How to block YouTube Shorts in 2026 (and measure the impact)
/shorts link to the homepage. On a phone, use YouTube in a browser or limit the app. Then measure your attention for a week before and after, so you know the change actually helped.Why Shorts are so hard to stop watching
A Short ends before you decide whether it was worth watching, and the next one starts on its own. There's no natural stopping point, so the decision to stop has to come from you, again and again. That's why willpower alone tends to fail and why removing the trigger works better than resisting it. We go into the detail in why YouTube Shorts destroy your focus.
Shorts also turn up in more places than the Shorts tab: a shelf on the homepage, cards in search results, a row in your subscriptions feed, and links shared by friends. Blocking only one of these leaves the others open, which is why the YouTube settings below only go so far.
What YouTube itself lets you do
These are worth knowing, but none of them removes Shorts completely.
- Hide the Shorts shelf. On the homepage, open the menu on the Shorts shelf and choose Not interested. The shelf disappears for a while, then comes back.
- Pause watch history. In Settings → Manage all history, turning watch history off reduces personalised recommendations, and for many accounts empties the homepage feed. It also makes the rest of YouTube less tailored to you.
- Use subscriptions, not the homepage. Starting from your subscriptions page means you choose the channel before YouTube chooses the video.
How to block Shorts on a computer with FocusScore
FocusScore is a free Chrome extension, so this works in Chrome and in other browsers that run Chrome extensions. It takes about a minute.
- Install FocusScore from the Chrome Web Store and pin it to your toolbar.
- Open the YouTube tab in the extension popup.
- Switch on Shorts under Hide on YouTube. This hides the Shorts shelf, Shorts cards and the Shorts entry in the navigation.
- Switch on Block Shorts entirely if you also want any
/shortslink, including ones friends send you, to redirect to the homepage instead of playing. - Reload YouTube. Shorts are hidden before they appear, so you don't see them flash up and disappear.
Blocking works whether or not you agree to focus measurement. If you decline, you get the blocker without a Focus Score.
If you want fewer Shorts, not zero
Blocking everything doesn't suit everyone. Set a Daily Shorts / Reels limit instead: FocusScore counts the Shorts you watch each day and shows a break screen once you pass your number. The same limit covers Instagram Reels. The count starts again each day.
Other switches that help
- Home feed: search-only mode, so YouTube opens on a search box instead of a feed.
- End screens and autoplay: stop the next video from choosing itself.
- Force autoplay off: stops the next video, not just the autoplay panel.
- Grayscale thumbnails: removes the bright colour that makes thumbnails grab attention.
- Allowed hours and a daily time limit: keep YouTube for the times you choose.
How to block Shorts on your phone
The YouTube app gives you no way to remove Shorts, and Chrome extensions don't run in it. The practical options are:
- Use YouTube in a mobile browser and remove the app from your home screen. The extra step is often enough to break the habit.
- Set an app limit with Screen Time on iPhone or Digital Wellbeing on Android. It limits all of YouTube, not just Shorts, so it's blunter.
- Block distracting apps during focus sessions. FocusScore's Android and iOS apps are in early access and report into the same account as the extension.
Does blocking Shorts actually improve focus?
Often, but not always. It depends on what fills the time you get back. If you move to long videos you chose on purpose, or to work, it helps. If you open Instagram Reels or TikTok instead, the habit has just moved. That's why it's worth measuring rather than relying on how a week felt.
How to measure the impact
- Take a baseline. Use YouTube normally for a week with FocusScore measuring but nothing blocked. Note your average Focus Score and your Shorts time.
- Turn the blocker on (or set a daily limit) and change nothing else.
- Compare the next week. Look at three things: your average Focus Score, your Shorts time, and your time on the other short-video feeds.
- Decide. If your score went up and the time didn't move to Reels or TikTok, keep it. If it moved, block those feeds too, or try a daily limit across all of them.
The before-and-after view puts your first week next to your latest one, using only your own numbers.
Frequently asked questions
On a computer, use a Chrome extension that hides the Shorts shelf, the Shorts tab and Shorts in search, and optionally redirects any /shorts link to the homepage. In FocusScore that is two switches on the YouTube tab: "Shorts" and "Block Shorts entirely". YouTube's own "Not interested" option only hides the shelf for a while.
Not permanently. YouTube has no setting that removes Shorts for good. You can hide the Shorts shelf temporarily from its menu, but it comes back, and it doesn't stop Shorts appearing in search or in the subscriptions feed.
Partly. Hiding the shelf with "Not interested", pausing watch history, and using YouTube in a browser instead of the app all reduce how often you see Shorts. None of them remove Shorts completely. An extension is the only reliable way on a computer.
The YouTube app doesn't let you remove Shorts. Your options are to use youtube.com in a mobile browser, set an app limit with Screen Time (iPhone) or Digital Wellbeing (Android), or use an app that blocks distracting apps during focus sessions. FocusScore's Android and iOS apps are in early access.
No. FocusScore's Shorts switches only affect Shorts. Long videos, search and subscriptions work as normal. If you want to cut more, the home feed, recommendations, end screens and autoplay each have their own switch.
Set a daily Shorts limit instead of blocking them. FocusScore counts the Shorts you watch each day and shows a break screen once you pass your number. The count resets each day.
Measure before and after. Note your average Focus Score and Shorts time for a normal week, switch the blocker on, and compare the next week. If your score rises and your Shorts time falls without another feed taking its place, the change is working.