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How to block YouTube Shorts on Android and keep YouTube

You opened YouTube for one tutorial. Then a Short played, then another, and the tutorial never happened. Here are two ways to shut Shorts while long videos keep working.

Way 1: YouTube's own Shorts feed limit

YouTube added a Shorts timer in late 2025, and since April 2026 it can be set to zero.

  1. Open YouTube and tap your profile picture.
  2. Open Settings, then Time management.
  3. Turn on Shorts feed limit and pick a daily time, or zero.

The menu can sit somewhere slightly different depending on your app version. Checked in November 2026.

It's free and takes a minute, so do it first. Its weak spot is the same as every built-in limit: it is your own setting, and the moment you want Shorts back, it is a few taps away. If built-in limits have worked for you, you can stop reading here.

Way 2: a blocker that asks for something first

FitGuard is an Android app we make. In Reels-only mode it watches for the Shorts tab and the Shorts player inside YouTube and leaves the rest alone.

  1. Add YouTube to your blocked apps and choose Reels only.
  2. Allow the Accessibility Service when FitGuard asks. It reads the app name and on-screen labels of the apps you picked, never your typing, and nothing leaves your phone.
  3. Turn on the Guard.

Open a Short and the guard dog shows up instead, then YouTube goes back to its Home tab. Search, subscriptions, long videos and music keep working.

The difference from a timer: to open Shorts you do the workout you set, for example 20 squats. The AI counts the reps through the camera and Shorts open for the minutes you chose, from 5 to 60. A tap can become automatic. Twenty squats can't.

Can I just switch the blocker off?

It's your phone, so yes. But while the Guard is on, you can't take YouTube off the list or loosen its rule. In Monk Mode (Premium) the Guard stays on until you've walked 10,000 steps.

Use both

The two don't clash. Set YouTube's limit to keep Shorts out of your home feed, and let FitGuard guard the Shorts tab and player for the days your own setting isn't enough.

Does it cost anything?

Reels-only blocking on one app is in FitGuard's free plan, so YouTube alone is free. Premium adds Reels-only on every app (Instagram, Facebook and others) and stricter modes.

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