YouTube is giving users more control over how much short-form video they see. Google’s YouTube has rolled out an option to set your Shorts feed limit to zero minutes on mobile, effectively hiding the endless Shorts feed if you don’t want it.
Shorts feed limits first arrived in October last year, but the lowest setting was 15 minutes. After hitting that cap, YouTube would surface a reminder to take a break. Earlier this year, YouTube tied the same feature into its parental controls so guardians could set viewing limits for younger users, and at the time it said a zero-minute option for parents was coming.
That capability is now live for all account types, not just supervised ones. Engadget reports being able to see and activate the zero-minute setting on a regular adult account.
When you set the Shorts feed limit to zero, YouTube effectively pauses the dedicated Shorts scrolling experience. The app may display a message stating that “Scrolling is paused but you may still see individual Shorts,” so it doesn’t completely remove the format from the platform, you can still encounter individual short videos in other parts of the app. You may also need to refresh the YouTube mobile app before the Shorts feed disappears from view.
The new limit sits alongside other duration options under YouTube’s time management controls. If you’d prefer to reduce, rather than eliminate, your Shorts consumption, you can pick from other available limits, up to a maximum of two hours per day.
The Shorts feed limit is available in the YouTube mobile app’s settings:
Open the YouTube app on your phone.
Go to the Settings page.
Tap Time management.
Scroll down to the Daily limits section.
Select Shorts feed limit and choose 0 minutes to pause the Shorts feed, or pick another time limit up to two hours.
By adding a zero-minute option and extending it beyond parental controls, YouTube is formalising a way for users to curb or completely stop Shorts-style doomscrolling on mobile, without leaving the platform altogether.
Paul Balo is the founder of TechBooky and a highly skilled wireless communications professional with a strong background in cloud computing, offering extensive experience in designing, implementing, and managing wireless communication systems.
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