How to count films watched in a year for a year-in-review

Count the films you watched in a year with a plain list, and check which tools can help keep that list in order for a year-in-review.

By VLClean · 2026-11-07

VLClean is published by the makers of Askarr and Watcharr, which are compared here alongside other tools.

Keep one dated row for each film you finished, then count the rows that fall inside the year. Remove repeats first, and count rewatches only if you decided to before you started.

Option	What it does for this job	Setup
Watcharr	Turns one public IMDb list into one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. ^[1]	The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. ^[1]
Spreadsheet or plain text file	Holds a dated row for each film and totals the rows you keep.	You create the file yourself and fill it in by hand.
Watch-log or notes app	Check its own page for how it lists and totals entries.	Check its own page for its setup steps.

What you need before you start

Decide the exact dates your count covers, such as the first day of January to the last day of December, and write them down so every film is judged against the same range.

Gather the places where your viewing shows up. That might be a streaming account's watch history, a notes app, a calendar, a paper diary, or ticket stubs you kept. Using more than one source helps you catch films that appear in only one place.

Set up a simple place to record the count. A spreadsheet or a plain text file with three columns works well: the film title, the date you finished it, and a short note. You will fill it in the same way no matter which tool you later choose.

Agree on the rules before you begin. Decide whether rewatches count, whether films you started but did not finish are included, and whether short films and TV episodes belong in the total. Writing these rules down first keeps the number honest when you check it later.

Step by step

Write the start and end dates of the year at the top of your sheet.

Go through each source from the first day of the year to the last, and add every film you finished, one row per film.

Write the date you finished each film in the second column, not its release date.

Sort the rows by title and remove duplicates, keeping the earliest finish date for any film that appears twice.

Apply the rewatch rule you wrote down: remove later rows for rewatches, or keep them in a separate column if you want them counted apart.

Check that every date falls inside your start and end dates, and move or remove any row that falls outside them.

Count the remaining rows. A spreadsheet can do this with a simple count function. A plain file can be counted by hand, and a second count made a different way helps catch slips.

Write the total at the top of the sheet with the date you finished the count, so you can repeat it next year using the same rules.

Tools that can do it

For the rows other than Watcharr, check each tool's own page for how it counts and exports entries.

Watcharr is a web app that turns a public IMDb list into links that Radarr and Sonarr can read. The web app lets you paste a list and copy its links. ^[1] It accepts any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site or IMDb's other-language pages. ^[1] The links are built from the list's id, so the same list always gives the same two links. ^[1]

You paste one public IMDb list and get one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. ^[1] Radarr checks its link every 15 minutes and Sonarr checks its link every 5 minutes. ^[1] The one-click bookmark for Radarr or Sonarr adds the list for you, using the key that app already has and sending it nowhere else. ^[1]

Common mistakes to avoid

Avoid treating a watchlist as a record of what you watched. A list of films you plan to see is separate from the films you finished, so count only the finished ones.

Avoid counting by release year. A year-in-review covers the dates you finished films, so a film released in 2019 and watched in 2026 belongs in the 2026 count.

Avoid skipping the duplicate check. The same film often appears in more than one place, and it should be counted once.

Avoid trusting a count built from a list link until you have checked when that list was last read. A list that updates on its own can still hold older entries if a read has failed.

Frequently asked questions

How can someone count films watched in a year for a year-in-review?

Start by fixing the dates of the year, then gather your viewing from every place it appears. Record one row for each film you finished, with its finish date, and remove duplicates and rewatches according to the rule you set. Total the rows that fall inside the year and check the total with a second count. Keep the sheet so you can repeat the count next year.

Can Watcharr count how many films a viewer watched in a year?

Watcharr turns a public IMDb list into one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. ^[1] For the year count itself, keep your own dated list, and use the links only when you want those apps to read the list. The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. ^[1]

Does Watcharr need an account to make its links?

The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. ^[1] Watcharr's links work without signing in. ^[1] Signed-in users can also combine several IMDb lists into one link per app for the whole household. ^[1]

How often does Radarr check a Watcharr link?

Radarr checks its Watcharr link every 15 minutes and Sonarr checks its Watcharr link every 5 minutes. ^[1] The links are built from the IMDb list's id, so the same list always gives the same two links. ^[1] If a read of the list fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. ^[1]

What should be checked before choosing a list tool for a year-end count?

Check whether the tool reads the kind of list you actually keep. Watcharr accepts any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site or IMDb's other-language pages. ^[1] Then check how the tool totals and exports entries, since the year count depends on that. Compare those answers with your own sheet before you decide.

Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence; older versions remain under MIT. ^[1]

Try Watcharr

Sources

Watcharr's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)