How do I turn off YouTube Shorts?
YouTube has no switch that turns Shorts off completely. The closest official option is the Shorts feed limit: in the YouTube app, open Settings, then Time management, then Shorts feed limit, and pick a daily amount, including zero. When you reach it YouTube pauses the Shorts feed with a prompt, but the prompt can be dismissed, so you can keep scrolling. Because the limit counts minutes, it helps to know that assuming 24 seconds of viewing per video, 40 minutes is about 100 Shorts.
The short answer
You can’t turn Shorts off entirely. The strongest tool YouTube gives you is the Shorts feed limit, and it goes all the way down to zero. But the prompt you get when you hit it can be dismissed, so the final call is still yours.
What do YouTube’s own settings do?
These are the main time tools inside the YouTube app:
| Setting | What it does | Does it stop Shorts? |
|---|---|---|
| Shorts feed limit | Pauses the Shorts feed with a prompt once your daily time is up | The prompt can be dismissed |
| Remind me to take a break | Pauses the video at an interval you choose | Aimed mostly at regular videos |
| Bedtime reminder | Tells you it’s time for bed at a set hour | No, it’s a reminder |
| Time watched | Shows how long you watched today and over recent days | No, it only measures |
The break reminder is on by default for users aged 13 to 17 and off for adults.
How to set the Shorts feed limit
- In the YouTube app, tap the You tab.
- Open Settings, then Time management.
- Tap Shorts feed limit and choose a time from the list.
Menu labels move around between versions. If you don’t see the option, update the app first.
Can you remove the Shorts shelf from the home page?
There’s no official setting that removes it for good. Marking individual Shorts as “Not interested” changes what gets recommended, but the shelf stays.
What about deleting the app or setting a timer?
Android’s app timer shuts YouTube down as a whole. Along with Shorts you lose the recipe video and the lecture you actually wanted. Deleting YouTube ends up in the same place: you reinstall it to watch something long, and Shorts comes back with it.
This is where YouTube’s own limit deserves credit. It only looks at the Shorts feed, so regular videos are left alone. It’s worth turning on.
Why isn’t the limit enough on its own?
The Shorts limit is a reminder, and dismissing it takes one tap. It also arrives when you’re deep in the feed, which is exactly when “one more” is easiest to say.
The second problem is the unit. The limit works in minutes, but on Shorts the unit is the video. If each video were watched for 24 seconds, 40 minutes is roughly 100 Shorts and 80 minutes is roughly 200. “40 minutes” sounds reasonable. “100 videos” doesn’t.
So what does work?
Turn on the Shorts feed limit, and keep a count next to it. Measure how many Shorts you scroll a day for a few days, then set one target a little below that number. We explained why measuring first matters in a separate post.
Silverback counts the videos you scroll on YouTube Shorts and shows the number on top of YouTube. It only counts on the Shorts screen, so long videos don’t add to it. Pass your daily goal and a gorilla punches the screen. YouTube doesn’t close and nothing gets locked.