How to block YouTube on an iPad or iPhone

On iPadOS 27 and iOS 27

Apple moved its parental controls in version 27. Its child safety guide describes the new route. You can do this from your own iPhone or iPad, as long as your child is in your Family Sharing group.

1. Open Settings, then Family

   Tap your child’s name.

2. Tap Apps & Websites

   Then tap the Add button.

3. Block YouTube

   Enter YouTube to block the app, and youtube.com to block the website in Safari.

4. Check the Blocked tab

   Both should be listed. A blocked app is hidden on your child’s device until you allow it again.

One requirement trips people up: Apple says every device in the family needs version 27 or later for these settings to work. If one of them can’t be updated yet, use the steps for older versions below.

For a child under 13, Apple turns on Ask to Browse and Approved Websites Only by default, so new websites already need your approval. Older kids get Limit Adult Websites, which doesn’t touch YouTube.

On older versions of iOS and iPadOS

Before version 27, website blocking lived in Screen Time on the child’s device or in your Family Sharing settings for them:

1. Open Screen Time, then Content & Privacy Restrictions

   Turn it on if it isn’t.

2. Go to App Store, Media, Web & Games, then Web Content

   Choose Limit Adult Websites.

3. Under Never Allow, add youtube.com

   Safari will refuse to open it.

The app is a separate job. The simplest way is to delete it, then make sure Ask to Buy is on for your child, so reinstalling it from the App Store needs your approval.

If you’d rather keep YouTube on the iPad

Blocking isn’t the only option for a tablet that a kid uses for school or for calls with family. YouTube has its own controls, and they work on an iPad:

• YouTube Kids for younger children, with an Approve content yourself mode where they see only what you pick. How to set it up.
• A supervised account for kids under 13 on regular YouTube, where you choose a content level and block channels from your own account.
• A daily Shorts feed limit set by you in Family Center for a supervised child; when it runs out, the Shorts feed stops for the rest of the day.
• Restricted Mode for older kids, which Family Link can lock on for an account you supervise.

Amazon Fire tablets

Fire tablets handle this through Amazon Kids profiles and the Amazon Parent Dashboard. Amazon’s help describes blocking a website in the Kids browser: Parent Dashboard → your child’s profile → Settings → Web → Filtered Websites & Videos → Block Websites. Add youtube.com there. A block applies to the whole domain, including its subdomains. The dashboard’s Content tab lets you allow or block individual titles, so check what your child’s profile can open.

The family computer is a different story

Everything above controls whole apps and websites, because that’s what iPads allow. On a computer you can be more precise: FeedCut keeps YouTube available but removes Shorts, the Home feed, specific channels and words, with a PIN on the settings. If your kid moves from the iPad to the laptop the moment the iPad is locked, that’s where to set it up.

Questions

Updated November 5, 2026