How to Turn Off YouTube Shorts on iPhone and Android
By Finn Albar
YouTube has no switch to turn off Shorts for good. The closest official setting is a Shorts feed limit of zero, which shows a reminder you can dismiss instead of locking the feed. It lives only in the YouTube app, so it no longer applies if you delete the app or open youtube.com.
That suits adults who keep YouTube for long videos, tutorials, and subscriptions, and who want a nudge rather than a lock. Only a parent’s limit on a supervised account stops the Shorts feed for the rest of the day. On Android, a blocker app can also close Shorts and leave the rest of YouTube open.
On the ladder in how to make your phone less distracting, these settings are the lowest rung. If they do not hold, a blocker on Android or a limit on the whole YouTube app comes next.
What each Shorts setting stops
Each option works at a different level: the YouTube app, your account, or the whole phone. Each one also has a way back, shown in the last column.
| Option | Where it works | What it does | The way back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shorts feed limit of zero | YouTube app | Shows a reminder in the Shorts feed | Dismiss or ignore it |
| Show fewer Shorts | Home and Watch Next | Recommends fewer Shorts there | Delete it at myactivity.google.com |
| Watch history deleted and off | Your account | Removes recommended videos from Home | Turn history back on |
| one sec or AppBlock | Android only | Keeps you out of Shorts in the app | Turn off accessibility access |
| A parent’s Shorts feed limit | Supervised teen or kid account | Stops the Shorts feed for the rest of the day | Resets each morning; a teen can end supervision |
| A limit on the whole app | Screen Time, Digital Wellbeing, or Parental controls | Limits all of YouTube | Whoever holds the passcode |
Only the last three rows hold when you want to keep scrolling: the Android blockers, a parent’s limit, and a whole-app limit behind someone else’s passcode. Everything an adult sets inside YouTube is a reminder or a hint to the recommendations, and a few taps undo it.
The costs differ too. The limit and Show fewer Shorts cost nothing, while turning history off costs every recommendation on Home. A limit on the whole app costs long videos, tutorials, and music as well.
Start at the top and stop at the first row that holds for you. We would set the first two together, since they cost nothing, and add history off only if Home still pulls you in.
Step 1: set the Shorts feed limit to zero
The Shorts feed limit is YouTube’s own control for time in the Shorts feed, and it works on iPhone and Android. You can set the Shorts feed limit to zero in the app’s settings:
- Open the YouTube app and sign in.
- Tap You at the bottom right, then tap Settings.
- Tap Time management, then Shorts feed limit.
- Pick zero from the list of time limits.
When you reach the limit in the Shorts feed, a message reminds you. You can then dismiss the message or ignore the limit, so the setting is a reminder, not a lock.
The limit lives in the YouTube app. The website has no documented Shorts feed limit, so count on it only inside the app. If you delete the app, the limit goes with it.
The limit also covers only time in the Shorts feed. There is no word on whether Shorts still appear on Home, in search, or on channel pages at zero, so expect to see a few. The same goes for whether the limit follows your account to your other devices.
Set it first anyway. It costs nothing, and it puts a pause in front of the reflex tap on the Shorts tab.
Step 2: tell YouTube to show fewer Shorts
Show fewer Shorts thins out the Shorts that YouTube recommends on pages such as Home and Watch Next. It is a signal to the recommendations, not a filter, and it has no published end date.
- In the YouTube app, go to your Home feed.
- Scroll to a grid of Shorts.
- Tap More at the top of the grid, then tap Show fewer Shorts.
To undo it, go to myactivity.google.com, choose Other activity, and delete the entry under Show fewer Shorts.
For a channel you never want to see, find one of its videos or Shorts on Home or Watch Next. Tap More next to it and choose Don’t recommend channel. That covers the whole channel, long videos included, and you can clear that feedback at the same address.
What Show fewer Shorts changes in the Shorts feed itself is unknown. We would tap it whenever a grid appears, and treat it as a top-up to step 1, not a replacement.
Step 3: turn off watch history to empty Home
If you do not want recommended videos on Home, delete your watch history and turn it off. Both parts matter: Home drops its recommendations when history is off and you have no significant past history.
- In the YouTube app, tap You or your profile picture, then Settings, then Manage all history.
- Delete your past history there. Tapping DELETE also deletes your search history for the same time frame.
- Tap the Controls tab and unselect Include the YouTube videos you watch.
After that, Home shows the search bar and the menu instead of recommended videos. You can still search, open the channels you subscribe to, and find trending videos in Explore.
The cost is every recommendation on Home, long videos included. Videos you watch while history is off do not show up in your history, so finding one again means searching for it.
YouTube personalizes the Shorts feed, but what it shows with history off is unknown. Turn history back on in the same Controls tab if you miss the recommendations.
Step 4: block YouTube Shorts on Android with a blocker app
On Android, two blocker apps can close the Shorts part of YouTube and leave the rest of the app working. For an adult account, this is the nearest thing to a real off switch.
- one sec. Open the app and go to Customize, then Remove In-App Distractions. Pick YouTube Shorts and tap save. When you try to open Shorts, the app steps in and keeps you out, while the rest of YouTube keeps working.
- AppBlock. From version 7.5.0, AppBlock can block Shorts inside YouTube. Start a Quick Block or a schedule, open Apps, find YouTube, and choose Shorts, leaving the app itself unblocked. You can pair it with Strict Mode, which locks your changes while a block runs.
Both apps work through Android’s accessibility permission, so turning that permission off is the way back. Whether the free plans include the Shorts block is unknown. The best app blockers compares their plans, prices, and the ways to switch each one off.
On iPhone, neither app offers a Shorts-only block. The one sec help page states that there is no technical way to build it on iOS, and AppBlock’s Shorts block runs on Android only.
If you keep dismissing the reminder from step 1 on an Android phone, this is the step we would add next.
Step 5: limit or remove the whole YouTube app
When nothing inside YouTube holds, limit the whole app instead. You lose long videos, tutorials, and music along with Shorts, so this is a trade, not a fix.
On iPhone
On iOS 27, Time Allowances limit app categories such as Entertainment, Games, and Social Media. No documented option gives YouTube an allowance of its own, so expect a limit on it to cover other apps in its category too. If an app declares an associated website, the allowance covers both, but whether YouTube declares youtube.com is unknown.
On iOS 26, App Limits can target YouTube alone. By default, you can ignore a limit once you reach it.
Either way, the part that holds is a Screen Time passcode someone else keeps. How to check and limit screen time has the steps for both versions, and turn an iPhone into a dumbphone covers handing over the passcode.
On Android
In Digital Wellbeing, an app timer closes YouTube when your time runs out, and its icon dims until midnight. Focus mode pauses the app during the hours you pick.
On Android 17, Parental controls can block YouTube behind a PIN, which hides it from All apps. It does not work on a phone with a work profile or private space. Turn an Android into a dumbphone covers that PIN and who should hold it.
Deleting the app
Deleting YouTube removes the Shorts feed limit with it, and youtube.com in a browser still plays Shorts. So if you delete the app, put the same kind of limit on your browser, or the website takes the app’s place.
Turn off Shorts for a teen or a child
A parent’s Shorts feed limit on a supervised account is the only YouTube setting that stops the feed without a dismiss button. Parents can set it to zero minutes, which turns the feed off for the day.
- In the YouTube app, tap You, then Settings, then Family Center.
- Select your teen’s or child’s account and choose Time management.
- Set the daily Shorts feed limit.
At the limit, a message tells your teen, and the Shorts feed stops scrolling for the rest of the day. The limit resets every morning. Supervised kid accounts, for children under 13, get the same daily limit in Family Center.
The catch is that either a parent or a teen can turn YouTube supervision off at any time. A teen does it in Family Center by selecting the parent’s account and tapping Turn off supervision features. Whether the parent gets a notice when that happens is unknown.
YouTube Kids is a separate app. Its parental controls cover the content level, search, autoplay, and watch history, and none of them is a Shorts setting.
For a firmer limit on a teen’s Android phone, Family Link can block the YouTube app outright. A child under 18 needs a parent’s approval to stop Family Link supervision, and you both get a notification when it stops. How to set up a phone for a child covers Family Link and Screen Time for a child step by step.
When Shorts settings are not enough
If you dismiss the reminder every day, the setting has done what it can. On Android, move to a blocker from step 4. On iPhone, move to a limit on the whole app with a passcode someone else holds.
If you then open youtube.com in a browser instead, the pull is the phone, not the app. The best phones without internet access drop the web browser and the public app store, the two usual routes to YouTube. You keep calls, texts, and a few tools, and you give up every video.
Not every simple phone closes that route. The TCL Flip 4 5G, a KaiOS flip, keeps a browser and a YouTube shortcut.
Common questions
Can you turn off YouTube Shorts completely?
Not with one switch, because an adult’s Shorts feed limit of zero shows a reminder you can dismiss. On Android, one sec or AppBlock can block Shorts in the app. A parent’s limit on a supervised account stops the feed for the rest of the day.
Why is my Shorts feed limit not working?
It is a reminder by design: at the limit, you can dismiss it or ignore it. It also lives in the app, so youtube.com in a browser has no documented Shorts feed limit. Whether it follows your account to other devices is unknown.
How do I turn off YouTube Shorts on iPhone?
Set the Shorts feed limit to zero under You, Settings, and Time management, then tap Show fewer Shorts on Home. No Shorts-only blocker is documented for iPhone. For a hard stop, limit the whole YouTube app in Screen Time with a passcode someone else holds.
Can I hide Shorts on a computer or a TV?
The Shorts feed limit exists in the YouTube app only. On a computer, the Unhook browser extension hides Shorts in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, and it also works on m.youtube.com through Firefox for Android. TVs have no documented Shorts setting.
Can I turn off Instagram Reels the same way?
Only partly. Instagram’s own daily limit is a reminder for time in the whole app, with no setting for Reels alone. On Android, one sec and AppBlock block Reels the same way they block Shorts, and on iPhone only app-wide limits apply.
Final thoughts
Set the Shorts feed limit to zero today, and tap Show fewer Shorts the next time a grid appears. On Android, add one sec or AppBlock if you keep tapping past the reminder. On iPhone, the next step is a limit on the whole app with a passcode you do not hold.
For a teen, a parent’s limit in Family Center is the strongest Shorts control YouTube offers. For an adult, YouTube offers a reminder, not a lock, so plan the next step before you need it.
