How to block YouTube, or just the parts you don’t want

Every option, by device

Block only the parts that waste time

On a computer, most of what makes YouTube hard to leave can be switched off on its own. FeedCut does it in the browser, for free:

• Shorts: shelves, the Shorts tab and Shorts in search, with one switch. How it works.
• The Home feed and Up next: YouTube becomes a search box and your subscriptions. How it works.
• Channels: gone from Home, search, Up next and the comments. How it works.
• Words: any video whose title or channel name matches. How it works.

A PIN keeps the settings in place, which matters when the person you’re setting it up for is a kid, or yourself at midnight.

Block all of YouTube on a computer

For a child’s account in Chrome, Family Link can block sites: in the Family Link app, choose your child, then Controls, Google Chrome and Web, and add the domain youtube under Blocked sites. Google’s help page explains that a domain covers every variant of the address, while a website entry covers only the exact one. On Windows and Mac, Google warns that a child can sign out of Chrome or open another browser, where these settings don’t apply. On a Windows PC, Microsoft Family Safety plays the same role for Edge.

For yourself, a site-blocking extension does the job in one browser. If you want YouTube gone from every browser on the machine, use a blocker that works system-wide or at the network level.

On phones and tablets

Apple’s controls changed with iOS 27 and iPadOS 27: apps and websites are now blocked from Settings → Family → your child → Apps & Websites. Android phones and tablets use Family Link, which can block the YouTube app and youtube.com in Chrome separately. Step-by-step guides: iPad and iPhone, Chromebook.

On TVs and game consoles

Most smart TVs can lock an app behind a PIN; Roku is the main exception. Consoles handle it through their parental controls: on a Nintendo Switch, for example, the Pre-Teen and Child levels lock the YouTube app. See smart TVs and Xbox, PlayStation and Switch.

For the whole home network

Schools and offices often force YouTube’s Restricted Mode for every device on their network. Google documents how for administrators, with a strict and a moderate level. Some home routers and DNS filtering services offer the same switch, or a plain YouTube block. It covers every device on your Wi-Fi, and nothing once a phone switches to mobile data.

When a full block backfires

Teachers assign YouTube videos. Repair guides, music lessons and lectures live there. A total block on the family computer can turn into a standing argument, or a kid watching on a friend’s phone instead. One middle ground: a full block on the youngest child’s tablet, and a trimmed-down YouTube on the shared computer, without Shorts, without the Home feed, with the worst channels blocked.

Questions

Updated November 6, 2026