For years, “let me turn off Shorts” has been one of the most common user complaints on YouTube. The platform’s responses ranged from “tap Not Interested” to “show fewer Shorts.” Neither stuck. That has now quietly changed.
YouTube has rolled out a Shorts feed limit setting for all signed-in users. The option lives under Settings > Time management > Shorts feed limit, and it includes a range of time caps. The headline new feature: a zero-minute option. Set it to zero, and the Shorts feed effectively goes silent.
When you hit your chosen limit while scrolling, YouTube shows a reminder. You can respect it or dismiss it and keep watching. That dismissibility is the catch. Unlike the version built for supervised teen accounts, where parents can lock the setting through Family Link, the general version treats it as a nudge, not a hard block.
Still, this is the first time YouTube has given everyday users a native, in-app way to meaningfully limit or eliminate Shorts from their experience. No browser extensions. No app downgrades.
How we got here
YouTube’s approach to Shorts controls has evolved slowly. In October 2025, the platform introduced a daily Shorts timer with dismissible viewing limits. It lacked a zero-minute option.
Then in January 2026, YouTube made two bigger moves. It launched parental controls through Family Link that allowed parents to set their teen’s Shorts feed to zero, calling it an “industry-first” for short-form content. The general rollout to all users appears to have landed in the past few weeks. YouTube did not make a loud announcement. The feature simply appeared, confirmed by an updated YouTube Help page.
Why it took this long
The short answer: money. Shorts now averages over 200 billion daily views, according to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan’s 2026 letter. That is up from 70 billion in March 2024, a nearly threefold jump in under two years. Shorts is central to YouTube’s strategy against TikTok and Instagram Reels, and it drives significant ad revenue. Giving users a kill switch for Shorts is, from a business perspective, giving them a kill switch for one of the platform’s most important growth engines. The dismissible design suggests YouTube is threading a careful needle. Acknowledge the frustration. Keep the door open for engagement.
What to do
If Shorts has been cluttering your experience, open the YouTube app, go to your profile, tap Settings, then Time management, then Shorts feed limit. Set it to zero. You will still see Shorts if you actively search for them or visit a creator’s channel, but the infinite-scroll feed will stop.
This currently works on mobile only.
It is not perfect. A full off switch would remove Shorts from search, channel pages, and recommendations entirely, without asking you to tap “dismiss.” But for users who have long wanted YouTube to just let them watch long-form content in peace, this is the most meaningful step yet.
If you are a YouTube Premium subscriber in Kenya, this pairs nicely with an already ad-free experience. Fewer Shorts, no ads, and your feed back under your control.
