YouTube
YouTube without recommendations: watch only what you came for
On YouTube, it's not the video you were looking for that eats up your time, it's the ones after it. Here is how to remove home page recommendations, the suggestions below the video and the end screen, so you only watch what you came for.
Where the lost hours come from
The home page offers videos chosen for you, the right-hand column offers more, so does the end screen, and autoplay chains them together without asking. Each of these elements is a door to the next video. Close them, and YouTube becomes a video search engine again.
YouTube's settings
- Turn off autoplay. The switch is in the player, or in the playback settings. It's the simplest move, and one of the most effective.
- Pause your history. Recommendations are based on what you watch: without history, they become much less precise, and so much less tempting.
- Start from subscriptions or search. Go straight to the Subscriptions tab, or search for the video you want, rather than going through the home page.
Extensions, on computer and in the browser
Unhook, which is free, hides the home page, the suggestions column, the end screen, Shorts and comments, and can turn off autoplay. UnTrap does the same, including in Safari on iPhone. With either one, YouTube's home page becomes a simple search bar.
On Android: YouTube custom, in Livetime
Livetime's lighter view offers each of these settings: hide home page recommendations, suggested videos below the video and at the end, end-of-video recommendations, thumbnails and comments. Hiding thumbnails changes a lot: without an eye-catching image, you choose a video for its title, not its visual.
Frequently asked questions
Can you have an empty YouTube home page?
With an extension like Unhook on a computer, or with YouTube custom in Livetime on Android, yes: the home page no longer shows recommendations. In the official app, pausing your history greatly reduces suggestions.
Will I still see videos from my subscriptions?
Yes. These settings remove suggestions, not the channels you follow, nor search.
Written by Emile Clement, a student and the creator of Livetime, after two years of testing almost every screen-time solution out there.
