YouTube
How to remove Shorts on YouTube: every solution
As with Reels, there's no official switch to make Shorts disappear. YouTube lets you see fewer of them and, recently, limit the time spent scrolling through them. To really remove them, you need a tool. Here are all the options, device by device.
The short answer. On a computer, install the free Unhook extension. On iPhone, use YouTube in Safari with UnTrap. On Android, open YouTube in Livetime's lighter view, which hides the Shorts button. In the official app, you can only see fewer of them.
1. In the YouTube app: see fewer of them
- “Not interested”. On the home page, a Short's “⋮” menu offers “Not interested”. On a computer, the cross on the Shorts shelf hides it for 30 days.
- The Shorts scrolling limit. In the settings, the section about time management offers a daily limit for the Shorts feed: once it's reached, scrolling stops. Shorts can still appear elsewhere, and the option is rolling out gradually: it may not have reached your account yet.
- Watch history. Pausing it reduces recommendations, Shorts included. The trade-off: YouTube no longer remembers where you stopped in a video.
2. On a computer: an extension
- Unhook is free, for Chrome, Firefox and Edge. It hides Shorts, the home page, suggested videos, the end screen and comments, each with its own switch.
- UnTrap for YouTube exists for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera and Safari. Its free version already hides Shorts, recommendations and comments; a paid version adds hundreds of settings.
3. On iPhone: Safari and an extension
The YouTube app can't be modified, but the website, in Safari, can. UnTrap and Shorts Blocker for YouTube are paid Safari extensions that remove Shorts from the site. SocialFocus does the same, plus Instagram. As with Instagram, then add youtube.com to your home screen, and put the app away.
4. On Android: YouTube custom, in Livetime
Livetime opens YouTube in a lighter view, where you choose what to hide:
- the Shorts button;
- home page recommendations;
- suggested videos, below the video and at the end;
- thumbnails;
- comments.
You come for one video, then you leave. And on Android, Firefox also accepts the Unhook extension on the mobile version of the site.
5. Modified YouTube apps: avoid them
Unofficial versions of YouTube promise an app without Shorts. They break YouTube's terms, install from outside Google Play, and often ask you to sign in with your Google account. The risk isn't worth it.
Which solution should you choose?
| Your situation | The best solution |
|---|---|
| Computer | Unhook, free |
| iPhone | YouTube in Safari, with UnTrap or Shorts Blocker |
| Android | YouTube custom in Livetime, or Firefox with Unhook |
| You just want to see fewer of them | The Shorts scrolling limit and “Not interested” |
Frequently asked questions
Can you turn off Shorts in YouTube's settings?
No. YouTube only offers a scrolling limit for the Shorts feed and the “Not interested” option. To make them disappear, you need an extension or a lighter view like YouTube custom.
Do extensions work in the YouTube app?
No. Extensions work on the youtube.com website in a browser, never in the app.
Will I lose my subscriptions?
No. These methods only change what's displayed: your subscriptions, your playlists and your history stay on your account.
Written by Emile Clement, a student and the creator of Livetime, after two years of testing almost every screen-time solution out there.
