How to Reset the Facebook Video Algorithm

Is your Facebook Watch feed stuck in a rut, serving up the same weird or irrelevant videos over and over? One day you're watching useful DIY tutorials, and the next, you're in a strange corner of the internet filled with videos you have zero interest in. You're not alone. This guide breaks down the practical steps to retrain Facebook's video algorithm, clean up your feed, and get back to seeing content you actually enjoy.

Understanding the Facebook Video Algorithm (And How it Gets So Weird)

Before fixing your video feed, it's helpful to know why it got so off-track in the first place. Think of Facebook's video algorithm as a recommendation engine that's constantly learning from your behavior. It's not trying to annoy you, it's trying to predict what you'll watch next based on a few main signals:

• What you watch: The length of time you spend on a video is a huge signal. Watching a 5-minute video all the way through tells the algorithm, "I love this stuff!" even if you don't like or comment.
• What you engage with: Likes, comments, shares, and saves are direct commands to the algorithm. A share is a much stronger signal than a simple like.
• Who you follow: The pages, creators, and groups you are a part of heavily influence your suggestions.
• The rabbit holes you fall into: We've all been there. You click on one video out of pure curiosity, and suddenly your feed is inundated with similar content for weeks. The algorithm learned the wrong lesson from your momentary lapse in judgment.

Your feed isn't broken, it just has a skewed idea of what you are interested in based on old or accidental signals. Our goal isn't to "break" the algorithm but to give it a much-needed course correction by intentionally providing new, better data about what you want to see.

The 4-Step Method to Retrain Your Facebook Video Feed

Resetting your video algorithm is an active process. You have to consciously teach it what you like and dislike. Following these four steps will put you back in control of your Facebook Watch and main feed video recommendations.

Step 1: The 'Content Cleanse' - Removing All the Bad Signals

First, we need to do some tidying up. This step focuses on telling Facebook what you explicitly don't want to see anymore. It's like weeding a garden, you have to remove the unwanted stuff before the good stuff can grow.

Actively Use the 'Hide Post' and 'See Less' Features

This is your most powerful, direct tool for giving feedback. Every time a video you dislike appears in your feed, you have an opportunity to teach the algorithm.

Follow these steps:

1. Find a video you don't want to see more of in your feed.
2. Click the three dots (...) in the top-right corner of the post.
3. From the dropdown menu, you'll see a few options. Choose 'Hide post' or a variation like 'See less.'

Doing this just once won't change your whole feed, but if you do it consistently for a few days, the algorithm will quickly learn what categories of content to stop showing you. Are you tired of those over-the-top cooking videos or endless prank clips? Be ruthless. Every time one pops up, hide it. This is you directly saying, "No more of this, please."

Clear Out Parts of Your Watch History

While clearing your entire watch history can be a bit extreme (and sometimes doesn't help as much as you'd think), you can go into your Activity Log and remove specific videos that might have started you down a strange rabbit hole.

How to find it on Desktop:

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner and go to 'Settings &, Privacy' >, 'Activity Log.'
2. On the left-hand menu, scroll down until you see 'Logged actions and other activity.' Click it to expand the options.
3. Select 'Videos you've watched.'
4. You can then go through the list and click the three dots next to any video you want to remove and hit 'Delete.'

How to find it on Mobile:

1. Tap the menu icon (your profile picture and three lines) and go to 'Settings &, Privacy' >, 'Settings.'
2. Scroll down to the 'Your activity' section and tap 'Activity Log.'
3. Under 'Logged actions and other activity,' tap on 'Videos You've Watched.'
4. From here, tap the three dots next to a video and choose 'Delete' to remove it from your history.

Focus on removing videos from topics that have taken over your feed. For instance, if you watched a few videos about a TV show you no longer care about, deleting them from your history can help tell the algorithm that your interest has faded.

Step 2: Sending Strong Positive Signals - Curate with Intention

Now that you've started telling Facebook what you dislike, it's time to shout about what you love. Passive viewing isn't enough. To make a big impact fast, you need to engage deliberately.

Go Beyond a Like - Comment and Share

An algorithm weighs engagement types differently. A simple 'like' or 'reaction' is a whisper, but a comment or a share is a roar. When you find a video from a creator you genuinely want to support and see more of, take five extra seconds to engage meaningfully.

• Leave a comment: Even something simple like "This was so helpful!" or "Great video!" works. It shows you cared enough to stop and type.
• Share the video: Sharing a video to your profile or sending it to a friend in Messenger is one of the strongest signals you can send. You're telling Facebook, "This content is so good, I'm willing to stake my reputation on it."

Follow and 'Favorite' the Creators You Actually Like

If you enjoy content from a specific Page or a creator, don't just wait for the algorithm to show them to you. Go directly to their page and hit the 'Follow' button. For an even bigger boost, add them to your 'Favorites.'

Being a 'Favorite' tells Facebook to prioritize content from that source in your feed. You can add up to 30 people or Pages to your Favorites list, which is a great way to guarantee you see the stuff that matters most to you, training the algorithm in the process.

Watch Time is Your Superpower

Remember that watch time is a massive signal for the algorithm. Use this to your advantage:

• For videos you like: Make sure you let them play to the end. Don't scroll away a few seconds before it's over.
• For videos you dislike: Scroll past them quickly. Lingering on a video for even a few seconds, even if you're just reading the caption, can be misinterpreted as interest.

Step 3: Fine-Tune Your Underlying Topic Preferences

Many of Facebook's content suggestions are influenced by the advertising profile it has on you. By adjusting your ad preferences, you can give the algorithm strong hints about your current interests, which often trickles down into your organic video feed.

Where to find it:

1. Go to 'Settings &, Privacy' >, 'Settings.'
2. Select 'Ad Preferences' or navigate to the 'Accounts Center' and find 'Ad Preferences.'
3. Click on 'Ad topics.' You'll see two tabs: 'See less' and 'Show more.'
4. Go through the list of suggested topics and start clicking 'See Less' on anything that is irrelevant or no longer interests you. It could be old hobbies, brands you no longer follow, or general topics you're tired of seeing.

Doing a review of this every few months is a great way to keep your entire Facebook experience, including video recommendations, aligned with your current interests.

Step 4: The 'Last Resort' Technique

If your feed feels particularly stuck, clearing your app's cache and data can sometimes help. This step won't magically reset a creator's distribution algorithm on the backend, but it can refresh the locally-stored data on your device, which might jolt the recommendation engine.

On Android:

1. Go to your phone's Settings >, Apps.
2. Find the Facebook app in the list.
3. Tap on Storage.
4. First, tap Clear Cache. Check the app to see if anything changes. If not, you can come back and tap Clear Data. Warning: Clearing data will log you out and reset some of your in-app settings.

On iOS:

iOS doesn't give you a simple "clear cache" button. The most effective way is to 'offload' the app. This removes the app itself but keeps your data. Then, you can reinstall it from the App Store.

1. Go to Settings >, General >, iPhone Storage.
2. Find and tap on the Facebook application.
3. Tap Offload App. Confirm your choice, then reinstall the app.

How Long Will This Take?

Here's the thing: you have to be patient. You won't see a dramatic shift overnight. The algorithm needs a few days, or sometimes even a week or two, of consistent, new data from you to really start changing its ways. Be consistent with hiding content you dislike and intentionally engaging with content you love. Before you know it, you'll have a Facebook Watch feed full of videos you actually want to watch again.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, retraining your Facebook video algorithm is less about a single reset button and more about an ongoing conversation. You're giving it feedback - cleaning out old signals, actively rewarding good content, and fine-tuning your interests - to guide it toward a feed that reflects what you want to see right now.

Just as you consciously curate your personal feed, we find that creators and marketers need a reliable system to create content that serves their audience's algorithm. For our own video strategy across multiple accounts, we built Postbase to solve this exact problem. Because it's designed for short-form video formats first, we can schedule our Facebook videos, Reels, and TikToks from one beautiful content calendar, making it simple to stay consistent and post at the times our audience is most active. It's helped us stop juggling different apps and focus on creating better content that feeds the algorithm exactly what it needs to find the right viewers.