How to Block YouTube Shorts on iPhone and Android

By Fred Smith, maker of Drill Sergeant / Updated October 19, 2026/ 6 min read

The short answer

YouTube now has its own setting for this: in the app, go to You, Settings, Time management, Shorts feed limit and pick a limit, including zero. On your own account it's a reminder you can dismiss. For a stricter block, use a Shorts blocker on Android, or put a limit on the whole YouTube app with Screen Time or Digital Wellbeing.

Shorts sits inside the app you also use for tutorials, music and long videos, which is what makes it hard to escape. Here's every way to cut it down, starting with the one YouTube added itself.

1. YouTube's Shorts feed limit (iPhone and Android)

Open the YouTube app and tap You.
Tap Settings, then Time management.
Tap Shorts feed limit and choose a limit. Zero is one of the options.

When you reach the limit, YouTube shows a message. On your own account you can dismiss it and carry on^[1], so it works as a nudge. YouTube added the timer in late 2025^[2]. On supervised teen accounts it's stricter: a parent's limit blocks the Shorts feed for the rest of the day^[1].

2. On Android: a Shorts-only blocker

Android lets apps with the Accessibility permission see which screen is open, so some can remove only Shorts and leave the rest of YouTube alone:

one sec has a YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels blocker that removes those features while keeping the rest of the app^[3].
Stay Focused includes a Shorts Blocker^[4].
Shorts Blocker is a small open-source app that backs out of Shorts and Reels for you^[5].

These depend on how YouTube's screens look, so a YouTube update can break them for a while.

3. On iPhone: limit the whole app

Apart from YouTube's own setting, iPhone blockers can't remove just Shorts, because Apple doesn't let apps control what happens inside other apps^[7]. What you can do is limit YouTube itself: Settings, Screen Time, App Limits (Time Allowances on iOS 27), and add YouTube^[6]. Add a Screen Time passcode someone else sets, or the limit is one tap away from gone.

One more Short is never one more Short. Close it.

When it's YouTube itself

If you set Shorts to zero and lose the same hour to recommended videos, the problem is the app, not the tab. Drill Sergeant puts a checkpoint in front of YouTube: 10 push-ups or a report of an hour's work buys 10 minutes, or you close it and get back to work.

Same problem on other apps? See how to block Instagram Reels and how to block TikTok.

Questions people ask

Can you turn off YouTube Shorts?

Nearly. In the YouTube app, go to You, Settings, Time management, Shorts feed limit, and choose zero. On your own account it works as a reminder you can dismiss, not a hard block. On a supervised teen account a parent's limit really does stop the Shorts feed for the day.

How do I block YouTube Shorts but keep normal YouTube?

Use YouTube's own Shorts feed limit, set to zero. On Android you can also use an app that removes just Shorts, such as one sec's Shorts blocker or Stay Focused's Shorts Blocker. On iPhone, apart from YouTube's own setting, blockers can only block the whole YouTube app.

Why doesn't Screen Time block only Shorts?

Screen Time limits whole apps and websites. Apple doesn't let any app control what happens inside another app, so no iPhone blocker can switch off just the Shorts tab.

Does Drill Sergeant block YouTube Shorts?

Drill Sergeant blocks the whole YouTube app behind a checkpoint: 10 push-ups or a report of real work before it opens. If you only want Shorts gone and the rest of YouTube free, use the Shorts feed limit instead.