How to Completely Disable YouTube Shorts (Set Daily Limit to 0 Minutes)

If you’ve ever opened YouTube for a quick video and ended up stuck scrolling through Shorts for far longer than planned, you’re not alone. These bite-sized videos are designed to be addictive—and they work.

Now, YouTube has finally introduced a feature that gives you full control. You can set your Shorts daily limit to 0 minutes, effectively disabling them entirely. No more distractions, no more endless scrolling—just a cleaner, more focused YouTube experience.

Here’s everything you need to know.

What Happens When You Set Shorts to 0 Minutes?

Once you enable this setting, YouTube essentially removes Shorts from your experience:

• The Shorts tab stops showing any videos
• Shorts disappear from your home feed
• Your browsing experience becomes more like traditional YouTube

This is a major improvement over the previous version of the feature.

Why This Feature Matters

When YouTube first introduced Shorts time limits back in October 2024, users could only reduce usage to a minimum of 15 minutes per day. That restriction made it impossible to fully opt out.

Now, with the ability to set the limit to zero, you can:

• Eliminate distractions
• Reduce screen time
• Focus on long-form, meaningful content
• Create a healthier viewing habit

The feature is available to all adult accounts, as well as supervised accounts through Google Family Link—making it especially useful for parents managing their children’s screen time.

How to Disable YouTube Shorts on Android and iOS

Follow these simple steps to turn off Shorts completely:

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Open the YouTube app on your Android or iOS device
2. Tap the “You” tab in the bottom-right corner
3. Tap the gear icon (Settings) in the top-right corner
4. Select “Time watched” or “Time management”
5. Scroll down to “Daily limits”
6. Enable “Shorts daily limit”
7. Choose “0 minutes”

What Changes After Disabling Shorts?

After applying the 0-minute limit:

• The Shorts feed will no longer load any content
• Short videos will disappear from your homepage
• You’ll regain a more intentional and less cluttered YouTube interface

This doesn’t delete Shorts from YouTube—it simply removes them from your personal experience.

Is This the Best Way to Avoid Shorts?

Yes—this is currently the most effective built-in method to block Shorts without needing third-party apps or browser extensions.

Alternative methods (like using “Not Interested” repeatedly) are far less reliable and take more time.

Final Thoughts

YouTube Shorts can be entertaining, but they’re also engineered to keep you hooked. With the new 0-minute daily limit, you finally have a simple and powerful way to take back control.

Whether you’re trying to boost productivity, cut down on screen time, or just enjoy YouTube without distractions, this feature is a game-changer.

If you’ve been looking for a way to break free from endless scrolling, this is it.