---
title: "How to Turn Off YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels"
source: https://unlockr.space/blog/turn-off-shorts-reels
---

# How to Turn Off YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels
Neither app has a simple off switch, and most articles about this don't tell you that. Here's what actually hides Shorts and Reels on the current app versions, and what's just a half-measure dressed up as a fix.
By Tin Tran · October 30, 2026 · 6 min read
You open YouTube to find one video. Forty minutes later you've watched thirty Shorts about none of it. You open Instagram to check a message. You're still on Reels when the message goes unanswered. This isn't a willpower story, it's a layout story: both apps put an infinite vertical feed one tap from wherever you were going.
A lot of what's written about "turning off" Shorts and Reels is outdated or wrong, because both companies keep moving the controls. Here's what's actually in the apps right now, checked against the companies' own recent announcements rather than old screenshots.
The short answer: neither platform lets you remove Shorts or Reels entirely. YouTube's closest option is a Shorts feed limit you can set to 0 minutes, which hides the Shorts shelf and tab for the day. Instagram has no Reels-tab removal at all, only tools that change what Reels you're shown.
## YouTube: set the Shorts feed limit to zero
YouTube added a Shorts time limit in October 2025, and in April 2026 extended it so the limit can be set to zero. At zero minutes, Shorts stop showing up on your home feed and the Shorts tab disappears from navigation for the rest of the day.
- Open the YouTube app and tap your profile icon (You).
- Tap the Settings gear icon.
- Tap Time management (it may also appear as Time watched).
- Tap Shorts feed limit and set it to 0 minutes.
Two honest caveats. First, Shorts may still appear in your Subscriptions feed, since the limit targets the dedicated Shorts shelf and tab, not every place a short video can surface. Second, this is a daily setting, not a permanent one: it resets at midnight, so it only stops Shorts for the rest of today unless you go back in tomorrow. Treat it as a routine, not a one-time fix.
## YouTube: the other, weaker options
- Mark Shorts "Not interested." Tap the three dots on a Short, or long-press it, and choose Not Interested. This nudges the recommendation system over time, but it doesn't hide the Shorts shelf, and it has to be repeated often since the system keeps testing new content against your taste.
- Dismiss the Shorts shelf (desktop only). On youtube.com, click the X or the three-dot menu on the Shorts shelf on your home page. It hides for 30 days, then comes back on its own.
- Browser extensions (desktop only). Tools like ad blockers with Shorts-hiding rules can remove the Shorts shelf and tab from youtube.com in a browser. They do nothing for the iPhone app, which doesn't support extensions.
## Instagram: retrain what Reels you see
Instagram rolled out a tool called Your Algorithm starting in December 2025, first for Reels, then expanded to Explore in April 2026 and across Feed, Reels, and Explore as one system by June 2026. It won't remove the Reels tab, but it's the most direct lever Instagram gives you over what fills it.
- Open Reels and tap the icon in the top-right corner (two lines with hearts), or go to Settings and activity → Content preferences → Your algorithm.
- Review the topics Instagram thinks you're interested in.
- Add topics you want to see less of, and remove ones you don't care about.
Because this now feeds one shared system across Feed, Reels, and Explore, cleaning it up here also quiets the main feed, not just Reels.
## Instagram: the other, weaker options
- Mark Reels "Not interested." While watching, tap the three dots and choose Not Interested, then pick a reason if asked. Same tradeoff as YouTube: it works gradually and needs repeating.
- Switch to the Following feed. The main Feed tab has a Following view that only shows people you follow, with far fewer suggested Reels mixed in. It doesn't touch the Reels tab itself.
- Set a daily time reminder. Under Settings and activity → Your activity → Time, set a daily reminder. It's app-wide, not Reels-specific, and it's a nudge you can dismiss, not a lock.
## What doesn't actually work
A few claims show up often enough that they're worth addressing directly:
- "There's a hidden toggle in Settings → General." Some regions tested a Shorts shelf toggle in the past, but it isn't a current, reliable option. If you don't see one, that's expected, not something broken on your phone.
- "Restricted Mode hides Shorts." Restricted Mode filters mature content on YouTube. It has nothing to do with Shorts specifically.
- "iPhone Screen Time can block just Reels or just Shorts." Screen Time works at the app or website level. It can limit or schedule all of Instagram or all of YouTube, but it has no concept of a feature inside an app, so it can't single out Reels or Shorts alone.
## If none of that is enough
If Shorts or Reels keep pulling you back in even with the limit set, the honest next step is treating the whole app as the problem, not just one feature of it. Apple's Screen Time lets you set a Time Allowance for Instagram or YouTube specifically (or their whole category), with a passcode someone else holds so there's no one-tap way around it. I cover the full setup, including why a passcode you don't know matters, in how to reduce screen time on iPhone. If you're weighing something more drastic, like deactivating an app entirely for a while, the actual controlled experiments on that are covered in what happens when you quit social media.
## Keep reading
- How to Reduce Screen Time on iPhone The pillar guide: every built-in setting and what research says actually works.
- How to Block TikTok on iPhone Every built-in way to block TikTok, and the loophole in each.
- Why You Keep Checking Your Phone Most pickups start without a notification. What builds the habit, and what weakens it.
## Frequently asked questions
**Q:** Can you completely turn off YouTube Shorts?
The closest built-in option is the Shorts feed limit set to 0 minutes, under Settings, Time management, Shorts feed limit, in the YouTube app. That removes the Shorts shelf from your home feed and the Shorts tab for the rest of the day, but Shorts can still show up in your Subscriptions feed, and there is no setting that removes Shorts everywhere permanently.
**Q:** Can you remove the Reels tab on Instagram?
No. As of October 2026, Instagram has no setting in the app or in iPhone Settings that removes the Reels tab. You can only reduce how many Reels you see and how relevant they are, using Content Preferences and the Your Algorithm tool.
**Q:** Does marking a video "Not Interested" actually work?
It helps, slowly. Marking individual Shorts or Reels as not interested trains the recommendation system for that specific account, but it does not hide the Shorts or Reels tab, and both platforms keep testing new topics against your taste over time, so it is maintenance, not a one-time fix.
## Sources
- RouteNote (2026, April 16). YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts entirely, kind of. routenote.com
- Thurrott (2025, October 23). YouTube Now Lets Users Set a Scrolling Time Limit for Shorts Videos. thurrott.com
- Marketing4eCommerce (2026, April 16). Now you can set a YouTube Shorts feed limit. marketing4ecommerce.net
- Meta (Instagram) (2025, December 10 – 2026, June 10). Control Your Instagram Reels Algorithm. about.instagram.com
- Meta (Instagram) (2018, August 1). New Time Management Tools on Instagram and Facebook. about.instagram.com