How to Block YouTube Shorts on Android: 4 Ways That Work in 2026
A year ago the honest answer to "how do I turn off YouTube Shorts?" was that you couldn't. In 2026 you can get close, and the built-in option is better than most people realize. Here are the four ways that work on Android, what each one actually does, and where each one stops.
1. YouTube's own Shorts feed limit (including zero)
In October 2025 YouTube added a daily timer for Shorts, adjustable from 15 minutes to two hours. When you reach it, a pop-up tells you that scrolling the Shorts feed is paused for the day (TechCrunch). In April 2026 a zero-minute option appeared, which is the nearest thing to an off switch (Android Authority).
To set it on Android:
- Open YouTube and tap your profile picture.
- Open Settings, then Time management.
- Find the Shorts feed limit and choose a time, or the zero-minute option.
The menu names move around between app versions, so if you don't see it, update the app first.
What it does not do: Shorts can still appear in other places, such as your Subscriptions feed, and at launch the pop-up that appears at your limit could be dismissed. So it works as a firm reminder, not a lock. If you know you click through reminders, keep reading.
2. Telling YouTube you are not interested
Every Short has a menu with a "Not interested" option. It nudges the recommendations away from similar clips. It is free and takes seconds, but it only shapes what you are shown. It does not remove the feed or the swipe, and it needs repeating, because new topics keep arriving.
3. Android's app timer
Digital Wellbeing, built into most Android phones, lets you set a daily timer for any app. When the time is up, the app pauses for the day (Google's guide). The catch is that it limits the whole of YouTube, not just Shorts. If you also watch tutorials or music there, the timer cuts those off too, which is why many people switch it off after a week.
4. A blocker that stops the swipe itself
A different approach is to leave YouTube alone and intercept only the gesture that loads the next Short. Because it works inside the app, long videos, search and subscriptions keep working, and a Short you open on purpose, from a link or a thumbnail, still plays. A few apps do this on Android. Dam It is one of them: it runs in the background through Android's Accessibility Service, needs no account, and is a paid app with a 7-day trial. ScrollGuard is another, and has a free tier.
The four options side by side
| Method | Stops the endless swipe | Leaves long videos alone | Easy to bypass | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Shorts limit | Yes, until the limit | Yes | Yes, the pop-up can be dismissed | Free |
| Not interested | No | Yes | Not applicable | Free |
| Android app timer | Whole app only | No | Yes, you can extend the timer | Free |
| Swipe blocker app | Yes | Yes | Pause is possible, by design | Free or paid, depending on the app |
A two-week test that tells you which one you need
Rather than guessing, run a short experiment. It needs nothing but your phone.
- Days 1 to 3, baseline. Change nothing. At the end of each day, open Digital Wellbeing and note how many minutes YouTube got. If you want a sense of what that adds up to over a year, put the number into the time wasting calculator.
- Days 4 to 10, the free option. Set the Shorts limit, either a real budget such as 20 minutes or zero. Pay attention to how often you dismiss the pop-up and keep going.
- Days 11 to 14, decide. If YouTube minutes dropped and you did not miss anything, you are done and it cost you nothing. If you kept dismissing the reminder, the reminder is not the problem, the swipe is.
Questions people ask
Will a Shorts limit stop Shorts everywhere in the app?
Not entirely. Reports on the zero-minute option say it mainly stops the endless feed, and that clips can still show up in places like Subscriptions. Expect fewer Shorts, not none.
Can I limit Shorts for a child?
When YouTube introduced the timer, it was not connected to parental controls, and YouTube said that integration was coming. Check Family Link and your child's supervised settings for the current state, as this is changing.
Why do Shorts feel harder to stop than regular videos?
A regular video ends and you choose what comes next. A Short ends and the next one is already there. We wrote about how that design removed the moment of choosing in the piece on autoplay and the stopping cue.
Which one to pick
Start with the free built-in limit and give it two weeks. If you notice yourself tapping through the reminder, the problem is not information, it is the swipe, and that is the case for an app that removes the gesture. If you only want a gentle nudge and never watch Shorts on purpose, the zero-minute limit may be all you need.
One honest caveat for every method: none of them hides every Short. A clip someone sends you will still open, and a feed-level blocker is designed to let it play, because the point is to remove the endless chain, not the videos you choose.