Unfortunately, YouTube does not provide an official option to turn off Shorts. This limitation has led users to seek unofficial methods to disable YouTube Shorts. Fortunately, there are some effective alternatives available.
Many users find Shorts frustrating because they cater to short attention spans, cluttering the feed and dominating search results, which makes it challenging to access the long-form content that originally defined YouTube.
In this guide, we'll explore several strategies to help you disable YouTube Shorts, so you can have a viewing experience tailored to your preference for long-form content. But, before that, learn how to stop YouTube from pausing automatically.
Three Ways to Disable YouTube Shorts
As mentioned above, YouTube does not offer a direct option to disable Shorts. However, you can still achieve this by using various methods, including third-party extensions or apps. We will explore all these options in detail below.
Hide YouTube Shorts
To hide Shorts on YouTube, open YouTube on your PC, scroll down to the Shorts shelf, and click on the 'X' icon located at the top right corner of this section.
This action will hide Shorts from the home screen across all your devices linked to your account - including PC, mobile app, and TV - for 30 days. However, please note that Shorts will still appear in search results.
Turn off YouTube history
By disabling YouTube history in your Google account settings, you can effectively disable Shorts. However, be aware that this will also disable the YouTube Home feed.
To turn off YouTube history, navigate to your Google account settings and select "Data & privacy." Under "History settings," choose "YouTube History," click the "Turn off" button, and then click "Pause" to confirm your action.
Third-party extensions
Another method to disable YouTube Shorts is through the use of third-party extensions. However, this solution is only applicable for users who watch YouTube on browsers.
A quick search in the Chrome Web Store will reveal several extensions designed to disable YouTube Shorts. Youtube shorts - block and Hide YouTube Shorts are among the most popular ones.
With that, we are wrapping up our guide on how to disable YouTube Shorts. We hope you found this article informational. Before heading off, check out your YouTube Music Wrapped.