How to Turn Off YouTube Shorts (What Works in 2026)
There's no off switch for YouTube Shorts, but there is a Shorts feed limit you can set to zero. That and four other ways to make Shorts far less tempting.
Shorts are YouTube’s answer to TikTok, and they’re just as easy to fall into. The bad news: there’s no switch that removes them. The good news: you can make them much less tempting.
Option 1: Set a Shorts feed limit
YouTube now has its own Shorts timer. Go to You, then Settings, then Time management, and set a Shorts feed limit. You can set it to zero.
On your own account it’s a reminder you can dismiss, not a hard block. But it interrupts the scroll, which is often enough. (On supervised teen accounts, a parent can set it in Family Center, and then it does block the feed.)
Option 2: Show fewer Shorts
On the home feed, tap the three dots at the top of a Shorts shelf and choose Show fewer Shorts. It hides the shelf for a while, but it tends to come back. On individual Shorts, Not interested changes what you’re shown.
Option 3: Use YouTube in a browser
On a computer, browser extensions can hide Shorts completely. Search your browser’s extension store for “hide YouTube Shorts” and check the reviews and permissions before you install one: extensions that can read pages can see a lot. (How to tell if a screen time app is trustworthy applies here too.)
Option 4: Limit YouTube altogether
If Shorts are the problem, limiting the whole app works: an iPhone Screen Time limit, Android Digital Wellbeing, or a social app like Snitch, where you and your friends share a daily time pot. You can still watch the video you came for, just not three hours of Shorts after it. On Android, Snitch can also block YouTube in your browser.
Quick picks
| If you… | Try |
|---|---|
| Want a nudge to stop | Option 1 |
| Just want less Shorts | Option 2 |
| Mostly watch on a computer | Option 3 |
| Lose hours on the YouTube app | Option 4 |