YouTube now documents a zero-minute limit for the Shorts feed in its mobile app. It’s a useful place to start, but an ordinary account can dismiss or ignore the limit. It doesn’t give you permanent, universal removal of every Short.
I’d choose a method based on where Shorts interrupt you: scrolling on your phone, recommendations on Home, or results in a search. Below, I’ll walk you through those choices and the separate controls for supervised accounts.
Jump to: Phone setting · Android · iPhone and iPad · Search · Desktop browser · Parents
Source check: Official guidance reviewed on 4 October 2026. This guide distinguishes documented features from device behaviour that hasn’t been independently tested here.
Key takeaways
- Start with the built-in mobile feed control
- Use Show fewer Shorts to influence Home recommendations
- Choose the Video search filter when you’re looking for regular videos
- Check an extension’s browser support and permissions before considering it
- Use the appropriate supervised-account settings for a child or teen
- Keep your app current and security protections enabled
Which method fits your device and goal?
“Disable Shorts” can mean several different things. Hiding a navigation button, changing recommendations and interrupting the scrolling feed each affect a different part of YouTube.
| Your goal | Start here | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Interrupt Shorts scrolling in the phone app | Zero-minute feed limit | An ordinary user can override it |
| See fewer suggested Shorts | Show fewer Shorts | Recommendation feedback isn’t a universal block |
| Find regular videos in one search | Video content-type filter | Changes that search’s results |
| Hide browser navigation or page elements | A browser extension’s documented controls | Browser-specific, with permissions to review |
| Set boundaries for a child or teen | Appropriate supervised-account controls | Requires the correct linked account and setup |
Start with one change. Then look at the screen that bothered you. That makes it easier to tell whether the method meets your goal without changing unrelated settings.
Set the Shorts feed limit on Android or iPhone
Use the signed-in YouTube app:
- Open the You tab
- Tap Settings
- Select Time management
- Open Shorts feed limit
- Choose zero from the available limits
YouTube’s official instructions explicitly include “the option to set your Shorts feed limit to zero.” The same page explains that a reached-limit message offers an ordinary user the option to dismiss or ignore it.
That makes this a self-management setting. Parents should use the supervised-account section rather than rely on a self-set reminder.
Android: check the app and account first
Follow the phone path above in the official YouTube app. If you switch between accounts, confirm which account you’re using before changing its settings.
If your menu doesn’t match, check for an app update through Google Play, then compare your screen with the official Help page. A particular missing option doesn’t establish that you need an old APK, a different country setting or a modified app.
iPhone and iPad: start inside YouTube
Use YouTube’s settings for the feed control. Apple’s general device settings are a different place, and a browser extension won’t automatically change the native YouTube app.
If you’re following a screenshot from another device, focus on the menu labels rather than expecting every button to sit in the same position. Compare a different-looking menu with official Help before assuming the setting is unavailable.
Check the part of YouTube you actually use
After making a change, inspect:
- The scrolling Shorts feed
- Shorts recommendations on Home
- The navigation tab
- Search results and subscriptions
- A Short opened from a channel page or direct link
These are separate places. The native setting’s documentation does not establish that every one of them disappears. Seeing a thumbnail or navigation label alone doesn’t tell you whether the feed limit is doing its documented job.
Tell YouTube to show fewer Shorts
If your goal is a less crowded Home feed, recommendation feedback may be enough.
For the Shorts grid in the mobile app:
- Go to Home
- Scroll to a grid of Shorts
- Tap More at the top of that grid
- Choose Show fewer Shorts
For an individual recommendation, open its More menu and use Not interested where that option is offered. The grid-level choice and the individual-video choice serve different purposes.
YouTube’s recommendations guide describes these as ways to influence what gets suggested. It doesn’t promise to remove every Short or hide them for a fixed number of days.
If Shorts appear again, decide whether your goal is fewer recommendations or a limit on scrolling. Repeating feedback isn’t the same as putting a lock on the feed.
Keep Shorts out of a specific YouTube search
If you’re searching for a tutorial and want regular videos, use the content-type filter.
On a computer:
- Run your search on YouTube
- Open Filters above the results
- Under the content-type options, choose Video rather than Shorts
YouTube’s current search Help lists video and short as separate content types and calls the group Result Type. If your interface uses a slightly different label, look for the content type rather than the duration control.
This choice applies to the results you’re viewing. It doesn’t change your Home recommendations, subscriptions or all future searches.
Don’t use “longer than one minute” as a substitute for identifying Shorts. YouTube’s current Shorts guide describes Shorts of up to three minutes. The format filter answers a different question from a length filter.
On mobile, check the available search-filter menu for the same content-type choice. The steps above describe the documented computer route; they don’t assume an identical menu layout on every app version.
Hide Shorts in a desktop browser
YouTube also has Shorts on the desktop website. Opening it in a browser doesn’t, by itself, remove them.
A browser extension may offer more control over the visible page. The important questions are which elements it hides, which browser it supports, and what access it requests.
One documented option to evaluate: Unhook
Unhook’s official website identifies the product. Its Firefox add-on listing advertises a Hide Shorts Tab option, lists Chrome and Edge versions, and discloses access to data on the www.youtube.com and m.youtube.com domains.
That’s a documented option to evaluate, rather than a claim that it has been installed or tested for this guide. Hiding a tab also doesn’t prove an extension blocks direct links or removes every Shorts card.
Before choosing an extension, check:
- Publisher: Follow the official product site’s store link and confirm the publisher
- Browser: Check the listing for the browser you actually use
- Permissions: Read the requested site access and privacy information
- Control: Look for the specific Shorts option rather than enabling every available page-hiding feature
- Result: Compare Home, search, navigation and a direct link separately
- Undo: Know how to turn the setting off or remove the extension if the result isn’t useful
If you already use Unhook, review its popup for the advertised Shorts-tab control. Make one change at a time so you can see what it affects. This guide doesn’t promise identical options or results across its browser versions.
What about a phone browser?
The Firefox listing advertises support for mobile YouTube through Firefox for Android. That is a mobile-web option; it doesn’t mean the extension controls the native YouTube app.
The same listing doesn’t establish Safari or iPhone support. Check an extension’s own current store page rather than assuming an Android instruction carries over to iOS.
Set Shorts boundaries for a child or teen
First identify the account type. YouTube’s family comparison separates YouTube Kids, supervised kid accounts and supervised teen accounts. Their controls aren’t interchangeable.
For a linked supervised teen account
Using the linked parent account in the YouTube app:
- Open You → Settings → Family Center
- Select your teen’s account
- Choose Time management
- Set the daily Shorts feed limit, including zero where available
YouTube’s teen-supervision guidance says reaching the daily limit prevents further feed scrolling for the rest of the day, with a reset the next morning. It also documents the zero option.
There is an important boundary: the same guidance says teens can turn supervision off. Don’t treat this as an impossible-to-bypass restriction or a promise that every Short is inaccessible through every account or entry point.
For a younger child’s supervised account
Use the linked parent’s Family Center and select the child’s account. The supervised-kid account guide documents a daily Shorts feed limit under Time management, alongside other account-specific parental controls.
Check that guide for the options available to the child’s account. YouTube Kids is a separate app, so don’t assume instructions for a supervised account in regular YouTube are its instructions too.
Blocking the entire YouTube app is a broader decision that also restricts long-form videos. Choose that only if it matches the boundary you actually want.
Why I wouldn’t downgrade YouTube just to hide Shorts
I wouldn’t replace a current YouTube app with a years-old APK for this. YouTube warns that older app versions can become unsupported, leaving you needing an update to keep using the app.
A download page’s name also doesn’t establish that it belongs to the original developer. An old tutorial, a familiar logo or a “without Shorts” promise isn’t enough to verify a file.
Keep Google Play Protect on. Google’s Play Protect guidance recommends leaving it enabled and explains that it checks for potentially harmful apps.
I also wouldn’t rely on uninstalling updates as a reliable way to get a particular pre-Shorts version. The bundled version varies by device, and going backward creates a maintenance problem without guaranteeing the result you want.
The built-in controls and clearly scoped browser choices above are better starting points than a downgrade or an unverified download mirror.
Why am I still seeing Shorts?
Use the symptom to choose your next check.
“I can’t find the setting”
Confirm that you’re signed in to the intended account in the current mobile app. Check the menu path against official Help and look for an app update. If the Help page still doesn’t match, use the available recommendation controls while reporting the mismatch through YouTube’s help options.
Changing your country, clearing all app data or resetting your device isn’t a verified Shorts-specific solution here.
“The tab is still there”
A navigation button and feed access are different things. The official mobile-limit instructions don’t promise that the tab disappears. Check the result the control is intended to produce before assuming that a visible tab means failure.
“Shorts still appear in search”
Use the Video content-type filter for that search. A Home recommendation preference doesn’t establish how search results will be filtered.
“My browser changed, but my phone app didn’t”
A browser extension works within its supported browser. Check the phone app’s own controls separately.
“My extension stopped working”
Check whether it’s enabled, whether the current browser is supported, and what the publisher’s current notes say. Review its YouTube site permissions without expanding access beyond what you’re comfortable granting.
Don’t disable browser security or install a random replacement to recover a cosmetic page-hiding feature.
“I can ignore the reminder”
That is documented behaviour for ordinary accounts. If you’re a parent, use the correct supervised-account controls rather than treating the self-set limit as enforcement.
“I want no YouTube during work”
That’s a whole-app or whole-site boundary, which also affects regular videos. A Shorts-only setting may be too narrow for your goal. Keep that wider effect in mind when choosing a device or browser time limit.
Frequently asked questions
Can I disable YouTube Shorts permanently?
You can limit or hide specific parts of the experience, but I wouldn’t promise permanent removal everywhere. App controls, search filters and browser extensions each have a defined scope. Recheck the places you use after making a change.
Can I remove the Shorts tab from the YouTube app?
The official feed-limit guidance doesn’t promise removal of the navigation tab. A desktop extension’s advertised tab-hiding feature doesn’t establish the same behaviour in the native mobile app.
Will Shorts disappear from subscriptions and direct links too?
Don’t assume so. Those are separate places to check. This guide doesn’t claim that a recommendation choice or feed limit removes every Short from them.
Why don’t I see the zero-minute option?
Check the app, account and menu path first. If the current official instructions still don’t match, report the discrepancy through YouTube Help. There isn’t a verified arrival date for a missing option that this guide can promise you.
Should I install a YouTube-without-Shorts APK?
I’d start with the documented controls above. An old or unofficial APK adds source-verification, security and maintenance questions that this viewing preference shouldn’t require.
Will turning off Autoplay remove Shorts?
Treat Autoplay as a separate playback setting. If your problem is one regular video starting after another, you can turn off Autoplay on YouTube. Don’t expect that change to remove Shorts across the app.
Final thoughts
Start with the option for the screen you actually use. Then check that screen again before adding another workaround.
If Shorts still appear somewhere else, use the troubleshooting section to identify that location and the control that applies to it. You shouldn’t need an old APK or a security workaround just to make YouTube less distracting.
