How to Block YouTube Shorts on Desktop and Mobile

How do I block YouTube Shorts on desktop Chrome?

There's no official Chrome or YouTube setting that removes Shorts outright. The practical fix is a content-blocking extension with a custom filter rule that hides the Shorts shelf element on youtube.com, or a site-blocker rule that blocks the /shorts URL path specifically. This approach borrows the same custom-filter technique used in blocking ads on YouTube — only the target element or URL changes.

1. Install AdGuard AdBlocker or Adblock Plus from the Chrome Web Store.
2. Open the extension's settings and find its custom filters or 'My filters' section.
3. Add a filter rule targeting the Shorts shelf element on youtube.com (each extension documents its own filter syntax on its options page).
4. Reload youtube.com and confirm the Shorts row is gone from the homepage.

This hides the shelf visually; it doesn't stop YouTube from serving a Shorts video if you follow a direct link to one, which is a separate step covered further down. For more YouTube-specific tools, see our YouTube tools hub.

Does YouTube have a built-in setting to turn off Shorts?

No. YouTube doesn't offer a single toggle that removes Shorts from the site or app. The closest official tools are per-video feedback: tapping Not interested or Don't recommend channel on a Shorts video, which nudges the recommendation system over time rather than hiding the shelf immediately.

This is a real limitation worth setting expectations around: feedback-based tuning reduces how often Shorts appear in your recommendations, but it won't remove the Shorts shelf from the homepage, search results, or a channel page the way a blocker does. YouTube has adjusted Shorts-related controls before, so menu wording can shift between app versions — if you don't see Not interested exactly, look for the three-dot menu on any Shorts video for the closest equivalent.

How do I block the Shorts shelf without blocking YouTube entirely?

Target the specific /shorts URL path or the shelf element rather than the whole youtube.com domain, so regular videos and YouTube Music keep working normally.

If you only want fewer Shorts recommended rather than none at all, the feedback route in the table is the lowest-effort option; if you want the shelf gone today, a filter rule or URL block is more direct. Chrome DevTools can help you find the exact CSS selector for the current Shorts shelf if you're comfortable inspecting a page, but most extensions' custom-filter documentation walks through this without requiring it.

How do I block YouTube Shorts on Android or iPhone?

The YouTube mobile app doesn't support browser extensions, so a Chrome-based filter won't reach it. Your options there are the Not interested feedback loop mentioned above, or watching YouTube through a mobile browser tab instead of the app.

Some third-party Android browsers support extensions built for desktop-style content blocking, but installing one changes your default mobile browsing experience well beyond YouTube, which is a bigger trade-off than most people want just to hide Shorts. This is a genuine platform gap: iOS and Android Chrome don't run extensions at all, so anything that depends on one is desktop-only by design, not a setting you're missing on your phone.

How do I block Shorts on a Chromebook or a managed school device?

The same extension-based approach works on ChromeOS, since Chromebooks run the same Chrome extension platform as desktop. Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store the same way, then add the filter rule described earlier.

On a school or work-managed Chromebook, installing new extensions may be restricted or require administrator approval, in which case the Not interested feedback method is the only option available without contacting IT.

Will blocking the Shorts shelf also stop Shorts from showing in search results?

Not automatically. A filter rule that hides the homepage Shorts shelf targets that specific element, so Shorts can still appear as individual results in search unless your filter or URL-path rule also covers search pages.

Blocking the /shorts URL path is the more thorough option here, since it applies wherever a Shorts link appears, including search results and channel pages, not just the homepage shelf. Test both places after adding a rule — search for a topic you know has Shorts results, and check a channel you know posts them, since a rule tuned only for the homepage can miss both.

Can you block Shorts without breaking regular videos or YouTube Music?

Yes, as long as your rule targets the Shorts-specific path or shelf element rather than the youtube.com domain broadly. A domain-wide block, by contrast, takes out everything, including YouTube Music at music.youtube.com.

None of these were built specifically to remove Shorts, so expect to spend a few minutes in each extension's options finding where custom filters live before it works the way you want. Test any rule on both the YouTube homepage and a channel page before considering it done, since Shorts often appear in both places with slightly different markup.

What else reduces Shorts without fully blocking them?

Beyond filter rules, a few account-level habits reduce how often Shorts show up without any extension at all.

• Tap Not interested on individual Shorts to train recommendations over time.
• Use Don't recommend channel on accounts that post mostly Shorts.
• Clear or pause your watch history periodically, since heavy Shorts-watching feeds more Shorts recommendations back to you.
• Unsubscribe from channels that post Shorts you don't want, since subscription feed items can include them.

These reduce volume gradually rather than blocking anything outright, so pair them with a filter rule or URL block above if you want the shelf gone immediately rather than tapered off over weeks. If Shorts are just one symptom of spending too much time on YouTube generally, blocking a website in Chrome outright during set hours is a blunter but more effective option. If you create Shorts yourself rather than only watching them, our YouTube thumbnail size tool covers the separate dimensions needed for regular videos versus Shorts.

Why does the Shorts shelf come back after a YouTube or extension update?

YouTube periodically redesigns its homepage layout, which can break a custom filter rule written for the old element structure. This is the most common reason a working rule stops working with no changes on your end.

Update your extension's filter lists (most do this automatically, but a manual Check for updates in the options page speeds it up), and if the shelf still reappears, rewrite the custom rule to match the current page structure rather than assuming it will self-correct. Note that a filter rule hiding Shorts is unrelated to pop-up or redirect problems — see stopping pop-ups and redirects in Chrome if that's the actual issue you're seeing.