread, but the video has ten thousand comments and scrolling is a nightmare. It happens. We all leave digital footprints. But finding them? That's usually where the frustration starts because Google loves to hide the "My Activity" section behind five different menus.
If you’re trying to figure out how to see my comments on youtube, you aren't alone. It’s actually one of the most buried features in the entire Google ecosystem. Honestly, it feels like they don’t want you to find them sometimes. Whether you're on a desktop or squinting at your phone, the path is different, and the interface changes more often than most people realize.
The Desktop Method: The Most Reliable Way
Most people assume you just go to your profile picture and click "Your Channel." Logic dictates your comments would be there, right? Wrong. Your channel page is for content you create, not your interactions. To actually see what you've said, you have to dive into the History tab.
Look at the left-hand sidebar on the YouTube homepage. You’ll see "History" tucked between "Watch Later" and your playlists. Click that. On the right side of the screen (or the bottom if your window is small), a column appears titled "Manage all history." Under that, there is a specific link for "Comments."
This takes you out of the main YouTube UI and into the Google My Activity hub. It’s a bit jarring. One second you're in dark mode watching a recipe, the next you're in a white-and-blue Google settings page. This is the master list. It’s chronological. It shows the video title, the date you commented, and the exact text you wrote. You can even see if you replied to someone or if it was a top-level comment. If you want to delete something, there’s a little "X" right there. Clicking the link of the video will take you back to the thread, though sometimes YouTube struggles to "jump" you exactly to your comment if the thread is massive.
Mobile Users Have It Harder
On the mobile app, things are... cluttered. You’d think the "You" tab at the bottom would be the gold mine. It's not.
To see your comments on the iPhone or Android app, tap your profile icon (the "You" tab). Then, hit the gear icon in the top right for Settings. From there, you have to find Manage all history. This usually opens an in-app browser window that loads your Google Account activity. Just like the desktop version, you have to tap the "Interactions" tab at the top.
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Under "Video Interactions," you'll see "Comments & replies." Tap that.
It feels like a lot of steps. It is. But this is the only way to get a centralized list. If you try to just go back to the video where you think you commented, you'll be scrolling for an hour. YouTube's algorithm prioritizes "Top Comments," not "Your Comments," so unless your post got a thousand likes, it's buried under the "Newest First" filter which is a pain to navigate.
Why Can’t I Find My Comment?
Sometimes you follow these steps and the comment just... isn't there. There are a few reasons for this.
First, the creator might have held your comment for review. YouTube has an automated "Likely Spam" filter that catches things with links or certain keywords. If the creator hasn't approved it, it won't show up in your public history yet.
Second, if you've recently changed your primary Google account or are using a "Brand Account," your history might be split. Brand accounts are weird. They act like separate personas under one email. If you commented while logged into your Brand Account, you won't see those comments if you're currently viewing your personal profile history. You have to switch profiles first, then go through the settings dance again.
Third, shadowbanning is a real, albeit often misunderstood, thing. YouTube doesn't usually "ban" you from the site without telling you, but they do have a "ghosting" mechanism. If the system flags you as a bot or if you've been reporting-bombed, your comments might only be visible to you and no one else. However, in the "My Activity" log, they should still appear. If they aren't in the log, they were likely deleted by the system or the channel owner.
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Managing the Chaos
Once you're in that "Comments" section of Google My Activity, it’s actually a pretty powerful tool. You can search by date. If you remember you went on a rant about a specific movie back in 2022, you can jump to that year.
It’s also the fastest way to scrub your history. If you're applying for a job and realize your teenage self left some questionable remarks on gaming videos ten years ago, you can bulk delete them here. Well, not exactly "bulk"—Google makes you confirm a lot—but it's faster than visiting every individual video.
Steps to Clean Up Your History:
- Open the Google My Activity page.
- Filter by "YouTube."
- Select "Comments."
- Use the "X" button to remove entries.
- Wait about 24 hours for the cache to update across the site.
The Limitation of Live Chat
It is vital to distinguish between regular comments and Live Chat. If you were typing away during a livestream, those comments do not always show up in the same "Comments" tab. There is a separate section for "Live Chat Activity."
In the same "Interactions" menu where you found your comments, look slightly further down. You’ll see "Live Chat Activity." This is where your messages from premieres or live broadcasts live. These are much harder to edit or delete once the stream is over and archived as a VOD (Video on Demand). Often, you can see them, but if the creator has disabled chat replay, your history there might be a dead end.
Dealing with Deleted Videos
What happens if you commented on a video that has since been deleted or set to private?
This is where it gets frustrating. In your "My Activity" log, you might see a entry that says "Commented on a video," but the title is missing or says "[Deleted video]." You can still see what you wrote, but you can't click through to see the context. It’s like a digital ghost. You can still delete the record of the comment from your history, which is good for privacy, but the context is gone forever unless you use something like the Wayback Machine, which rarely captures individual comment threads deep in the pagination.
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Privacy and Public Visibility
Remember that your YouTube comments are public by default. Anyone who clicks on your profile can't necessarily see a list of every comment you've ever made—YouTube removed the public "Activity Feed" from profiles years ago—but if they find one of your comments, they can see your name and profile picture.
If you are worried about your privacy, seeing your comments on YouTube is the first step toward a "digital reset." Some people prefer to use a pseudonym or a Brand Account specifically to keep their real name away from their comment history.
Actionable Next Steps
If you want to take control of your YouTube presence today, don't just read about it. Actually go through the process.
Start by opening your browser and heading to myactivity.google.com. Log in and bypass the YouTube app's confusing UI entirely. Click on "Other activity" in the left-hand menu. Scroll down until you see "YouTube comments" and click "View Comments."
Take ten minutes to scroll back a year or two. You’ll probably find things you forgot you said. Delete the ones that no longer represent who you are. If you see a lot of "Deleted video" entries, clear them out to keep your data footprint small. Finally, check your "Live Chat" history to ensure you haven't left any personal info in a public stream. Doing this once every few months keeps your account clean and ensures that your "digital self" is actually someone you're okay with the world seeing.