YouTube Shorts blockers can feel like an extreme step, but they might soon become necessary for all of us. 

Just look at how rampantly we are watching the YouTube shorts:

1. Every single day, YouTube Shorts are watched more than 200 billion times.
2. 2.3 billion active users watch YouTube Shorts.
3. Daily views have increased by a massive 500% since the time YouTube shorts were launched.
4. Engagement with YouTube Shorts is higher than that of TikTok or Instagram Reels.
5. 74% of YouTube views are from non-subscribers – which means people are watching more content that is suggested in their feed by the algorithm compared to what they have actually subscribed to.

The volume of YouTube Shorts consumption along with escalating rates of watch time indicates an addictive trajectory. Such digital behavior can easily develop into a compulsive habit that affects your mental health and productivity. 

Why YouTube Shorts Are So Addictive

This experience is going to sound very familiar – You open YouTube, you know, just to look at the videos for five minutes. And next time when you look up, you are shocked to find that you have spent the last 30 minutes but don’t particularly remember anything you have watched!

This experience, especially with the short-form content on platforms like YouTube, is not an accident. It is also not because you simply have no willpower. 

Understanding Dopamine 

Dopamine is a neurochemical that triggers your reward circuits. It basically maps certain experiences as desirable and nudges your brain to pursue them. In case of normal stimuli like food and sex, dopamine pursuit helps to keep you alive.

The key factor about dopamine is that the experience or the activity itself does not trigger it. Dopamine is triggered by anticipation of the reward from an experience. 

When your brain can not predict when the next reward may come, it stays in a constant state of dopamine arousal. This state keeps you in a constant state of pursuit. 

The Variable Reward Loop

Social media features like YouTube Shorts exploit this very evolutionary biology.

With every click and every swipe, there is an anticipation of rewarding content. And every time you get a hit of novelty or truly find the content you actually enjoy, it tells your dopamine reward system—keep looking, we are going to find more of this!

So, when there is new content endlessly loading onto your feed, your brain gets hijacked. 

You do not know when you will get to watch the next best YouTube shorts. So, you keep doom scrolling in pursuit of your next hit. The variable reward loop also ensures that your brain does not become habituated and lose interest. 

Hijacking of Your Reward Systems

With regular YouTube Shorts watching, your brain gets used to the dopamine reward cycle of constant anticipation. Over time, this constant pursuit mode becomes the baseline state. Your reward systems keep firing, but your satisfaction system just does not get activated. 

So, there is a weird experience where watching YouTube Shorts feels exhilarating (the anticipation), but at the same time, they also feel flat and empty. 

There is also a big gap between the enjoyment you expect and the enjoyment you actually feel while watching the shorts. This reward prediction error makes the instinct for pursuit more intense. 

This lack of enjoyment and change in your brain’s reward circuits affects not just how you feel about social media. It also flattens how you experience real-life interactions and hobbies. 

Eventually, you keep watching more and more YouTube shorts, just trying to recreate the same excitement and enjoyment that you experienced in the beginning. 

Habit Loop

Your brain forms habits based on three components:

1. Cue or the trigger
2. The routine
3. The reward 

In the case of YouTube Shorts, the cue begins as boredom, stress, or anxiety. So, you open YouTube Shorts—your routine. And your reward would be the dopamine spike and the temporary relief from emotional discomfort.

When your prefrontal cortex is online, there is space between cue and routine. You have options. But short-form content like YouTube Shorts is designed to bypass this space where you can make a conscious decision.

So, in the habit loop, as soon as the cue appears, your brain automatically jumps to the routine because it is sure of the reward.

Can You Block YouTube Shorts Without an App?

How to block YouTube Shorts with native settings, i.e., with features provided within the app or within your phone? This is a reasonable question.

While there are options that let you block shorts on YouTube, they cannot protect you from the addictive architecture of the platform. Here is a closer look at how to block YouTube Shorts without an app and what the challenges of this approach are.

The Structural Limitations of YouTube

The platform itself does not offer a permanent way to block shorts on YouTube. After all, its business motivation is to maximize the watch time of viewers, and their shorts are increasingly becoming ‘the’ content that drives engagement.

You can hide the shorts shelf on your screen by clicking ‘show fewer shorts’ on the homepage. But it will not be gone forever. It will reappear after a set period – often within 30 days. 

Why “Not Interested” Doesn’t Work

The ‘Not interested’ button teaches the YouTube algorithm about your content preferences. So, the best it can do is to filter specific types of content. What it cannot do is let you suppress a feature of YouTube.

Paradoxically, the “not interested” option actually increases your engagement with the content by flooding your feed with videos that keep you interested!

Why Screen Time Fails

Both iOS and Android offer built-in screen time tools for regulating your digital consumption. But if you want to block shorts on YouTube, it’s mostly ineffective.

1. Screen time cannot block specific categories of content within the app. When the app is fully blocked for specific times, you may spend the available screen time watching shorts and be out of time for accessing content you really need. 
2. Easy to bypass – Many times, the screen time notification itself comes with the option to reset it.
3. Lacks context and nuance – When you are using social media, you need access to the ‘good’ (or ‘productive’) parts while blocking the ‘bad’ ones. Screentime controls simply block the full app and do not see the difference between the essential features and the distractions.

As you can see, you need a YouTube Shorts blocker​ like BlockP to overcome these limitations. It supports hard blocking of the addictive features like Shorts. At the same time, you can still use the productive features. 

How to Block YouTube Shorts Completely

The built-in methods for blocking YouTube Shorts can not support you completely. So, you need a YouTube Shorts blocker​ like BlockP to keep you safe on social media. It supports hard blocking of the addictive features like Shorts. At the same time, you can still use the productive features. 

Here is a quick comparison of all the options that let you block YouTube Shorts. 

As you can see:

Built-in options are easy to set up but provide limited protection and are also easy to bypass.

Technical solutions like DNS-level filtering are no doubt powerful, but you will need some tech knowledge to set them up. And options like app patching can put you at risk of cyber attacks. 

BlockP – clearly stands out as easy to install and hard to bypass. It also works across your phone and computer for complete blocking. 

Best YouTube Shorts Blocker (Works Across All Devices)

BlockP is the best adult content blocker and productivity app for reclaiming control over your digital behavior. Along with explicit content blocking, it also gives you powerful tools for managing your social media use across your devices.

BlockP is a highly effective YouTube Shorts blocker because:

1. BlockP completely blocks your shorts feed, the addictive part. But you will have access to other YouTube features that you need for educational or work purposes. 
2. It works on the YouTube app on the phone (iOS and Android) and browsers on the computer. 
3. Along with shorts, BlockP also blocks recommendations on the sidebar or distracting thumbnails that can trigger the urge to watch YouTube shorts. 

Step-by-Step: How to Block YouTube Shorts Using BlockP

Here is how to block YouTube Shorts on Android using BlockP –

1. Install BlockP app from the Google Playstore or the BlockP website.
2. Open the BlockP app and tap on the Advanced settings icon (You can find it on the top right corner of the home screen.)
3. Navigate to Social Media Blocking. You will see options to block specific features like the following:

• Instagram Reels
• Snapchat Stories
• Facebook Search
• YouTube shorts

1. Slide the toggle control next to the YouTube Shorts to “on” position to block the YouTube Shorts. 

Benefits of Blocking YouTube Shorts

When you use a YouTube Shorts blocker​ like BlockP, you can break free of the compulsive dopamine cycle and regain control over your digital habits.

Restore cognitive abilities 

Short-form digital content like YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels can fragment your attention and memory. But when you stop watching them, the detox helps to restore your brain.

We now have research that shows that even a 2-week detox can

1. Restore the ability for sustained attention.
2. A 20% efficiency boost by removing task-switching costs.
3. Show an 11% improvement in working memory.
4. Direct improvement in academic or work performance.
5. Reduce feelings of mental drain and brain rot. 

Mental Health Benefits

Short-form video content is strongly linked to negative mental health outcomes. When the users block short-form content like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, they often report:

1. Reduced digital stress of constant dopamine highs and lows.
2. Sleeping 20 minutes more per night thanks to relief from the blue light and stimulation.
3. For people struggling with compulsive behaviors, blocking addictive content removes the primary trigger for their behavior. 

Break Free from the Comparison Trap

On social media people often share idealized and highly curated bits from their lives. Constantly watching them triggers comparison and FOMO (Fear of missing out). When you stop watching YouTube shorts, it reduces your risk of negative self-evaluation. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I block YouTube Shorts permanently?

Yes. YouTube does not provide an option to block shorts in its settings. But you can use a YouTube Shorts blocker like BlockP to block YouTube Shorts permanently. 

Is there a YouTube Shorts blocker app?

Yes. BlockP gives you options to block YouTube Shorts on both iOS and Android. 

How do I remove Shorts from the YouTube homepage?

YouTube does give you the option to ‘show fewer shorts,’ but it only blocks shorts temporarily for 30 days. You can use a YouTube Shorts blocker like BlockP to block YouTube Shorts from the homepage. 

Does BlockP work on mobile?

Yes. You can use BlockP to block YouTube Shorts on your mobile – both iOS and Android.