I’ll be honest — I have zero self-control when it comes to YouTube Shorts. It doesn’t matter if I’m working or casually watching TV; the moment one short grabs my attention, I’m pulled straight into an endless scroll I didn’t really 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 help limit how long you spend on Shorts. It was helpful, but it didn’t quite solve the problem. Now, there’s finally a way to remove Shorts from your feed altogether. I had to try it for myself, and safe to say, it makes a real difference. Here’s how you can get rid of Shorts from your feed and keep the distractions at bay.
Here’s how you can get rid of the Shorts feed on YouTube:
Once this is done, tapping the Shorts tab will display a message indicating you’ve reached your limit. More importantly, Shorts will also disappear from your main feed, leaving you with just long-form videos to browse.
This is one of those features that really feels useful, especially for someone like me. I know myself well enough to admit that the moment I open YouTube, I’ll end up watching whatever Short shows up first. One video turns into ten, then twenty, and before I know it, I’ve lost track of time completely.
It’s taken a noticeable toll on my screen time, and more importantly, on my attention span. I’ve caught myself wanting everything to be quick and bite-sized, which isn’t how I want to consume content or train my brain. There have even been nights when I’ve done nothing but scroll endlessly through Shorts, and it’s not a habit worth keeping. That’s why this feature feels like a small but meaningful fix. It doesn’t just limit usage; it removes the temptation altogether, making it far easier to stay in control.
If you don’t see it on your device yet, don’t worry. It’s still rolling out gradually across regions, so it might take a little time to show up. But once it does, it’s absolutely worth turning on. It’s a simple switch, but it can make your YouTube experience feel a lot better.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.