The drama nobody is talking about (it’s bad)
Spill Central
1.3M views · 1 day ago
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How to make YouTube distraction-free
YouTube has no distraction-free mode, but you can build one in a few minutes. Its own settings handle autoplay, previews and reminders. The parts that pull you in, the Home feed, Shorts, Up next and comments, need an extension on a computer. What stays: search, your subscriptions, your playlists and the video you came for.
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Turn on Hide Home feed, Hide Shorts, Hide Up next and Hide comments, then switch tabs. That’s the whole setup.
What a comet is really made of
Orbit Notes920K subscribers
Comments
@PrankPatrol
New prank video is up, go watch it 🔥🔥
@lena_k
Clearest explanation of comet ice I have seen. Thank you!
@SpillCentral
The drama in these replies 👀 full story on our channel
@tom.r
The part at 4:12 blew my mind.
@mira.dev
Reaction channels, please don’t steal this one 😅
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Every distraction, and what turns it off
| Distraction | YouTube’s own setting | FeedCut on a computer |
|---|---|---|
| Home feed | Only by turning watch history off | Hide Home feed |
| Shorts | Shorts feed limit, in the app only | Hide Shorts: shelf, tab, search and Subscriptions |
| Up next and the end-screen grid | None | Hide Up next |
| The next video starting | Autoplay switch | Autoplay switch, plus Hide Up next |
| Comments | Only via Restricted Mode, which hides videos too | Hide comments |
| Videos playing as you scroll | Inline playback off | Use YouTube’s setting |
| Channels that always hook you | “Don’t recommend”, Home and Up next only | Block channel, everywhere |
| Topics that always hook you | None | Hide videos with a word |
Set it up on a computer
Install FeedCut
It runs in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Opera. Hide Shorts is on from the start.
Turn on the other three switches
Hide Home feed, Hide Up next and Hide comments. YouTube now opens on a search box, and a video ends when it ends.
Turn off autoplay and previews
Click the Autoplay switch on any player. Then, under your profile picture, open Settings, Playback and performance, and turn off Inline playback.
Block your usual rabbit holes
Press Block channel on the two or three channels you always end up on, and add the topics you lose evenings to as words.
Lock it, if you want
Set a PIN. Blocking more never needs it, but anything that hides less does.
What you keep
- Search, unchanged, minus channels and words you’ve blocked.
- Subscriptions, with new uploads from channels you follow.
- Playlists and Watch later, which play in order as usual.
- History, so you can still find a video you watched last week.
On a phone
Extensions don’t reach the YouTube app, so you’re limited to its settings. Four of them help: set the Shorts feed limit to zero, turn off autoplay, set Playback in feeds to Off under Settings and General, and turn on Remind me to take a break. That still leaves the Home feed, unless you turn watch history off and accept losing it.
Other ways to do it
FeedCut isn’t the only option. Unhook is the best-known extension for exactly this job, with about two dozen switches for parts of the page, and it’s free. Its gap is blocking: it can’t remove a specific channel or keyword. Our comparison of YouTube blockers lists what each one does better.
Questions
Is there an official distraction-free mode on YouTube?
No. YouTube has separate settings for autoplay, previews, reminders and history, but nothing that hides the feeds. On a computer that takes an extension.
What should my start page be?
Bookmark youtube.com/feed/subscriptions, or the search page, instead of youtube.com. You land on what you chose to follow, not on what YouTube picked.
Does this work on my phone?
Partly. In the app you can turn off autoplay and previews, set the Shorts feed limit to zero and turn on break reminders. Hiding Home in the app means turning watch history off.
What if I need recommendations for once?
Pause FeedCut for 10 minutes. Everything comes back, and the switches return on their own.
Take YouTube back to what you came for
Block channels, words and Shorts everywhere on YouTube. Free, no account, nothing leaves your browser.