YouTube has officially rolled out its first-ever comprehensive Recap feature, offering users a deep dive into their viewing habits over the past year. The platform, owned by Google, announced the launch on Tuesday, 4 December 2025, marking a significant expansion of its previous year-end summaries.
What is the New YouTube Recap?
For the past three years, YouTube has provided a music and gaming recap similar to Spotify's popular Wrapped feature. However, the 2025 version is a complete overhaul, moving beyond just music to analyse a user's entire watch history. The new Recap generates up to 12 unique cards that spotlight top channels, evolving interests, and even categorises viewers into one of at least 11 distinct personality types.
"YouTube Recap uniquely highlights interests, deep dives, and moments you explored this year, based on your watch history," the company stated. The feature aims to show users not just what they watched, but the patterns and personalities behind their viewing.
How to Access Your Personalised Recap
Finding your Recap is straightforward, but there are eligibility requirements. You must be signed into your YouTube account on the app or website. Navigate to the "You" tab, where a banner stating "Your Recap is here" should appear just below your profile details. If the banner is missing, you can try accessing it directly via a browser at youtube.com/Recap.
The feature is currently available for North American users, with a global rollout scheduled for the rest of the world this week. It's important to note that accounts for children under 13, supervised accounts, and accounts with paused watch history or auto-delete settings enabled will not be eligible for a Recap.
Personality Types and Year-End Lists
The core of the new Recap is its personality categorisation. Based on your viewing habits, you could be labelled as anything from a 'Skill Builder' to a 'Sunshiner'. YouTube revealed that the most common personalities in 2025 were the Sunshiner, the Wonder Seeker, and the Connector, while the Philosopher and the Dreamer were more rare.
Alongside the personalised Recap, YouTube has also published its annual "End of the Year" lists for 2025. MrBeast retained his crown as the most-watched creator, while trending topics were dominated by 'Squid Game', user-generated Roblox experiences, and K-Pop phenomena like 'Demon Hunters'. The top podcast remained 'The Joe Rogan Experience'.
For music fans, the main Recap will still include a card summarising your listening minutes if you've streamed over 10 hours of music on YouTube, with a link to a more detailed music-specific recap. The most-listened-to songs on the platform featured tracks from Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga's collaboration "Die With A Smile," as well as multiple entries from the K-Pop Demon Hunters cast.
