How to Stop Scrolling on YouTube Shorts (Habit and Settings)
To stop scrolling on YouTube Shorts, you need two things at once: settings that make Shorts harder to reach (hiding the Shorts shelf, pausing watch history, time limits, or a browser extension on your computer) and a plan for the swipe habit itself (a replacement for the moments you usually open Shorts). Settings alone get undone the moment you're bored, and willpower alone loses to an endless feed. Use both.
If you open YouTube for one video and lose an hour to Shorts, Brainrot Test measures that habit and gives you one two-minute drill a day to break it: Check my brainrot.
Why Shorts are harder to stop than long videos
A long YouTube video has an ending. It finishes, and you get a moment to decide what's next. Shorts never give you that moment.
- Each Short is seconds long, so a "reward" arrives constantly.
- The next one is already playing as soon as you swipe.
- The feed never ends, so you never finish anything.
- It lives inside an app you use for good reasons, like tutorials, music and school videos.
That last point is the tricky one. You can't just delete YouTube if you need it for homework. So the goal isn't quitting YouTube; it's making Shorts the hard part and long videos the easy part. (More on the design in why scrolling is so addictive.)
Turn off or limit Shorts
YouTube doesn't have a single "disable Shorts" button in the app. But you can stack several settings so Shorts show up much less.
Hide the Shorts shelf on your home feed
On the YouTube home feed, find the Shorts row and tap the three dots or the X next to it, then choose the option to show fewer Shorts. This hides the shelf for a while (often about 30 days) and then it may come back, so set a reminder to do it again.
Pause your watch history
Go to Settings > Manage all history (or Your data in YouTube) and turn off or pause YouTube watch history. When history is off and you don't have much of it, YouTube's home feed shows far fewer recommendations. The Shorts tab still exists, but the home screen stops pulling you in.
Use a Shorts time limit if your app has one
YouTube has announced a daily time limit for the Shorts feed. If your app has it, look in Settings (under General in versions that include it) and set it low. If you don't see it, use your phone's own limits instead.
Set a phone-level limit
- iPhone: Settings > Screen Time > App Limits > add YouTube.
- Android: Settings > Digital Wellbeing > App timers > YouTube.
This limits all of YouTube, not just Shorts, so set it to what you actually need for school and fun. If you're on an iPhone, we have a full walkthrough of every way to block YouTube Shorts on iPhone.
Mark Shorts "not interested"
When a Short that sucks you in appears, tap the three dots and choose "Not interested" or "Don't recommend channel." Over time the feed gets less perfectly tuned to you.
Browser extensions that hide Shorts
On a computer, this is the easiest win. There are free browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox that hide Shorts from YouTube: the Shorts tab, the Shorts shelf and Shorts in search results. Some also turn Shorts into normal videos with a regular player, so there's no endless swipe.
Tips for choosing one:
- Check the reviews and how recently it was updated.
- Look at what permissions it asks for. It should only need access to YouTube.
- Pick one with a simple on/off, not a hundred settings you'll fiddle with.
If you mostly watch Shorts on your phone, extensions won't help much there, which is why the habit side below matters.
Break the swipe habit
Settings make Shorts harder to reach. Habit changes make you want them less. Here's how to stop yourself from watching YouTube Shorts when the settings aren't enough.
Find your Shorts moments
For three days, notice when you open Shorts. Most people have the same few:
- Right after school
- During homework "breaks"
- In the bathroom
- In bed
Give each moment a new job
| Your Shorts moment | New job |
|---|---|
| After school | Snack, music, 15 minutes outside |
| Homework break | Timer for 5 minutes, stretch, water |
| In the bathroom | Leave the phone outside the door |
| In bed | Book or audiobook, phone charging in another room |
Use the "one long video" rule
When you want YouTube, pick one longer video on purpose, from your subscriptions or a search. Watch it, then close the app. You still get YouTube, just without the endless feed.
Name the swipe
When your thumb starts to swipe, say (in your head) "that's the swipe." It sounds silly, but naming an autopilot habit is one of the easiest ways to snap out of it. If you're not sure whether you're swiping from boredom or stress, doomscrolling vs zombie scrolling explains the difference.
Replace Shorts with longer videos
You don't have to give up YouTube to fix Shorts addiction. Longer content is often the better version of the same thing:
- Instead of 30 gaming clips, watch one full playthrough episode.
- Instead of cooking Shorts, watch one full recipe and actually make it.
- Instead of study-tip Shorts, watch one real lesson on a topic you're learning.
- Instead of music clips, listen to a full album with the screen off.
Long videos have a beginning, middle and end, so stopping feels natural.
Check your progress
After a week of settings and habit changes, it's easy to fool yourself. You remember the good days and forget the three-hour Saturday. Or you feel guilty about one slip and decide nothing worked.
Brainrot Test keeps an honest record. Your starting brainrot score comes from 17 questions about what you really do with your phone. Each two-minute daily drill takes a point off, and a re-check every Sunday re-measures it. A missed day only pauses your streak, so one bad Saturday doesn't wipe out your week. Check my brainrot
Your phone's screen time report is useful too. Check YouTube's number every Sunday and write it down.
Start with your real Shorts number
Knowing how to stop scrolling on YouTube Shorts is easier when you know how deep the habit goes. Take Brainrot Test's 17 questions and you'll get a brainrot score from 0 to 100, a tier and your rank against everyone else who has taken it, then a two-minute drill each day to bring it down.
FAQ
How do I make YouTube stop showing Shorts?
Hide the Shorts shelf from your home feed, pause your watch history, and mark Shorts you don't want as "Not interested." On a computer, a browser extension can hide Shorts completely.
Can you disable YouTube Shorts completely?
Not with a single switch in the YouTube app. You can get close by stacking settings, time limits and, on a computer, an extension that hides Shorts everywhere.
How do I stop watching YouTube Shorts all day?
Find the moments you usually open Shorts, like after school or in bed, and give each one a different job. Add a phone-level YouTube time limit so there's a hard stop when willpower runs out.
Is YouTube Shorts addiction real?
Lots of people feel hooked on Shorts because the feed is endless and every clip is short. For most people it's a strong habit rather than a medical addiction, and habit changes plus settings usually help.
How do I stop YouTube Shorts on my phone?
On your phone, hide the Shorts shelf, pause watch history, turn on any Shorts time limit YouTube offers, and set an app limit in Screen Time or Digital Wellbeing. Keeping YouTube off your home screen helps too.