Set a Zero-Minute Shorts Limit
YouTube does not need to keep showing Shorts in your feed. On iPhone, Android, and Samsung Galaxy phones, you can use the YouTube app’s Shorts feed limit setting to limit Shorts to zero minutes.
With the limit set to zero, Shorts stop appearing after you refresh the Home feed. If you open the Shorts tab and try to play a Short, YouTube tells you that your limit has been reached. This gives you a way to focus on regular YouTube videos without browsing an endless Shorts feed.
This setting limits Shorts in places such as your Home screen and search results. It does not remove the Shorts tab from the YouTube app, and YouTube still lets you override the limit for one day if you choose to.
Video Tutorial
How to Disable YouTube Shorts in the App
These steps use the YouTube mobile app. The process is the same on an iPhone, Android phone, or Samsung phone.
- Open the YouTube app on your phone.
- Select You in the bottom menu.
- Select the gear icon in the top-right corner to open YouTube settings.
- Select Time management.
- Scroll to the bottom of the Time management page.
- Select Shorts feed limit.
- Select 0 minutes.
- Return to the Home tab and refresh the feed.
After refreshing Home, the Shorts section should no longer appear in your feed. You can continue using YouTube normally to browse standard videos, subscriptions, and other content.
What the Zero-Minute Limit Does
The zero-minute option is the closest available setting to disabling YouTube Shorts in the app. It prevents you from watching Shorts once the limit applies, rather than deleting the feature from YouTube entirely.
Try opening the Shorts tab after setting the limit. YouTube should display a message that your Shorts limit has been reached instead of playing a Short. The same limit can reduce Shorts shown elsewhere in the app, including Home and search.
This distinction matters if you are trying to avoid short-form videos instead of just cleaning up the Home page. Hiding one Shorts shelf from the feed would not stop you from opening Shorts later. Setting the feed limit to zero handles both situations by limiting playback as well.
Use Ignore Limit for Today Only When Needed
YouTube provides an Ignore limit for today option after the Shorts limit has been reached. Selecting it allows Shorts again for that day. This is useful if you intentionally need to view a specific Short.
Keep in mind that using this option means the zero-minute limit is no longer stopping Shorts for the rest of the day. If your goal is to keep Shorts out of your viewing routine, leave the limit in place and avoid selecting the override.
If Shorts Are Still Showing
Go back to You, open the settings gear, select Time management, and check Shorts feed limit. Confirm that it is set to 0 minutes.
Then return to Home and refresh the feed. The feed refresh is important because YouTube may still show content that was loaded before you changed the setting. Once the updated Home feed loads, Shorts should no longer be shown there.
You may still see the Shorts option in the bottom navigation. The setting does not remove that part of the app. Instead, it stops Shorts from playing by telling YouTube that the viewing limit has already been reached.
Change the Limit Later
If you decide to allow some Shorts again, return to Time management and open Shorts feed limit. You can change the limit from zero minutes to a different amount of time.
For the strongest limit, keep it at zero minutes. This keeps Shorts out of your refreshed Home feed and blocks playback unless you manually choose Ignore limit for today.
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