I’ll be honest: I have absolutely no self-control when it comes to YouTube shorts. It doesn’t matter if I’m working or watching TV; The moment a short film catches my attention, I’m drawn straight into an endless scroll that I didn’t actually sign up for. And that’s the last thing I need when I’m trying to stay focused. Back in October last year, YouTube introduced a timer to limit the time you spend watching Shorts. It was helpful, but didn’t completely solve the problem. Now there’s finally a way to completely remove shorts from your feed. I had to try it myself and I can say with certainty that it makes a real difference. Here’s how to remove shorts from your feed and keep distractions away.
How do I remove it?
Here’s how you can remove the Shorts feed on YouTube:
- Open that YouTube app on your phone.
- Tap your profile symbol in the bottom right corner.
- Navigate to Settings icon. in the top right corner.
- Then select Time management.
- Scroll down to Daily Boundaries Section and tap shorts feed limit.
- Set it 0 minutes.
Once this is done, tapping the Shorts tab will display a message that you have reached your limit. More importantly, Shorts will also disappear from your main feed, leaving you only able to browse long videos.
I’m quitting shorts because my attention span deserves better
This is one of those features that feels really useful, especially for someone like me. I know myself well enough to admit that the moment I open YouTube, I end up watching the short film that comes up first. One video turns into ten, then twenty, and before I know it, I’ve completely lost track of time.
It has noticeably affected my screen time and, more importantly, my attention span. I found myself wanting everything to be quick and bite-sized, which is not the way I want to consume content or exercise my brain. There were even nights where I did nothing but endlessly scroll through shorts, and that’s not a habit worth keeping. That’s why this feature feels like a small but meaningful solution. It doesn’t just limit usage; It completely eliminates temptation and makes it much easier to stay in control.
If you don’t see it on your device yet, don’t worry. The rollout is still gradual across all regions, so it may take some time to appear. But once it does, it’s definitely worth turning on. It’s a simple switch, but it can make your YouTube experience much better.
