The free built-in way is YouTube's Shorts feed limit: since April 2026 you can set it to 0 minutes in the YouTube app under You > Settings > Time management > Shorts feed limit. It falls short in three places: an adult account can dismiss the limit, news reports say Shorts still show in Subscriptions and can turn up in search, and a single Short opened from a link still plays. To hide the Shorts shelf and the Shorts tab while normal videos, search and subscriptions keep working, open YouTube in minulo, where hiding Shorts is free.
I'm Ayumu Kitabayashi, the developer of minulo, so read the minulo parts with that in mind. Everything about YouTube below comes from YouTube Help and the news reports listed on our pages. Menu names can change with app updates.
Set the Shorts feed limit to 0 (built-in, free)
- Sign in to the YouTube app.
- Tap the You tab, then Settings.
- Tap Time management.
- Tap Shorts feed limit and choose 0 from the list.
- Optional: on Home, scroll to a grid of Shorts, tap More at the top of the grid and choose Show fewer Shorts.
When you reach the limit, YouTube shows a reminder. In the words of YouTube's help, you are then "prompted with an option to dismiss or ignore your set limit." So on an adult account it is a reminder, not a lock. Engadget quotes the app's own message: "Scrolling is paused but you may still see individual Shorts."
The help page also leaves two things out. It only talks about the Shorts feed, and doesn't say whether the limit applies to Shorts on Home, in search results, on channel pages or in Subscriptions. And it gives steps for the YouTube app only, not for youtube.com in a browser.
"Show fewer Shorts" is feedback, not a switch. YouTube gives no period for it, and you can undo it in My Activity.
Hide Shorts in minulo and keep normal videos
minulo is an iPhone app (there is also a Mac app) that opens YouTube's website inside the app, with the parts you choose hidden.
- Install minulo from the App Store, tap Add a service on the home screen and choose YouTube.
- Tap the gear next to YouTube and turn on Hide the Shorts shelf, Hide the Shorts tab and Send Shorts links to the normal player.
- Watch normal videos, search, Subscriptions and Watch later in minulo as usual.
- Optional: in the Block tab, lock the official YouTube app with Screen Time. Tapping its icon then shows a block screen, and Open in minulo takes you to YouTube without Shorts. This is free for up to 2 hours per block.
Hiding is a setting, so it stays on until you change it, and there is no reminder to tap past. Pro ($9.99 a month or $39.99 a year in the US) adds schedules by day and time, blocks longer than 2 hours and Hard Mode. You don't need Pro to hide Shorts.
Comparison
| Option | What's hidden | What stays | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shorts feed limit at 0 (YouTube app) | A limit screen appears in the Shorts feed | Normal videos. Adults can dismiss the limit; Shorts in Subscriptions, search and links remain | Free |
| iPhone Screen Time | The whole YouTube app | Nothing in the app. Normal videos are blocked too | Free |
| Safari extension (for example Nope) | Shorts on youtube.com in Safari | Normal videos, in Safari only. The official app is unchanged | Nope is free; most others are paid or a subscription |
| minulo | Shorts shelf and Shorts tab; Shorts links open in the normal player | Normal videos, search, Subscriptions and Watch later, inside minulo | Hiding is free; Pro is paid |
The honest limits of minulo: on iPhone no app can change what another app shows, so Shorts are hidden only inside minulo. While minulo blocks the official YouTube app, YouTube notifications don't arrive, and minulo sends none of its own. There is no iPad or Android version, and the app is new, with few ratings. If you'd rather compare every option first, see every way to block YouTube Shorts on iPhone.
FAQ
If I set the Shorts limit to 0, do all Shorts disappear?
No. YouTube's help only names the Shorts feed, and you can dismiss the limit. News reports from April 2026 say Shorts still show in Subscriptions, can turn up in search, and a single Short opened from a link still plays. More detail in the Shorts feed limit explained.
Is there a switch in YouTube that turns Shorts off?
Not on an adult account. We found no such setting in YouTube Help. The built-in options lower Shorts rather than remove them. See can you turn off YouTube Shorts?
Can any app remove Shorts from the official YouTube app?
No. On iPhone no app can change what another app shows. minulo can lock the official app with Screen Time and send you to its own view of YouTube, where Shorts are hidden.
Is Screen Time a good free option?
It is the strictest free option, especially with a passcode someone else sets, but it blocks the whole YouTube app, including the normal videos you wanted to watch.
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