The drama nobody is talking about (it’s bad)
Spill Central
1.3M views · 1 day ago
- Home
- Distraction-free YouTube
- Study mode
How to set up a study mode for YouTube
YouTube doesn’t have a study mode, so you build one. Hide the parts that lead away from the lecture: the Home feed, Shorts, Up next and, for most sessions, the comments. Queue what you need in a playlist before you start. And if you’re researching a topic you don’t care about, pause your history first. That’s the example YouTube’s own help page uses.
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Turn on Hide Up next and Hide comments. What’s left is the lecture.
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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Before you start: pause history for research
YouTube’s recommendations help page gives this exact case: when you’re researching a subject for a school project that you aren’t personally interested in, turn off watch and search history so it doesn’t shape your recommendations, and turn it back on when you’re done. The controls are in My Activity, under Controls, then YouTube History.
Skip this when you’re studying something you want more of. Then your history helps YouTube find the next good lecture.
Set up the session
Hide the Home feed
In FeedCut, turn on Hide Home feed. YouTube opens on a search box, so you go straight to what you came for.
Hide Up next
A lecture ends when it ends, with no grid of suggestions or sidebar tempting you onward. Turn off autoplay on the player as well.
Keep Shorts hidden
Hide Shorts is on by default. Leave it that way, including in search results.
Decide on comments
Turn on Hide comments for lectures. For coding tutorials, you may want them: that’s where viewers post corrections and timestamps.
Block your rabbit holes
Add the games, shows or creators you drift to as words or blocked channels, so they don’t surface in search either.
Queue the material
Put the videos for the session in a playlist or Watch later before you start, so you never need to browse.
If you’d rather keep Home
On a computer, Home has topic chips along the top, built from your suggestions. YouTube’s help page uses “Learning” as an example of a topic that collects educational videos. Picking one narrows the feed to a subject. It’s a softer setup than hiding Home, and it still leaves Up next and Shorts to deal with.
Make it hold for the session
- Lock with a PIN. FeedCut asks for the PIN before any change that hides less. Hand the PIN to a friend or parent for exam season if that helps.
- Pause, don’t switch off. Need to check something? Pause FeedCut for 10 minutes; everything returns, then the switches come back by themselves.
- Add a timer if you need one. FeedCut doesn’t limit time. See time limits on YouTube for the tools that do.
What still works
| Feature | In study mode |
|---|---|
| Search | Works, minus blocked channels and words |
| Playlists and Watch later | Play in order |
| Subscriptions | Unchanged |
| Captions, speed, chapters | Unchanged |
| Home feed, Up next, Shorts | Hidden |
| Comments | Your call, one switch |
Questions
Does YouTube have a study mode?
Not under that name. YouTube’s help doesn’t describe one as of November 2026. The setup on this page builds the same thing from settings and an extension.
Can I allow only educational channels?
Not with FeedCut, which blocks rather than allows. For a child, a supervised account with a parent’s content setting is the closest thing YouTube offers. For yourself, hiding the feeds and searching for what you need works without an allowlist.
Does this work on a school Chromebook?
Only if the school lets you add extensions. A managed Chromebook can block them, and the school’s own filters apply either way. See YouTube on a Chromebook.
What about studying on my phone?
Set the Shorts feed limit to zero, turn off autoplay and Playback in feeds, and keep the lecture in a playlist. The app can’t hide Up next, so a computer is the better place for long sessions.
Take YouTube back to what you came for
Block channels, words and Shorts everywhere on YouTube. Free, no account, nothing leaves your browser.