By Tracey Dowdy

 If you’ve ever gotten lost down the rabbit hole of YouTube videos – honestly, who hasn’t? – then you know how random YouTube’s “Recommended Videos” suggestions can be. The good news is, the YouTube gods have heard of cries for relief and has recently implemented tools so you can get rid of that suggestion for Inuit Throat Singing or a dog imitating an emergency siren.

In a blog post, Essam El-Dardiry, Product Manager at YouTube, outlined the steps users can take to customize and streamline video suggestions. So far, you can only customize from the YouTube app on your Android or iPhone, but desktop instructions are slated to be announced soon.

The three changes announced allow users to:

• Explore topics and related videos on your Homepage and in Up Next videos
• Remove suggestions from channels you don’t want to watch
• Learn more about why a video may be suggested to you

To stop seeing unwanted video suggestions, users have two choices. First, you can tell YouTube not to recommend a specific channel. From within the YouTube app’s home page on your phone, tap the three dots next to the video, you don’t want to see. Next, select Don’t recommend channel.

A box will appear that says, “We won’t recommend videos from this channel to you again.” At this point, you can select More Info or Undo. If you choose More Info, the app redirects you to a Google Support page that explains how you can manage your recommendations and search results.

The other option is to tell YouTube you’re not interested in watching a particular video. Again, from within the YouTube app’s home page on your phone, tap the three dots beside the video you don’t want to see, then choose Not Interested. A box will appear that says Undo or Tell us why. If you choose Tell us why you’ll be prompted to select either I’ve already watched the video or I don’t like the video.

To further customize, you’ll need to continue doing this for channels you don’t like. It takes a fair amount of work, but eventually, your feed will filter out the content you don’t want to see and replace it with what you like.

 Tracey Dowdy is a freelance writer based just outside Washington DC. After years working for non-profits and charities, she now freelances, edits and researches on subjects ranging from family and education to history and trends in technology. Follow Tracey on Twitter.