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I download few YouTube videos using YouTube Offline feature introduced recently in an Official YouTube App.

Those videos were accessible to me and I played them successfully, without any issue.

Because of some device issue, I happened to "uninstall updates" of YouTube App. and now I had an old version of YouTube.

I then took the update of YouTube app as I wanted to enjoy the new Offline feature from Google Play store, which had the Offline feature.

But when I went to "Offline" tab in my YouTube App's Navigation Drawer (After Update), I could not see my previously downloaded videos.

Of course, I used same Google Account for my YouTube Sign-in.

So, let me just re-phrase the issue:

Whenever YouTube App's Updates are uninstalled, all offline Videos too are removed.

And when I update YouTube app later(which has Offline feature), App does not contain previously downloaded videos!

Any ideas, how can I get my lost videos??

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  • Can you not download them again? They will have been deleted when you factory reset your phone so I'm not sure what else you are expecting to be able to do...
    – bmdixon
    Jan 9, 2015 at 9:59
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    Yes, I could download them again, but the issue is whenever I am un-installing YouTube App's update, I am finding my offline videos too getting removed. So, it is now happening even without "factory-reset". So, let me just re-phrase the issue: Whenever YouTube App's Updates are uninstalled, all offline Videos too are removed. And when I update YouTube app later(which has Offline feature), it is Empty.
    – AADAndroidEnthusiasts
    Jan 9, 2015 at 10:07
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    I think when you uninstall updates to an app, the app data gets cleared as well. This would explain why the videos are removed.
    – bmdixon
    Jan 9, 2015 at 10:13
  • Sounds strange! AFAIK, apps like Googel Drive (another very good app from Google) will never do that(removing user content), just because app updates are uninstalled.
    – AADAndroidEnthusiasts
    Jan 9, 2015 at 10:25
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    @AADTechnical Google Drive is designed to not delete any of your files/documents. You upload them and then you are able to access them from everywhere. YouTube's Offline function just saves a copy of a video to your device. This is then not your file and is independent from changes on the original file. If you delete your on-device data, the original video is not deleted; just your copy. YouTube compared to Google Drive are like apples compared to pears.
    – GiantTree
    Jan 9, 2015 at 10:36

2 Answers 2

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The "offline feature" rather counts as cache (note that content downloaded for offline use will be available this way for 2 days only), so it's not considered "your data". You performed a . From our factory-reset tag-wiki:

What a factory reset does is basically to "wipe" (delete all content) from the /cache (holding the application cache) and /data (user data and user-installed apps, cache) partitions. Other media, like and cards, are usually left untouched – though some devices/ROMs offer options to include them with the wipe.

So that includes your "files cached for offline use".

Also, as correctly pointed out by GiantTree, your comparison with several apps does not apply: Google Drive stores your data in the cloud (not on the device), same for most other "Google Apps". Nor do photos made with a camera app get wiped usually, because they are not affected by a factory reset (see above quote for SD cards).

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  • Perhaps, I interpretaed it to work differently. I was under impression that, when I download those videos, they are tied with my YouTube(Account) Sign-in. I was expecting it show in my offline "History", that once I did had those available Offline. Currently,there is no such tracking, and the resons could be the one you and others already pointed out. Thanks!!
    – AADAndroidEnthusiasts
    Jan 9, 2015 at 12:32
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    Anytime! Besides, there's a related question (Open YouTube's saved offline video (.exo file)) where a comment points to an article on Engadget. You might wish to read that for additional background.
    – Izzy ♦
    Jan 9, 2015 at 12:35
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I experienced the same problem in August. I had to subscribe to Youtube RED to continue playing these videos offline. I thought it was free, but it's not.

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