Since its initial launch in 2020, YouTube Shorts has quickly risen to popularity as a platform for short-form videos a la TikTok or Instagram Reels. To date, it has around 1.5 billion monthly active users (MAUs), and its 15-60-second videos garner approximately 50 billion views per day.
But that doesn’t mean that YouTube Shorts are popular with every user.
The main YouTube platform has over 2.5 billion MAUs. Many of them are long-time users who are used to opening YouTube on their desktop or mobile device to watch longer content.
For this demographic, seeing Shorts displayed on their homepage or beneath the video they’re watching is not only distracting – it’s superfluous. And they want them gone.
If you’re one of these people, then we’ve got good news for you: you’re not stuck seeing YouTube Shorts forever. We’ve collected five methods that you can use to safely disable or turn off YouTube Shorts on your desktop and mobile devices.
Things To Consider Before Turning Off YouTube Shorts
But before you turn off YouTube Shorts, it’s important to make sure that this is a decision you’re going to be okay with for the long haul. With that in mind, here are three things to consider that will help you make the right decision.
1. You May Miss Shorts from Your Favorite YouTube Creators
The biggest potential downside of disabling YouTube Shorts is missing content from your favorite YouTube creators. In the interest of staying relevant, many traditionally long-form YouTubers have started making Shorts, as well.
If it won’t bother you to miss them, then you can proceed with the methods we recommend in this article.
2. You May Have to Turn Off Automatic App Updates
Some of the methods we recommend to use to turn off YouTube Shorts on your Android or iPhone will require you to turn off automatic app updates. This means that every time one of your other apps needs to update, you’ll have to initiate it manually.
For some people, that might be too big of a hassle, just to avoid seeing Shorts on their YouTube account.
3. You May Have to Be Persistent
Finally, consider that some methods of removing Shorts from your YouTube homepage will require persistence. We’ll explain what we mean by that in a moment. But just know that if you aren’t willing to keep repeating the same action, you may not be able to disable YouTube Shorts on your PC or mobile device.
How To Disable YouTube Shorts on PC
First, let’s explain how to disable YouTube Shorts on your desktop version of the platform.
Method #1: Click the X Button on YouTube Shorts Shelf
While scrolling the homepage of the desktop version of YouTube, you’ve probably come across a box in the middle of the screen that shows a row of Shorts. This box is called a shelf. You can remove the YouTube Shorts shelf in one simple step.
Step #1: Click the X button in the top right-hand corner of the YouTube Shorts shelf to mark it as “Not interested.”
That’s it! However, please note that this isn’t a permanent solution. YouTube will only hide this shelf from you for 30 days. But until then, you can enjoy not seeing them on your homepage.
Method #2: Install a YouTube Shorts-Blocking Browser Extension
For some, marking the YouTube Shorts shelf on the homepage may not be enough. They may want to also remove the Shorts category altogether.
To do that, install a YouTube Shorts blocker browser extension. You can find them by searching for the keywords, “YouTube Shorts blocker” in your browser’s add-on or extension library. Some extensions will even play a YouTube Short as a regular video instead of the usual vertical display.
How To Disable YouTube Shorts on Android or iPhone
Now, we’ll cover how to turn off YouTube Shorts on your Android or iPhone YouTube app.
Method #1: Mark “Not Interested” on All YouTube Shorts
Remember when we mentioned that certain methods of disabling YouTube Shorts would require you to be persistent to work? This is one of the ones we were talking about.
Much like when you scroll the YouTube homepage on your desktop, when you scroll down below a video you’re watching on the YouTube app, you’ll come across a content shelf labeled “Shorts.”
Here’s how to get rid of this section.
Step #1: Select the three dots in the upper right-hand corner of each YouTube Short in the content shelf and mark it as “Not interested.”
Yep, that’s all you have to do. But here’s the kicker: you must mark every Short on the shelf this way. Only then will YouTube remove this section from the app, and only for 30 days. It’s not a permanent solution, but it’s the only way you can prevent Shorts from showing up during your scroll without resorting to more extreme methods.
But if you’re all about extreme, then keep reading!
Method #2: Downgrade Your YouTube App To an Older Version
Because YouTube Shorts is a relatively recent feature of the YouTube app, which is over a decade old, it’s possible to downgrade the current version of the app to an older one that doesn’t have Shorts at all.
Note: This method only works for Android devices.
Before you proceed to the next steps, make sure you have the auto-update feature for your apps disabled.
Step #1: Hold your finger over the YouTube app icon until a menu pops up.
Step #2: Select App info.
Step #3: On the App info screen, select the three dots in the top right-hand corner.
Step #4: Select Uninstall updates.
Once you complete the final step, your app should be back to its original version – and completely Shorts-free!
Method #3: Install an Older Version of the YouTube App From a Third Party
Finally, you can go through a third-party developer or app store to install an older version of the YouTube app to your phone. This method may be useful for users for whom downgrading simply doesn’t work.
Before downloading anything from a third party, research them thoroughly to make sure they’re legitimate and safe to use.
4 More Tips for Customizing Your YouTube Experience
1. Click “Not Interested” on YouTube Shelves You Don’t Want to See
YouTube Shorts is not the only YouTube shelf you can remove from your desktop homepage. Click the X button on any shelf that doesn’t pique your interest to remove it for 30 days.
2. Disable in-Video Cards
If you prefer your video-watching experience to be uninterrupted by cards, here’s how to disable those.
Note: You can only disable cards on the desktop version of YouTube.
Step #1: Select Settings from the left-hand menu on the YouTube homepage.
Step #2: Select Playback and Performance from the left-hand menu on the Settings page.
Step #3: Uncheck Show in-video info cards.
3. Turn Captions off Permanently
Many people nowadays prefer captions to be on, but others hate having words pop up at the bottom of their video. Here’s how to toggle the captions feature on the YouTube website and the app.
- YouTube Desktop
Step #1: Select Settings from the left-hand menu on the YouTube homepage.
Step #2: Select Playback and Performance from the left-hand menu on the Settings page.
Step #3: Uncheck Always show captions.
- YouTube App
Step #1: Select your profile picture in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage.
Step #2: Tap Settings.
Step #3: Select Captions from the Settings menu.
Step #4: Unselect Show captions.
4. Disable Inline Playback
One thing that YouTube users may find annoying about current versions of the YouTube website and app is the inline playback feature. This is when you’re browsing videos and they suddenly start playing, but without any sound.
To disable YouTube inline playback on your computer and your app, follow these steps.
- YouTube Desktop
Step #1: Select Settings from the left-hand menu on the YouTube homepage.
Step #2: Select Playback and Performance from the left-hand menu on the Settings page.
Step #3: Unselect Inline Playback.
- YouTube App
Step #1: Select your profile picture in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage.
Step #2: Tap Settings.
Step #3: Select General from the Settings menu.
Step #4: Tap Playback in feeds.
Step #5: Select Off from the Playback in feeds menu.
Conclusion
Now you know five different ways to get rid of YouTube Shorts on your desktop, iPhone, or Android phone! Be sure to check out the rest of the Viralyft blog for more helpful tips that will enhance your social media experience.
