How to block YouTube Shorts (permanently, on every device)
Quick answer
To block YouTube Shorts so they never appear, you need a tool that works outside YouTube's own interface. YouTube's 2026 setting only pauses the Shorts feed on mobile and still leaves Shorts in your Subscriptions tab and search. Feedvault filters out any video three minutes or shorter at ingestion, so Shorts never enter your feed, on any device.
Five real methods, ranked by how durable they actually are. Most tools just hide Shorts in the browser interface — they're still being fetched and you still pay the bandwidth and the temptation. Feedvault is the only tool that filters Shorts out at ingestion, so videos three minutes or shorter never enter your subscription feed at all.
Shorts are loud, and you didn't ask for them
YouTube Shorts launched as a TikTok-style answer to short vertical video. They have since expanded into the home feed, the Subscriptions tab, search results, and the mobile app's bottom navigation. For people who use YouTube to learn, follow long-form creators, or just keep up with the channels they actually subscribed to, Shorts are noise.
- Long-form videos get buried. Even when you subscribe to a channel for its long-form content, the algorithm prefers Shorts in your subscription feed.
- "Not interested" doesn't stick. Tap dismiss on the Shorts row a hundred times — it'll be back tomorrow.
- Mobile is the hardest case. Browser extensions don't work in the YouTube app, so most "block Shorts" guides only help on desktop.
- Hiding ≠ blocking. Most tools just hide the Shorts UI with CSS. The videos are still fetched, still recommended, and the trick can break when YouTube ships an update.
Six real ways to block YouTube Shorts
Ranked from quickest fix (least durable) to most durable (slightly more setup).
YouTube's built-in Shorts feed limit (2026)
YouTube app · Free · Mobile only
In 2026 YouTube added a native option to switch Shorts off the home feed. In the mobile app, open Settings → Time Management → Daily Limits, turn on the Shorts feed limit, and set it to 0 minutes. The continuous Shorts feed on the home tab is then paused.
Unhook or DF Tube (browser extensions)
Chrome / Firefox · Free · Desktop only
These extensions inject CSS rules into youtube.com to hide the Shorts row, the Shorts tab, and Shorts in search results. Unhook also hides recommendations and comments. They're the most popular "distraction-free YouTube" tools.
PocketTube (extension + apps)
Browser + iOS/Android · Freemium
PocketTube groups your YouTube subscriptions into folders that overlay the YouTube interface, on desktop browsers and through its mobile apps. It can hide Shorts inside that interface as part of its filtering options.
FreeTube, NewPipe, or LibreTube
Open source · Free · Desktop or Android only
Third-party YouTube clients that fetch videos via scraping or InnerTube APIs and let you filter Shorts out entirely. FreeTube is desktop, NewPipe and LibreTube are Android.
Use the Subscriptions tab as your homepage
Browser bookmark · Free · Any device
Bookmark youtube.com/feed/subscriptions as your YouTube homepage. The Subscriptions tab still shows some Shorts, but far fewer than the home tab. Common DIY trick on r/digitalminimalism.
Feedvault — block at ingestion (recommended)
Web app · Paid · Any device
Feedvault never ingests videos three minutes or shorter into your subscription feed. There is no Shorts to hide — there is no Shorts in the data. You also get grouped chronological Feeds, per-video notes via Studies, and watch-later/important/viewed flags. No browser extension to install. Works on phone and laptop.
Methods at a glance
| Capability | Settings toggle | Unhook / DF Tube | PocketTube | FreeTube / NewPipe | Feedvault |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blocks Shorts at the data layer (not UI hiding) | |||||
| Works on mobile (iOS & Android) | app only | via app | Android only | ||
| No browser extension or app install required | |||||
| Doesn't break when YouTube updates | fragile | fragile | fragile | ||
| Also organises subscriptions into chronological feeds | partial | ||||
| Save individual videos with notes | |||||
| Free | freemium |
Comparison accurate as of June 2026. Tool capabilities change: YouTube's native Shorts feed limit and PocketTube's mobile apps are both recent additions. We update this table as the tools change.
Hiding ≠ blocking. Feedvault refuses to ingest Shorts in the first place.
Every other tool on this page operates after the fact. The Shorts video has already been fetched, the recommendation has already been computed, and the tool is just hiding it from your eyes with a CSS rule or a layout override. That's why those tools break when YouTube ships an interface update.
Feedvault works at the data layer. When a channel uploads a new video, Feedvault fetches the metadata, checks the duration, and if it's three minutes or shorter, it never enters your Feed. There's no UI rule to break, no extension to install, no mobile gap. Open Feedvault on your phone, your laptop, your tablet — your Feeds are Shorts-free everywhere.
Blocked at ingestion
Videos ≤3 minutes never enter your Feed.
Plus chronological Feeds
Group channels by topic, newest first.
Plus Studies for saved videos
Save standout videos with free-text notes.
Common questions
Can you fully disable YouTube Shorts?
YouTube does not give you a single "off" switch for Shorts. In 2026 YouTube added a Shorts feed limit you can set to zero in the mobile app, which pauses the Shorts feed on the home tab, but it does not remove Shorts from the Subscriptions tab or search and it can reset. You can also hide them with browser extensions like Unhook on desktop or use a third-party client like FreeTube. Feedvault takes a different approach: it never ingests videos three minutes or shorter into your subscription Feeds, so Shorts cannot appear no matter what device you use.
Does YouTube's built-in option to hide Shorts work?
Partly. As of 2026 you can open the YouTube mobile app, go to Settings, Time Management, Daily Limits, and set the Shorts feed limit to 0 minutes. That pauses the continuous Shorts feed on the home tab, which is a real improvement. But it is mobile-app only, it still surfaces individual Shorts, it does not clear Shorts from the Subscriptions tab or search, and the setting can reset. For a feed that never contains Shorts at all, you need a tool that filters them out of the data, which is what Feedvault does at ingestion.
Why do YouTube Shorts keep showing up in my subscriptions?
YouTube ranks Shorts highly in the Subscriptions tab and the home feed because watch-time on Shorts is high. Even if you say "Not interested" on every Short, the row often reappears the next day. The only durable solutions are a tool that hides the Shorts UI element (Unhook, DF Tube) or a tool that filters them out of the data itself (Feedvault).
Does Unhook block Shorts?
Unhook hides Shorts from the YouTube interface using CSS — they are still fetched by your browser, just hidden from view. It works only on desktop browsers where you install the extension and can break when YouTube ships interface updates. Feedvault filters Shorts out at ingestion, so they never reach your feed in the first place — and it works on mobile, since it is a web app, not an extension.
How do I block YouTube Shorts on iPhone or Android?
Mobile is the hardest case. Browser extensions do not work in the YouTube app. Common DIY methods include: setting the Shorts feed limit to zero under Settings, Time Management in the YouTube app (2026 native option), dismissing the Shorts row repeatedly, or switching to a third-party client like NewPipe (Android only). Feedvault works on mobile out of the box because it is a website — open it in any mobile browser and your Feeds are Shorts-free.
What counts as a YouTube Short in Feedvault?
Feedvault treats any video three minutes (180 seconds) or shorter as a Short and excludes it at ingestion. Anything longer than three minutes flows into your Feed normally.
Will I miss legitimate short videos from creators I follow?
Possibly — if a creator you follow publishes a video shorter than three minutes, it will not appear in your Feed. In practice this is rare for the kind of long-form creators most subscription-feed users care about. If a creator you follow uses short-form heavily, you can still find their videos directly on YouTube.
Keep reading
- How to organize YouTube subscriptions — five methods to group channels by topic, including the only purpose-built tool.
- PocketTube alternative — why people switch from PocketTube to Feedvault.
- Unhook alternative — how Feedvault compares to the popular YouTube-cleanup extension.
- YouTube Watch Later alternative — save videos with notes, flags, and topic groups via Studies.
- Save YouTube videos with notes — five tools compared, including Notion, Annotate.tv, and Feedvault Studies.
- YouTube without the algorithm — manifesto for bypassing the YouTube algorithm entirely.
- Alternative to the YouTube subscription feed — rebuild a chronological subscription feed.
- Distraction-free YouTube — complete guide mapping distractions to tools.
- Feedvault home — Feeds + Studies overview, comparison table, FAQ.
- For Families & Education — how parents and homeschoolers give kids a Shorts-free YouTube.
- Pricing — Annual at $99/year or Lifetime at $599 one-time.