YouTube is giving users more control over their viewing habits by introducing the ability to completely disable the Shorts feed on mobile. A new “zero-minute” option has been added to the platform’s time management tools, providing a powerful way for users to curb “doomscrolling” and focus on long-form content.
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When YouTube first introduced Shorts feed limits in late 2025, the most restrictive setting was 15 minutes. Once that time elapsed, a simple pop-up would appear to encourage a break. The new update goes a step further; by selecting zero minutes, users can effectively remove the dedicated Shorts feed from their app experience.
The feature was initially teased as an upcoming parental control tool to help guardians manage screen time for younger viewers. However, the rollout has now extended to all users, including standard adult accounts. Upon activation, the app may display a notice stating, “Scrolling is paused but you may still see individual Shorts,” indicating that while the infinite feed is gone, standalone Shorts may still appear in search results or specific channel pages.
To disable the Shorts feed, follow these steps within the YouTube mobile app:
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- Open Settings.
- Navigate to Time management.
- Scroll down to Daily limits.
- Select Shorts feed limit and choose 0 minutes.
Users may need to refresh the app for the changes to take effect. For those who don’t want to eliminate the feature entirely, the menu still offers various increments ranging from 15 minutes up to a maximum of two hours.
