Can I completely delete the YouTube Shorts tab itself?

As of February 2026, you cannot delete the dedicated tab with official settings. The practical approach is to combine hiding shelves for 30 days, marking videos as Not interested, and removing them with extensions.

What are the steps to hide Shorts for 30 days on a smartphone?

Select Hide this shelf from the three-dot menu at the top right of the Shorts shelf on Home. It applies after confirmation. Since it reappears after the period expires, combining it with time limits is effective.

What is the best way to prevent children from seeing Shorts?

Using YouTube Kids is the basis. Combining a supervised account with Family Link lets you adjust screen time limits and content scope. Turning off notifications also reduces triggers.

Is there a way to restore hidden Shorts?

Standard shelf hiding restores automatically after 30 days. If you used an extension, disabling it restores them immediately. Not interested history can sometimes be partially undone in settings.

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How to Hide YouTube Shorts | Tips to Prevent Watching Too Much [2026 Edition]

A device-by-device guide to hiding YouTube Shorts, covering built-in options, extensions, and screen time management.

September 13, 2026 6 min read Reviewed & edited by the SINGULISM Editorial Team

YouTubeYouTube ShortsTime ManagementSmartphoneBrowser Extensions

How to Hide YouTube Shorts | Tips to Prevent Watching Too Much [2026 Edition] — Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash

Where YouTube Shorts Appear and How They Work

YouTube Shorts is a vertical short-form video slot for videos up to 3 minutes long. It appears on the Home feed shelf, the dedicated tab, search results, channel pages, and the related videos panel. It is characterized by automatic recommendations based on watch history and watch time. The shelf is inserted between regular landscape videos and is designed to lead viewers into continuous playback. As of February 2026, there is no official setting to delete the dedicated tab itself. Hiding Shorts basically requires temporarily snoozing individual shelves in combination with external methods.

How to Hide Shorts in the Smartphone App

The operation is the same in the YouTube app for iPhone and Android. The specific steps are as follows.

Select the three-dot menu at the top right of the Shorts shelf on the Home screen
Select “Hide this shelf”
Confirm when prompted to hide it for 30 days
For individual videos, tap the three-dot menu and select “Not interested” or “Don’t recommend channel”
If you get too many notifications, turn off only Shorts notifications in Settings

This operation does not permanently disable Shorts. It may reappear after 30 days or when a new shelf is generated. If many Shorts come from specific channels, excluding them by channel is effective. The YouTube Help page on managing viewing (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6140493) also explains how to dismiss the shelf.

How to Reduce Exposure Itself with Time Limits

Even if you dismiss the shelf, you can still reach Shorts from the dedicated tab, so combining this with time limits is effective.

On iPhone, open “Settings” and go to “Screen Time.” Add YouTube under “App Limits” and set a daily limit. For example, you can set different limits by use, such as 30 minutes on weekdays and 1 hour on weekends. After reaching the limit, you will need to enter a passcode.

On Android, open “Settings” and go to “Digital Wellbeing & parental controls.” Check your YouTube usage time and set an app timer. Once the timer runs out, YouTube will be paused for the rest of the day. Using Bedtime mode together helps prevent late-night use.

How to Hide Shorts on a PC

On desktop, you close the shelf through browser operation. Selecting the “X” on the Shorts shelf on the Home screen will hide it for 30 days. Selecting “Not interested” from the three-dot menu on individual videos helps adjust recommendations. Turning off autoplay prevents continuous transition to the next video. To change this setting, do not use the profile at the top right, but disable autoplay under “Playback and performance” from the user icon on the left.

Deleting history is also effective. If your watch history is dominated by Shorts, related shelves will appear more frequently. Deleting part of your history or pausing it will change this trend. If you want complete removal, you will need to install an extension.

Comparison of Extensions and External Tools

The most widely used extensions as of 2026 are as follows.

Unhook: Lets you hide the Home shelf, dedicated tab, and related panel individually. Detailed toggles are available.
Hide YouTube Shorts: A lightweight type specialized in removing shelves and tabs. It has few settings and is quick to install.
BlockSite and focus-support types: Block access to YouTube itself by time of day. Suitable for managing exam periods and work hours.

The advantages and disadvantages are summarized below.

Advantage: Blocks a wider range than built-in features. On a PC, you can remove the tab itself.
Disadvantage: Permissions may extend to browsing history. Some stop working when development is discontinued.
Usage guideline: Choose extensions with many users, and check permissions and last update dates. Get administrator permission on work devices.

Install them from the Chrome Web Store, the Edge Add-ons page, or the Firefox Add-ons page. After installation, reload YouTube and check the changes.

Making the Most of Built-in Viewing

Management Features

You can also curb overwatching with YouTube’s built-in features.

Check watch time: Open “Time watched” from the profile icon. It shows your daily average and breakdown.
Take a break reminders: Set a break interval under Settings > General. You will be notified at regular intervals.
Bedtime reminders: Shows a notification when you start watching at night. You can set the time period freely.
Turn off autoplay: A basic measure to cut off continuous playback at its source.

Organizing notifications is also important. Turning off recommended videos and Shorts-related notifications under Settings > Notifications reduces external triggers. Related steps are described on the YouTube Help notifications page (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3382248).

How to Restrict Use for Children and Families

For children, use of YouTube Kids is recommended. It offers age-based content filtering and search restrictions. Parents can limit viewing time with the timer function.

A supervised account for children under 13 is another option. It links to a parent’s Google Account and gradually expands the range of use. Combined with Family Link (https://families.google.com/familylink/), you can set screen time limits and bedtime. On school devices, administrators may restrict YouTube itself.

How to Restore the Original Display

To unhide Shorts, follow these steps.

Smartphone: It returns automatically after 30 days. To restore it manually, the shelf is regenerated after deleting history or restarting.
PC: It likewise returns after the period expires. Disabling the extension restores the original display immediately.
Undoing “Not interested”: You may be able to undo it from “Feedback” management in History.

If you only want to block Shorts during a temporary period of focus, it is simplest to toggle the extension on and off.

Editorial Opinion

We see blocking strength and maintenance effort as the evaluation criteria. We evaluate built-in features as easy to adopt but limited in effectiveness. We see extensions as powerful, but you need to check for discontinued updates and permission scope.

We see differences between devices and rapid specification changes as practical pitfalls. We evaluate that even with the same account, the hidden state may not sync between smartphone and PC. There seem to be many cases where app updates change the location of the shelf dismissal button, making previous steps obsolete.

We expect screen time management to be further strengthened in the future. We evaluate that watch-time displays and break suggestions will increase in response to European regulations. Since the short-form video slot itself will remain, designing for both blocking and coexistence will be important.

References

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I completely delete the YouTube Shorts tab itself?: As of February 2026, you cannot delete the dedicated tab with official settings. The practical approach is to combine hiding shelves for 30 days, marking videos as Not interested, and removing them with extensions.
What are the steps to hide Shorts for 30 days on a smartphone?: Select Hide this shelf from the three-dot menu at the top right of the Shorts shelf on Home. It applies after confirmation. Since it reappears after the period expires, combining it with time limits is effective.
What is the best way to prevent children from seeing Shorts?: Using YouTube Kids is the basis. Combining a supervised account with Family Link lets you adjust screen time limits and content scope. Turning off notifications also reduces triggers.
Is there a way to restore hidden Shorts?: Standard shelf hiding restores automatically after 30 days. If you used an extension, disabling it restores them immediately. Not interested history can sometimes be partially undone in settings.

Source: Singulism

Written by SINGULISM Editorial Team

Edited & reviewed by Kenichiro Yamamoto

If you find any factual errors or inaccuracies, we will promptly publish a correction. Please contact us via the contact form to request a correction.