How to Block YouTube Shorts on iPhone

3 Ways to Block YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts is a different problem than YouTube itself. You might genuinely want the main app for tutorials, sermons, or a specific channel, but the Shorts feed underneath it is a different animal entirely: an endless vertical scroll built on the same mechanics as TikTok. The tricky part is that Shorts lives inside the regular YouTube app, so blocking "YouTube" the app usually means losing everything, not just the scroll.

Method 1: YouTube's Own Shorts Feed Limit

This is the most targeted fix, and it's the one most people don't know exists.

1. Open the YouTube app and tap your profile icon in the top right
2. Tap Settings, then Time management
3. Tap Shorts feed limit
4. Select 0 minutes and make sure the toggle for the Shorts feed limit is switched on

As of April 2026, this setting was confirmed by YouTube to The Verge and reported by 9to5Google as rolling out to all users. Setting the limit to zero removes the Shorts shelf and feed from your YouTube home screen. It's the closest thing to a real "off switch" Google has ever shipped for Shorts.

The honest limits: Shorts still show up in your Subscriptions feed if you follow a channel that posts them, and you can still open an individual Short from a shared link or a search result. This setting hides the endless scroll, not every Short that exists.

Method 2: iOS Screen Time (Whole App Only)

iOS Screen Time cannot target Shorts specifically. It only sees "YouTube" as one app, so this method blocks everything, tutorials, sermons, and Shorts alike.

1. Open Settings on your iPhone
2. Tap Screen Time → App Limits → Add Limit
3. Expand the Entertainment category and select YouTube
4. Set your daily limit, then turn on Block at End of Limit so YouTube stays fully locked once your time runs out

If you want to keep long-form YouTube but lose Shorts: Combine both methods. Set the Shorts feed limit to 0 minutes inside the app first, then use Screen Time only as a backup if you find yourself in the main app too often.

Method 3: Faith-Based App Blocker

A faith-based blocker works at the app level, the same way Screen Time does, so it can't isolate Shorts from the rest of YouTube either. What it changes is the moment you reach for the app in the first place.

Apps like FaithLock put a Bible verse between you and YouTube. That pause matters most for Shorts specifically, because the scroll is designed to remove the decision point entirely. One video ends and the next begins in under a second. A verse before you even open the app restores a moment you'd otherwise never get.

For Christians who notice Shorts eating time meant for prayer, study, or actual rest, that fifteen-second interruption is often the difference between a quick check and a lost hour.

Why YouTube Shorts Is Hard to Quit

There is no natural stopping point. Long-form YouTube at least has a video that ends. Shorts are designed around continuous vertical swiping, so your brain never gets the "this is finished" signal that would normally prompt you to put the phone down.

It borrows credibility from regular YouTube. Because Shorts lives inside an app you already trust for tutorials and sermons, opening YouTube "just to check one thing" can slide into Shorts without you consciously choosing to go there.

The algorithm learns fast. Short-form video platforms, Shorts included, can adapt to what keeps you watching within a handful of videos. A feed that's ten swipes old is often already tuned specifically to whatever keeps you personally scrolling.

YouTube Shorts-Specific Tips

Set the Shorts feed limit before you set anything else. It's the one setting built for this exact problem, and it's free.

Unsubscribe from Shorts-heavy channels. If a channel you follow posts mostly Shorts, they'll still appear in your Subscriptions feed even after you zero out the main Shorts feed. Trim your subscriptions to reduce that backdoor.

Block the Shorts web path too, if you're strict about it. In Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → Web Content, you can add specific pages under "Never Allow." Add youtube.com to be thorough, though Screen Time's web filtering works at the domain level and won't reliably block just the /shorts path on its own.

Watch with intent, the same rule that works for regular YouTube. Search for the specific video you want, watch it, and close the app. Don't let a legitimate search turn into a scroll session on the way out.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I block YouTube Shorts without blocking all of YouTube? Use YouTube's own Shorts feed limit (Settings → Time management → Shorts feed limit → 0 minutes). This is the only method that removes the Shorts scroll while leaving the rest of the app, search, subscriptions, and full-length videos, untouched.

Does iOS Screen Time have a separate setting for YouTube Shorts? No. Screen Time treats YouTube as a single app, so App Limits and Content & Privacy Restrictions apply to all of YouTube at once. There's no Apple-level control that isolates Shorts specifically.

Will setting the Shorts feed limit to zero remove Shorts completely? Not entirely. It removes the Shorts feed and shelf from your home screen, but Shorts can still appear in your Subscriptions feed and can still be opened through a direct or shared link.

Can kids get around a YouTube Shorts block? If a child has an unsupervised account, they can change most in-app settings themselves. For younger kids, a Google Family Link supervised account gives a parent-level Shorts control that a supervised account can't override, though it only applies inside the YouTube app itself, not to youtube.com in a browser.

Is it worth blocking Shorts if I still watch regular YouTube videos? For a lot of people, yes. Shorts and long-form YouTube produce very different viewing patterns. A single tutorial has a clear start and end. A Shorts session usually doesn't end until something else interrupts it, which is exactly why a hard limit or a moment of Scripture before opening the app tends to help more here than with regular videos.

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Sources: 9to5Google, YouTube Shorts are a lot easier to ignore with this new setting, YouTube Help Center, Apple Support, Screen Time