YouTube launches year-end recap feature in India for the first time: What is it and how it works

As 2025 comes to a close, YouTube is jumping on the wave of year-end nostalgia with the launch of its first-ever YouTube Recap, a personalized highlight reel that captures your top viewing habits, interests, and quirks from the past year. Think of it as Spotify Wrapped, but with late-night rabbit holes, cooking tutorials, and comedy sketches to keep you busy instead of sleeping. The new feature officially launched in North America on December 2 and is now rolling out to users in India and other regions.

While YouTube Music fans have enjoyed a similar “recap” experience for the past few years, this is the first time that the main YouTube platform is offering users personalized year-by-year reviews for the videos they watch. “YouTube Recap uniquely highlights the interests, insights and moments you discovered this year, based on your viewing history,” the company said in a statement. The company said in a statement that the idea went through nine rounds of testing and more than 50 concept iterations before it was finalized.

How to access your YouTube recap

Getting your personalized recap is simple. All you need to do is open YouTube on your Android, iPhone or desktop browser and sign in to your account. Once on the homepage, go to the ‘You’ tab, where you will find a banner that reads ‘Your recap is here.’ If it doesn’t appear automatically, you can access it directly by going to youtube.com/Recap.

Each user’s recap comes with over a dozen interactive cards that display their top channels, most-watched genres, and even a visual timeline of how their viewing habits evolved over the course of the year. For example, you may discover that your true 2025 personality was shaped by DIY projects, cricket highlights, or endless stand-up clips.

But YouTube isn’t stopping at stats and graphs. The company is also adding an entertaining twist, giving each user a “watch personality” based on the content they consume. Some people may find themselves labeled The Sunshiner (always positive and upbeat), while others may be The Wonder Seeker (constantly diving into new interests) or The Connector (watching videos that bring people together). The rarest categories include The Philosopher and The Dreamer, for those who spent the year in a more contemplative corner of YouTube.

A look at your YouTube identity

The recap isn’t just about bragging rights or funny labels, it’s a window into how YouTube has shaped digital culture this year. For users who regularly stream music on YouTube, the feature will also include the Top Artists and Songs of 2025, pulling data from both YouTube and YouTube Music to create a more integrated picture of their watching and listening habits.

Along with personalized summaries, YouTube is publishing comprehensive trend charts highlighting the year’s most popular creators, podcasts and songs, offering a snapshot of what will define 2025 on the world’s largest video platform. These charts are expected to drive major engagement between creators and fans, as users compare their personal recaps to the platform’s global trends.

YouTube’s push toward storytelling at the end of the year mirrors the success of Spotify’s Wrapped and TikTok’s “Year on TikTok.” By turning watch history into a fun, shareable experience, the company hopes to deepen its bond with users who already spend billions of hours on the platform every day.

For YouTube, the move is a strategic move toward making the main app more personal. Reflecting not only what people watch but why they watch it, the new recap could make scrolling through YouTube feel a little less passive, and more like looking into a digital mirror of your year.

As the feature rolled out worldwide this week, users in India can expect to see their recaps any day now. So whether you’ve spent 2025 mastering recipes, poring over gadget reviews, or learning random trivia at 2 a.m., YouTube is ready to remind you how you spent your year, one video at a time.