If you've gone looking for a way to turn off YouTube Shorts, you've probably already found the honest problem: there isn't a switch for it. Not a hidden one, not one buried three menus deep -- YouTube simply doesn't ship a "Shorts: off" setting, on any version of the app, for any kind of account. What it does offer is a set of softer, adjacent controls that reduce how often Shorts show up, and it's worth knowing exactly what those controls do before deciding whether they're enough.
We'll walk through what's actually available on each surface -- the main app, desktop, YouTube Kids, and a Family Link supervised account -- because "there's no real setting" is a claim worth backing up with the specifics, not asserting and moving on. Then we'll get into why none of it adds up to a durable block, and what a different kind of app looks like when it simply never had a Shorts feed to begin with.
How to reduce YouTube Shorts (what actually exists)
On the YouTube app (iPhone, iPad, and Android)
The Shorts shelf -- the horizontally scrolling row of short vertical videos that shows up on the Home feed, and the Shorts tab in the bottom navigation bar -- has one real lever: recommendation feedback.
- Find a Short in the Shorts shelf or in the Shorts tab itself.
- Tap and hold on it, or tap the three-dot More icon if it's showing.
- Select Not interested, or Tell us why for a more specific reason (too many of a certain creator, category, and so on).
This reduces how often similar Shorts appear in that shelf, for that signed-in account, for a while. It is not a block. The Shorts tab itself stays in the bottom navigation permanently -- there's no setting to remove or hide it -- and a child can still open it directly at any time, whatever recommendation feedback you've given.
On youtube.com (desktop or laptop)
The desktop site has the same Shorts shelf on the homepage and its own Shorts entry in the left sidebar. The same "Not interested" / "Tell us why" feedback is available on individual Shorts here too, with the same limits: it thins out what gets recommended, it doesn't remove the Shorts sidebar link, and it's tied to the signed-in account rather than the browser or device.
On YouTube Kids
This is the surface where parents most expect a dedicated control, and it's the one that has the least. YouTube Kids' parental settings offer an age-based content level and, separately, an "Approved content only" mode that restricts playback to videos and channels a parent has specifically added. Neither of these settings is aware of Shorts as a distinct format. A short vertical video that fits the chosen content level plays exactly like a longer video that fits it -- there is no toggle, slider, or setting anywhere in YouTube Kids that specifically targets short-form video.
On a supervised account (Family Link)
Family Link's YouTube controls work the same way here: a content restriction tier (Explore, Explore More, Most of YouTube, or Approved content only) filters by maturity level, not by video length or format. A Short that clears whatever tier you've set plays the same as anything else that clears it. There is no Shorts-specific setting inside Family Link's YouTube management screen, the same as there is none inside YouTube Kids.
What "Not interested" on a Short doesn't do
The recommendation-feedback option above is the entire toolkit for reducing Shorts on the main app and on desktop, and it's worth being specific about its limits, because a parent who thinks it's a block will be caught off guard the first time Shorts show up again anyway.
It does not:
- Remove the Shorts tab. The bottom-navigation Shorts tab is permanent on every account type on the main app. Feedback signals affect what plays inside it and in the Home shelf, not whether it exists.
- Stop a search. Searching a topic still returns Shorts results mixed in with long-form video, the same as it always did.
- Carry across accounts or devices. Recommendation feedback is tied to the signed-in Google account it was given on. A shared tablet, a sibling's login, or a guest session starts from scratch.
- Last indefinitely. YouTube's recommendation system re-learns constantly. "Not interested" thins out a category for a while; it doesn't hold that line forever without repeating it.
- Apply to YouTube Kids at all. As covered above, there is no equivalent feedback mechanism there in the first place -- nothing to tap, nothing to reduce.
None of this is a flaw exactly -- Shorts is YouTube's direct answer to TikTok and Instagram Reels, and for a platform competing hard for short-form attention, a durable, parent-facing off switch would work against the feature's entire purpose. That's a reasonable thing for YouTube to prioritize as a business. It's also a reasonable thing for a parent to decide isn't good enough, which is the more useful question underneath "how do I block Shorts" anyway.
The fix that skips the setting entirely
Here's the difference worth naming plainly: on YouTube, in any of its forms, Shorts is a feature you have to work around, because the app is built to surface more of it. ChannelKeep isn't a version of YouTube with Shorts switched off -- it's an app that was never built with a Shorts feed, a swipe-to-the-next-video surface, or a discovery mechanism of any kind. There's no setting to disable because there's nothing in the interface that would ever render a short-form video feed to begin with. A parent chooses the specific videos their child can watch, and that's the entire library -- there's no adjacent shelf, no "you might also like," no tab labeled Shorts sitting one swipe away.
This is the same underlying idea as blocking a YouTube channel that keeps resurfacing under a new name: trying to subtract one piece out of an app built to keep surfacing more of everything is a losing structure, whether the piece in question is a channel or a whole video format. The alternative isn't a stronger block setting. It's an app with nothing left to block.
See how ChannelKeep works if that's the shape of fix you've been looking for.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a setting that turns off YouTube Shorts for good?
No, not anywhere in YouTube. Not on the main app, not on youtube.com, not in YouTube Kids, and not in a Family Link supervised account. The closest thing is recommendation feedback that temporarily thins out the Shorts shelf, and it fades over time and doesn't touch the Shorts tab itself.
Does YouTube Kids have a way to hide Shorts specifically?
No. YouTube Kids' parental controls set an age-based content level and, separately, an approved-content-only mode -- neither one targets Shorts as a format. A short vertical video and a ten-minute video are treated the same way by those settings; whichever passes the content level plays, Shorts included.
Why doesn't tapping "Not interested" on a Short remove the Shorts tab?
Because it's feedback to the recommendation algorithm, not a setting. It tells YouTube to show fewer videos like that one for a while. It doesn't remove the Shorts tab from the bottom navigation bar, doesn't stop Shorts from a search, and doesn't survive a signed-out session or a different device.
Will restricting content by age in Family Link stop Shorts?
It stops individual Shorts that are flagged above the age tier you've set, the same as it would a long-form video. It doesn't distinguish the Shorts format from any other video, so age-appropriate Shorts play through unaffected -- there's no separate Shorts control to turn off.
Is YouTube likely to add a real Shorts toggle later?
There's no way to know for certain, but Shorts is YouTube's answer to TikTok and Instagram Reels -- a growth priority for the platform, not a side feature. A parent-facing kill switch for it would work against that priority, which is probably why nothing like it exists on any surface today.
Does ChannelKeep have a setting to turn off Shorts?
No, because there's no Shorts feature to turn off. ChannelKeep only plays the specific videos a parent has chosen, in the format they were uploaded in -- there's no short-form feed, no swipe-up-for-more surface, and no discovery mechanism for a Shorts-style video to appear through in the first place.