YouTube Shorts is an integral part of YouTube and very similar to videos on TikTok. Not every YouTube user likes the short video format and some may find it outright annoying.
There are several ways to remove the entire Shorts section and all Shorts videos from YouTube. Removing in this regard refers to hiding YouTube Shorts on the website. There are also tweaks for removing YouTube Shorts on mobile devices.
You have several options to remove YouTube Shorts:
- Add a set of filters to content blockers.
- Use a third-party YouTube frontend instead of the official website or app.
- Install another browser extension that hides Shorts.
Using filters to disable Shorts on YouTube
One of the better options at your disposal is to add a set of filters to a content blocker. Most Internet users do not use content blockers. Designed primarily to block ads and prevent tracking, many content blockers support options to hide elements on websites.
Did you know that you may bypass ads on YouTube without an adblocker?
Probably the best content blocker extension right now is uBlock Origin (Chromium-based or Firefox). You may add the filters to other content blockers, provided that they support filters. Please note that you should never run multiple content blockers at the same time, as this may lead to all sorts of issues.
The filter list that you need to add to uBlock Origin is maintained on the Let’s Block It website. Your best option is to visit the linked webpage and click on the copy option to copy the entire list to the Clipboard.
Note: the list is updated when YouTube makes changes to Shorts. This is the reason why it is not pasted here.
Open the Dashboard of uBlock Origin to add the filters. Note that the icon may be hidden under an extension icon in the browser’s toolbar.
Switch to My Filters in the Dashboard. Here you find all custom filters added to the content blocker.
Paste the entire content of the Clipboard into the field. The instructions remove Shorts entirely from YouTube.
Complete the process with a click on the “apply changes” button at the top.
Visit YouTube, you may need to reload the website if already open, to test the filters. All Shorts content should no longer be visible on YouTube thanks to the filters.
Third-party YouTube frontends
Another option is to use frontends for YouTube. Good news is that these are available on desktop and mobile devices.
Frontends offer most of YouTube’s experience. You may watch any video posted on YouTube. Additional features, such as the option to download YouTube videos, may also be supported.
Here is a list of recommendations:
- Invidious — A frontend for YouTube that is used by websites and also apps. There is no Shorts section on Invidious. Since it is web-based, you may access it from any device with a web browser.
- NewPipe — NewPipe is an application for Android. It is updated regularly and supports a wide range of features. Besides watching videos in up to 4K, it also supports live streams, shorts, downloads and more. One of its features is the option to hide content that you are not interested in. You may use hide Shorts in NewPipe.
Using browser extensions
If you prefer to use standalone extensions, you may check out the Hide YouTube Shorts extension. This extension is available for Google Chrome, Firefox and other Chromium-based browsers.
Note that most Chromium-based browsers support extensions only on desktop and not on mobile.
Download the extension for Chrome / Chromium or Firefox, and you are all set. It removes YouTube Shorts automatically once installed.
Closing Words
You either like or dislike Shorts, there seems to be no middle ground in regards to the feature. While there is no native option to disable Shorts on YouTube, there are plenty of options to remove the content from the video hosting site.