YouTube Shorts is TikTok wearing a trench coat pretending to be a different app. You open YouTube to watch a specific video and somehow end up in the Shorts feed watching a man iron a shirt in a way that is inexplicably satisfying. Twenty minutes gone.
Google, like Meta, has no intention of letting you disable Shorts. It's their growth format. But here are four methods to get rid of them anyway, ranked by how well they actually work.
Method 1: Long-Press “Not Interested” (Sisyphus Mode)
Tap and hold any Short on the home feed and select “Not interested.” YouTube will show you fewer of that specific type. But the Shorts shelf itself doesn't go away. New ones appear. You dismiss them. More appear. This is a battle of attrition and the algorithm has infinite patience.
Effectiveness: 2/10. You'll run out of energy before it runs out of Shorts.
Method 2: Browser Extensions (Desktop Only)
If you use YouTube on a computer, extensions like “Remove YouTube Shorts” or uBlock Origin with custom filters can hide the Shorts shelf entirely. This works well — on desktop. Which is approximately 0% of where you doomscroll at 1 AM.
Effectiveness: 7/10 on desktop. 0/10 on your phone, where the problem actually lives.
Method 3: YouTube Premium + Settings Tweaks
YouTube Premium doesn't remove Shorts (thanks, Google), but you can reduce them. Go to Settings → General and disable “Shorts” in your feed preferences if available in your region. Some users also report that the “Don't recommend channel” option helps reduce Shorts from specific creators.
The catch: these settings are region-dependent, get reset by updates, and Google keeps changing where they live. It's a moving target.
Effectiveness: 4/10. Inconsistent and unreliable.
Method 4: Block YouTube + Use Breakfree's Built-In Player
The nuclear option that actually works: block YouTube at the system level and watch through a clean alternative that strips out Shorts entirely.
Breakfree blocks YouTube (and other addictive apps) at the system level using Apple's Screen Time API. No “ignore limit” button — the app is locked. If you want to unblock it, you have to watch ads, which is just enough friction to make you think twice.
But here's the key: Breakfree also has a built-in YouTube player that lets you watch regular videos and browse your subscriptions — with the Shorts feed completely removed. You get the useful parts of YouTube (search, subscriptions, full videos) without the addictive parts (Shorts, algorithmic home feed).
Effectiveness: 9/10. No Shorts. Full videos and subscriptions intact.
Why YouTube Shorts Exists
YouTube launched Shorts in 2020, also to compete with TikTok. Shorts now generate over 200 billion daily views. Google has integrated them into the main feed, the home page, search results, and even the subscription feed. Like Reels, Shorts are a growth priority — not a user feature.
You're not the customer. You're the product. The Shorts feed exists to keep your eyeballs on the platform so Google can sell ads against them.
The Best Approach
For desktop: use a browser extension. For mobile (where the actual problem is): block YouTube at the system level with Breakfree and use its built-in YouTube player, which gives you subscriptions and search without the Shorts feed. Your screen time will thank you.
