You open YouTube with a clear plan to watch a tutorial or look up something for work or school… only to get sucked into an endless stream of YouTube Shorts you never planned to watch.
It’s easy to blame yourself when this happens. But the reality is that YouTube Shorts are, by design, supposed to hold your attention so you stay on the platform as long as possible.
The pull of the endless feed can be very difficult to resist, and while you may be able to scroll past it sometimes, removing Shorts from view altogether is the best way to stop the cycle before it begins.
Want to see how? Here’s everything you need to know about disabling YouTube Shorts and creating a less distracting feed.
Key Takeaways
If you’re short on time, here’s what you need to know:
- YouTube does not currently offer a setting that completely disables YouTube Shorts across the platform.
- Marking Shorts “Not interested” is only a temporary workaround.
- A browser extension like Superpower YouTube can disable YouTube Shorts across the platform.
- Other ways to reduce distractions include turning off autoplay, skipping the homepage, and watching videos in full screen.
Where Does Your Time on YouTube Go?
There’s nothing wrong with spending 20 minutes watching a video you searched for on YouTube, especially if it helps you complete a task or gives you a chance to unwind. However, if you’ve lost 20 minutes you never meant to spend scrolling through Shorts, that’s a problem.
A regular YouTube video has a visible running time and a clear ending, so you know what you are committing to before you press play. The Shorts feed offers no such endpoint. It keeps serving new clips for as long as you keep swiping.
Those small scrolling sessions can take a big chunk out of your day, and unfortunately, Shorts can find you even when you are not looking for them. They appear throughout YouTube, including the homepage and search results, which means one can catch your attention before you reach the video you wanted.
That pull can be stronger than you might expect. One study on short-form video use found a connection between addictive viewing patterns and difficulties with attention and self-control, so don’t be too hard on yourself if one clip regularly turns into twenty.
Why Time Limits Are So Easy to Ignore
If you’re already frustrated by how much time Shorts take from your day, you’ve probably tried using a screen-time warning to keep yourself in check. But the trouble with this approach is that the reminder arrives after the damage has been done, and it does nothing to remove the Shorts waiting when you return.
And, if we’re being completely honest, those warnings are very easy to dismiss. You can add another 15 minutes or tell yourself you’ll come back later. Before long, you’re right back in the same feed and facing the same temptation.
Personal rules can be difficult to stick to as well. “I’ll only watch one” may feel realistic at the start, but it becomes much harder to follow when you’re tired or putting off a task you don’t want to do.
How to Remove the Temptation and Disable YouTube Shorts for Good
So, how do you get rid of YouTube Shorts once and for all?
Before you go digging into your YouTube settings, know that YouTube doesn’t give you a simple switch for turning off Shorts.
You can set a daily Shorts feed limit, including a limit of zero, through the mobile app. However, this displays a reminder rather than completely removing the feed, and you can choose to dismiss it. You can also select “Show fewer Shorts” or mark individual videos as “Not interested,” but Shorts may still appear elsewhere on the platform.
If you want Shorts to stay out of sight while using YouTube in your browser, you need to control what the website displays. The only way to do this is with a browser extension that disables YouTube Shorts. For example, extensions like Superpower YouTube hide Shorts throughout the site, so you don’t have to dismiss every clip individually or hope YouTube eventually takes the hint.
You can still search for videos, visit subscribed channels, and watch longer content as normal, but the endless Shorts feed is removed, giving you a much clearer route to the videos you initially opened YouTube to find.
Looking Beyond the Shorts Feed: 5 Tips for Taking Back Control of YouTube
Removing Shorts can make YouTube feel much less distracting straight away. But Shorts are only one of the ways the platform encourages you to keep watching. Here are five more ways to remove distractions and make each YouTube visit feel more intentional.
Turn Off Autoplay
Autoplay makes it so easy to keep watching. One video ends, another begins, and you keep watching simply because there was never a natural moment to stop.
Turning it off gives every video a proper ending. Once the video finishes, you can decide if you want to search for something else or close the tab.
You can turn off autoplay through the YouTube video player or your account settings, depending on the device you use. Removing end-screen suggestions can give you an even clearer stopping point.
Reduce Recommendations
Recommendations often feel harmless because they are connected to the video you are already watching. You finish a useful tutorial, see another relevant title, and convince yourself that watching it still counts as research.
But a few clicks later, you are probably nowhere near your original task.
YouTube explains that its recommendation system uses your watch history as a major signal for homepage suggestions. The video you are currently watching also influences what appears next, so every click can send your recommendations in a slightly different direction.
To steer your recommendations back to the topics you want to see, use “Not interested” and “Don’t recommend channel” when unwanted videos appear. You can also remove videos and searches that are skewing your feed. These controls will not remove recommendations completely, but they can make them less tempting over time.
Skip the Homepage
The homepage puts recommendations in front of you before you’ve searched for the video you need. That makes it easy to get distracted during the first few seconds of your visit.
To avoid the temptation of the homepage altogether, try opening YouTube through your Subscriptions page instead. You’ll see content from creators you chose to follow rather than a homepage filled with suggestions.
It’s also a good idea to bookmark the Subscriptions page or save direct links to channels you visit regularly. This gives you a faster route to the content you want to watch.
Watch Videos in Full Screen
Suggested videos can be difficult to ignore when they sit beside the video you’re currently watching. A promising title or eye-catching thumbnail may be enough to send you somewhere else before the current video has finished.
Full-screen mode removes most of that visual clutter during playback. It helps you concentrate on the video in front of you without seeing a sidebar full of alternatives.
To avoid slipping straight into another video, make sure to exit full-screen when the video ends, then decide if you have a genuine reason to continue. That brief pause can stop one useful video from turning into a much longer session.
Keep Useful Content Easy to Reach
It is surprisingly easy to lose time while looking for something useful to watch. You open YouTube with a rough idea in mind, start scanning the homepage, and spot several unrelated videos before you find what you came for.
A little organization can help you skip that browsing stage. Bookmark channels you visit regularly and create clearly labeled playlists for videos you want to return to. It’s also worth removing subscriptions you no longer watch so the Subscriptions page feels relevant instead of cluttered.
The easier your chosen content is to find, the less time you’ll spend wandering through YouTube in search of it.
Your Time Belongs to You, Not YouTube
YouTube becomes much easier to manage when every visit has a clear beginning and ending.
Disabling YouTube Shorts removes the endless feed that can derail your plans before you reach the right video, and simple tweaks like opening your Subscriptions page directly and watching videos in full screen can help you avoid other distractions.
You may still get distracted sometimes. We all do. But a cleaner feed makes it infinitely easier to watch what you came for and get back to living your life.
