Should I delete old videos that are not doing well?

[LearningStuff]

I wouldn't permanently delete anything. You can also just set those videos to private then no one will be able to see them but you'll still have whatever stats they have gathered.

Also, sometimes people like to browse older videos to see the evolution of your channel.

 

[JayZippo]

Absolutely not. Unless you have a personal reason for it, you keep all your videos up. Period. There is absolutely no reason for you to take it down. I could not tell you of Youtubes current ideals, I mean I don't think Youtube could tell you. but if you put up a video, they promote it as some level, as sad as it might be, then you are taking it down. That is not something they want. Much like if you have a website with 20 pages, then rip out 10 of them, sure do the 301s, etc, it is still the removal of indexed content and I know years ago, that was a big NONO.

Just leave them.

 

[HappinessAndHealthGains]

I wouldn't get rid of old content, with the exception that it does not fit your niche any longer, or goes against your current narrative. I also agree with @Rhody Seth that your older videos will show where you've come from.

I have never heard that having old videos that do not perform well will hurt your chances with the algorithm. I would think this to be untrue since most YouTubers don't do well with their content for a while. Like others have mentioned it seems like it would be better to go back and optimize the thumbnails and tags instead of deleting them.