YouTube released its annual end-of-the-year trending lists for 2025 — and launched the first general iteration of YouTube Recap, a personalized, shareable highlight sizzle reel of users’ overall watch history for the year.
In their YouTube Recap reels, users will get a set of up to 12 different cards that highlight their top channels, interests and the evolution of their viewing habits, and which personality types they fall into based on the videos they watched.
YouTube Recap soft-launched last month in New Zealand. It’s debuting in North America on Dec. 2 and rolling out to the rest of the world over the course of this week. On launch day, YouTube Recap will be accessible via the home page or under the “You” tab on mobile and desktop.
The feature — which YouTube says was highly requested — is patterned on other similar year-in-review summaries, like Spotify Wrapped. For the last three years, YouTube Music has offered users a music-centered Recap experience. Now, YouTube is broadening it out to everything someone watched or listened to on the platform.
Music will still be in the mix: If you listened to a lot of music this year, you will see top artists and songs of the year as part of your YouTube Recap, with the option to dive deeper into top genres, podcasts and international music listening on the YouTube Music app.
Meanwhile, the video platform in 2021 announced that it was ending its annual YouTube Rewind year-in-review recap video series. Originally launched in 2011, YouTube Rewind was intended “to celebrate some of the amazing things the YouTube community created.” However, according to YouTube, it became clear that “a single Rewind created by YouTube can’t possibly reflect the full breadth of our creator community.”
In developing YouTube Recap, the feature went through “nine rounds of feedback and over 50 different concept testings before we landing on what you see today,” YouTube said in a blog post. “After digging into how we all watch YouTube, we didn’t just see data — we saw personalities, from the Adventurer or Skill Builder, to the Creative Spirit, and so many more.” Per YouTube, the most common personality types were the Sunshiner, the Wonder Seeker and the Connector, with “the Philosopher and the Dreamer ending up as the more elusive and rare personas.”
In addition to YouTube Recap, the video giant released trending lists for the year in the U.S., covering cultural moments, creators, songs and podcasts. Notably, Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters” and “Squid Game” landed in the top 10 on YouTube’s top-trending topics list.
YouTube’s annual trending topics list is based on analysis by the YouTube Culture & Trends team of multiple data points, including views, uploads and creator activity around these topics; only topics “determined to have conspicuous popularity this year, either because they were new to 2025 or because they experienced significant increases in user interest metrics, were eligible,” according to YouTube. Meanwhile, the top creators rankings are based on in-country subscribers gained in 2025; top songs
are based on in-country views of songs that debuted in 2025 or saw significant year-over-year growth. The top podcasts ranks the most popular podcast playlists on YouTube, based on total watch time in the U.S. in 2025.
2025 YouTube Trending Lists for the U.S.
Top Trending Topics of the Year (unranked)
- Squid Game
- User-generated Roblox experiences: Grow a Garden, Dandy’s World, Forsaken, Steal a Brainrot
- KPop Demon Hunters
- Brainrot
- Charlie Kirk
- Labubu
- Nintendo Switch 2
- Cookie Run Kingdom
- Blue Lock
- Katseye
Top Creators
- MrBeast
- CaylusBlox
- IShowSpeed
- Double Date
- Cadel and Mia
- Charlie Kirk
- Law by Mike
- CoryxKenshin
- Zack D. Films
- Outdoor Boys
Top Songs
- Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga – Die With A Smile
- Rosé, Bruno Mars – APT.
- Huntr/x (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) – Golden
- Saja Boys (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) – Soda Pop
- Saja Boys (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) – Your Idol
- Victor Valverde, Jr Torres – El Mayor de los Ranas
- Huntr/x (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) – How It’s Done
- Alex Warren – Ordinary
- Kendrick Lamar, SZA – Luther
- Kendrick Lamar – tv off
Top Songs on YouTube Shorts
- Forrest Frank – Your Way’s Better
- ATLXS – Passo Bem Solto (Slowed)
- Black Eyed Peas – Rock That Body
- Connie Francis – Pretty Little Baby
- Joyful – Chess
- Doechii – Anxiety
- Skrilla – Doot Doot (6 7)
- Saja Boys (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) – Soda Pop
- Jiandro (feat. ola.wav) – Confess your love
- Billie Eilish – Ocean Eyes
Top Podcasts
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- Kill Tony
- Good Mythical Morning
- Rotten Mango
- The MeidasTouch Podcast
- 48 Hours
- Shawn Ryan Show
- Smosh Reads Reddit Stories
- This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von
- The Diary of a CEO