- Home
- Hide Shorts
- On an iPad
How to block YouTube Shorts on an iPad
There’s no Shorts switch in the YouTube app on an iPad. What works depends on who uses it. For a child with a supervised account, set a daily Shorts feed limit in Family Center: once it runs out, the Shorts feed stops for the rest of the day. For a younger child, YouTube Kids with content you approve yourself avoids the problem. For your own account, a Shorts feed limit of zero takes the Shorts shelf off Home.
Coming soon to Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Opera · Free · No account
Your kid’s iPad: a daily Shorts feed limit set by you in Family Center, which they can’t dismiss. A young child: YouTube Kids with Approve content yourself. Your own iPad: the Shorts feed limit at zero, which removes the Home shelf but can be dismissed.
Pick by who uses the iPad
| Who | Best option | How strong |
|---|---|---|
| Child under 13 on regular YouTube | Daily Shorts feed limit in Family Center | Holds for the day, resets each morning |
| Younger child | YouTube Kids, Approve content yourself | Only what you approve; no search |
| Adult or teen managing their own account | Shorts feed limit at zero | Removes the Home shelf; the reminder can be dismissed |
| Anyone, if Shorts are the whole problem | Remove YouTube with Screen Time | Total, but YouTube is gone too |
For your child: a daily Shorts limit that holds
YouTube’s parental controls page describes this for supervised accounts. You set it from your own phone or computer, not the iPad:
Open YouTube settings on your account
Signed in with the parent account linked to your child. Go to Family Center.
Choose your child, then Time management
Set the daily Shorts feed limit.
Leave it there
When your child reaches it, a message appears and the Shorts feed stops for the rest of the day. It resets each morning.
Pair it with the other Family Center switches while you’re there: Disable autoplay, so the next video doesn’t start on its own, and Pause watch history if you’d rather recommendations stop learning from what your child watches.
For a younger child: YouTube Kids
If your child is young enough for YouTube Kids, the strictest option is its Approve content yourself setting: your child sees only the channels, videos and collections you choose, and can’t search. It’s switched on in the YouTube Kids app itself. Our YouTube Kids guide has the steps.
On your own iPad
Tap You, then Settings, then Time management, then Shorts feed limit, and choose zero. The Shorts shelf goes from Home, and opening a Short brings up a reminder you can dismiss. It doesn’t catch every Short: reports on the change say they can still appear in Subscriptions and search. The Shorts limit guide covers what it does and doesn’t do.
Screen Time: all of YouTube or nothing
Apple’s Screen Time can limit the YouTube app to a set time each day, or block it. It can’t reach inside the app, so it can’t separate Shorts from the rest of YouTube. If Shorts are the only reason your kid opens YouTube, blocking the app may be the honest answer; our guide to blocking YouTube on an iPad covers iPadOS 27’s new Apps & Websites settings.
The family computer is easier
A computer’s browser allows what the iPad apps don’t: a real off switch. With FeedCut installed, Shorts disappear from Home, search, Subscriptions and channel pages, and a PIN keeps the switch where you left it. If the iPad is locked down and the swiping moves to the laptop, set it up there too.
Questions
Can I block Shorts but keep YouTube on the iPad?
Only partly. For a supervised child, a daily Shorts limit set in Family Center stops the Shorts feed for the day. YouTube Kids, with content you approve yourself, keeps your child to the videos you pick. For an adult account, the limit is a reminder you can dismiss.
Does Screen Time have a Shorts setting?
No. Screen Time sees the YouTube app as a whole. It can limit or block YouTube, not one feature inside it.
Will the iPad’s Shorts limit apply on our TV?
YouTube’s help doesn’t say whether the TV app enforces the Shorts feed limit. Check on your TV after setting it, and see our page on YouTube on a TV for what the TV app does offer.
Does FeedCut work on an iPad?
No. FeedCut is a browser extension for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Opera on a computer.
Take YouTube back to what you came for
Block channels, words and Shorts everywhere on YouTube. Free, no account, nothing leaves your browser.