Can You Disable Shorts on YouTube? What You Actually Control

YouTube Shorts has become a permanent fixture of the platform — a vertical, short-form video feed baked directly into the YouTube app, website, and homepage algorithm. For many users, it's a welcome discovery tool. For others, it's a constant distraction that pulls attention away from longer content, subscriptions, and focused viewing sessions.

The honest answer to whether you can disable Shorts is: partially, depending on your platform and approach. There's no single "turn off Shorts" toggle in YouTube's settings. But there are meaningful ways to reduce, filter, or block Shorts depending on how you use YouTube and what tools you're willing to use.

Why YouTube Doesn't Offer a Native Off Switch

YouTube Shorts generates significant engagement, and Google has no financial incentive to let users opt out entirely. As of now, YouTube's own settings do not include a dedicated option to disable or hide Shorts — not in the mobile app, not on desktop, and not through YouTube Premium.

That said, YouTube does respond to user behavior over time. Repeatedly tapping "Not interested" or "Don't recommend channel" on Shorts content does influence what the algorithm surfaces — though it rarely eliminates Shorts from the feed entirely. Think of it as dampening the signal, not cutting the wire.

What You Can Do on Mobile (Android and iOS)

The YouTube mobile app is where Shorts are most prominent — they appear in the home feed, in a dedicated Shorts tab at the bottom of the app, and sometimes within search results.

Options on mobile include:

• "Not interested" feedback — Long-press a Short and select this option. Consistent use reduces Shorts frequency over time, but results vary by user and account history.
• Hiding individual channels — Selecting "Don't recommend channel" removes that creator's Shorts (and regular videos) from recommendations.
• Third-party YouTube clients — Apps like Revanced (Android only) allow users to modify the YouTube experience, including hiding the Shorts shelf, Shorts tab, and Shorts from the home feed. These are unofficial modifications and carry their own risks around account safety, app stability, and terms of service compliance.

📱 iOS users have fewer workaround options than Android users, since sideloading modified apps isn't straightforward on Apple devices without additional steps.

What You Can Do on Desktop (Browser)

On desktop, browser extensions offer the most reliable method for filtering Shorts out of the YouTube interface.

Commonly used extensions include:

These extensions work at the browser level, intercepting and modifying the YouTube page layout before it renders on screen. They don't interact with YouTube's servers or your account — they simply hide elements from view.

Effectiveness varies based on how frequently YouTube updates its front-end code. When YouTube changes class names or layout structure, extensions can temporarily break until developers push an update. Extensions maintained by active developer communities tend to recover faster.

The Algorithm Variable: Your Watch History Matters 🎯

One factor that's easy to overlook is that YouTube's recommendation engine is deeply personalized. Two users who take identical steps to reduce Shorts may see very different results based on:

• Account age and history — Older accounts with established watch patterns can be harder to retrain
• Engagement patterns — Even pausing on a Short briefly registers as engagement
• Signed-in vs. signed-out viewing — Signed-out or incognito viewing won't carry your preferences
• Device type — Shorts suppression on desktop doesn't carry over to the mobile app; settings and behavior are treated separately

If you're signed into YouTube across multiple devices, you'll need to apply workarounds on each device independently. There's no cross-device "disable Shorts" preference that syncs through your Google account.

YouTube Premium: Does It Help?

YouTube Premium does not disable Shorts. It removes ads, enables background play, and offers offline downloads — but Shorts content and shelf placement remain unchanged for Premium subscribers. Premium is not a factor in this particular problem.

Shorts Within Subscribed Channels

Another layer worth understanding: creators you subscribe to may post Shorts alongside regular videos. These appear in your Subscriptions feed tagged with a Shorts icon. Currently, YouTube does not allow filtering your Subscriptions feed by content format — you can't tell YouTube to show you only long-form videos from channels you follow without also seeing their Shorts.

Some users manage this by unsubscribing from channels that post primarily Shorts and relying on bookmarks or direct channel visits instead — a manual workaround, but one that keeps the Subscriptions tab cleaner.

What Changes Between User Profiles

The right approach differs significantly depending on your situation:

• A casual mobile-only viewer has fewer clean options and will likely need to rely on behavioral feedback signals
• A desktop-primary user comfortable with browser extensions has the most control with the least friction
• An Android user open to modified app clients can achieve near-complete Shorts removal
• Someone managing YouTube for kids or in an educational setting may find YouTube Kids (a separate app) sidesteps the Shorts issue entirely, though it limits content in other ways

How much Shorts affects your experience — and which workaround is worth the effort — depends on how and where you actually use YouTube day to day.