San Francisco, April 16, 2026, 08:38 AM PDT
YouTube has added a setting that lets users effectively turn off Shorts, its short-form video feed, by setting a daily limit of zero minutes in the YouTube app. Google’s help page now lists zero as an option under “Shorts feed limit,” effectively letting users hide the feed inside the mobile app. Google Help
The change matters because it gives users a built-in way to mute a feed that averages more than 200 billion daily views. Chief Executive Neal Mohan wrote in January that parents would “soon” be able to set the timer to zero, calling it an “industry first.” Blog
The Verge cited YouTube spokesperson Makenzie Spiller as saying the zero-minute option is now “live for all parents, and is currently being rolled out to everyone,” including adult accounts. The previous minimum setting was 15 minutes, according to the report. The Verge
Users can find the control by opening the YouTube app, tapping Settings, then Time management, then Shorts feed limit. Once the limit is reached, Google’s help page says a reminder appears.
It is stricter for children and teens whose accounts are managed through Family Center. YouTube says once those users hit their daily Shorts limit, they are blocked from scrolling again until the next day, and the timer resets each morning; in January, the company said parents could use a zero-minute setting when they wanted teens to focus on homework.
The move puts YouTube alongside rivals TikTok and Instagram, which already offer daily screen-time controls. TikTok says users can set daily limits on both app and web, while Instagram offers daily time-limit reminders and lets parents set limits for teen accounts.
But the practical effect may be smaller for adult users than the label suggests. Google’s help page says adults can dismiss or ignore the reminder, so the feature adds friction rather than a hard stop unless users choose to honor it.
YouTube’s press materials say Shorts reaches billions of monthly logged-in users. The zero-minute setting gives viewers a way to step back from a feed that now operates at that scale.
