diff --git a/DOCS/interface-changes/watch-history.txt b/DOCS/interface-changes/watch-history.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..28e5c674f816b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/DOCS/interface-changes/watch-history.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+add `--save-watch-history` and `--watch-history-path` options
diff --git a/DOCS/man/options.rst b/DOCS/man/options.rst
index 4e932f1eff69c..b9d840a708337 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/options.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/options.rst
@@ -1148,6 +1148,28 @@ Watch Later
     Ignore path (i.e. use filename only) when using watch later feature.
     (Default: disabled)
 
+Watch History
+-------------
+
+``--save-watch-history``
+    Whether to save which files are played.
+
+    .. warning::
+
+        This option may expose privacy-sensitive information and is thus
+        disabled by default.
+
+``--watch-history-path=<path>``
+    The path in which to store the watch history. Default:
+    ``~~state/watch_history.jsonl`` (see `PATHS`_).
+
+    This file contains one JSON array per line. The first field is the UNIX
+    timestamp when the file was opened, the second field is its normalized path,
+    and the third file is its title, or ``null`` if no title was present. So
+    each line is like ``[timestamp, "file_path", "title"]``.
+
+    Any new fields will be appended after the last one.
+
 Video
 -----
 
diff --git a/options/options.c b/options/options.c
index 3bb958c49a042..2d7cfce922a10 100644
--- a/options/options.c
+++ b/options/options.c
@@ -811,6 +811,9 @@ static const m_option_t mp_opts[] = {
     {"watch-later-directory", OPT_ALIAS("watch-later-dir")},
     {"watch-later-options", OPT_STRINGLIST(watch_later_options)},
 
+    {"save-watch-history", OPT_BOOL(save_watch_history)},
+    {"watch-history-path", OPT_STRING(watch_history_path), .flags = M_OPT_FILE},
+
     {"ordered-chapters", OPT_BOOL(ordered_chapters)},
     {"ordered-chapters-files", OPT_STRING(ordered_chapters_files),
         .flags = M_OPT_FILE},
@@ -986,6 +989,7 @@ static const struct MPOpts mp_default_opts = {
     .sync_max_factor = 5,
     .load_config = true,
     .position_resume = true,
+    .watch_history_path = "~~state/watch_history.jsonl",
     .autoload_files = true,
     .demuxer_thread = true,
     .demux_termination_timeout = 0.1,
diff --git a/options/options.h b/options/options.h
index 3f184c49cf5a9..ef8c4306845db 100644
--- a/options/options.h
+++ b/options/options.h
@@ -276,6 +276,8 @@ typedef struct MPOpts {
     bool ignore_path_in_watch_later_config;
     char *watch_later_dir;
     char **watch_later_options;
+    bool save_watch_history;
+    char *watch_history_path;
     bool pause;
     int keep_open;
     bool keep_open_pause;
diff --git a/player/loadfile.c b/player/loadfile.c
index 4f204c20e75fa..c284b02fa24c7 100644
--- a/player/loadfile.c
+++ b/player/loadfile.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <inttypes.h>
 #include <assert.h>
+#include <time.h>
 
 #include <libavutil/avutil.h>
 
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@
 #include "common/encode.h"
 #include "common/stats.h"
 #include "input/input.h"
+#include "misc/json.h"
 #include "misc/language.h"
 
 #include "audio/out/ao.h"
@@ -1521,6 +1523,44 @@ static void load_external_opts(struct MPContext *mpctx)
     mp_waiter_wait(&wait);
 }
 
+static void append_to_watch_history(struct MPContext *mpctx)
+{
+    if (!mpctx->opts->save_watch_history)
+        return;
+
+    void *ctx = talloc_new(NULL);
+    char *history_path = mp_get_user_path(ctx, mpctx->global,
+                                          mpctx->opts->watch_history_path);
+    FILE *history_file = fopen(history_path, "ab");
+
+    if (!history_file) {
+        MP_ERR(mpctx, "Failed to write to %s: %s\n", history_path,
+               mp_strerror(errno));
+        goto done;
+    }
+
+    char *title = (char *)find_non_filename_media_title(mpctx);
+    mpv_node items[] = {
+        {.format = MPV_FORMAT_INT64, .u = {.int64 = time(NULL)}},
+        {.format = MPV_FORMAT_STRING, .u = {.string = mp_normalize_path(ctx, mpctx->filename)}},
+        {.format = title ? MPV_FORMAT_STRING : MPV_FORMAT_NONE, .u = {.string = title}}
+    };
+    mpv_node_list list = {.values = items, .num = 3};
+    mpv_node node = {.format = MPV_FORMAT_NODE_ARRAY, .u = {.list = &list}};
+    char *dst = talloc_strdup(ctx, "");
+    json_write(&dst, &node);
+    dst = talloc_strdup_append(dst, "\n");
+
+    bool fail = fwrite(dst, strlen(dst), 1, history_file) != 1;
+    if (fclose(history_file) || fail) {
+        MP_ERR(mpctx, "Failed to write to %s: %s\n", history_path,
+               mp_strerror(errno));
+    }
+
+done:
+    talloc_free(ctx);
+}
+
 // Start playing the current playlist entry.
 // Handle initialization and deinitialization.
 static void play_current_file(struct MPContext *mpctx)
@@ -1772,6 +1812,8 @@ static void play_current_file(struct MPContext *mpctx)
     if (watch_later)
         mp_delete_watch_later_conf(mpctx, mpctx->filename);
 
+    append_to_watch_history(mpctx);
+
     if (mpctx->max_frames == 0) {
         if (!mpctx->stop_play)
             mpctx->stop_play = PT_NEXT_ENTRY;