GrivunHow to turn off YouTube Shorts and hide the home feed
YouTube has no switch for Shorts and no way to remove the home feed. Here is what it does let you do, and how to get the rest.
What YouTube itself allows
Pause watch history, and the home page goes blank
Since 2023, if your watch history is paused and there is nothing left in it, YouTube shows an almost empty home page: a search box and little else. Go to My Activity, turn off YouTube history and delete what is there. It works, with a cost: no "continue watching", no recommendations anywhere, and the moment you turn history back on, the feed returns.
Hide the Shorts shelf for 30 days
The Shorts row on the home page has an X in its corner. Click it and YouTube hides the shelf for thirty days, then brings it back. The Shorts tab in the sidebar stays, and so do Shorts in search results and on channel pages.
"Not interested"
The three-dot menu on any video offers "Not interested" and "Don't recommend channel". It trims the feed; it never empties it.
What is not possible
There is no setting to disable Shorts, and none to remove the recommendations beside a video or the suggestions at the end of it.
What feed mode does on YouTube
Grivun's feed mode runs only on youtube.com, and Chrome asks permission for that domain alone. Once on, YouTube still works as a video site, without the machinery that keeps you there:
- Home feed hidden. The grid of recommendations disappears, replaced by a small card with links to Subscriptions, History and Playlists. Or send the home page straight to Subscriptions.
- Shorts removed. The Shorts shelf, the Shorts tab in the menu and the Shorts sections in the mobile layout are gone. Any Shorts link opens as a normal video, with a timeline and controls, and no swiping to the next one.
- No recommendations beside the video, no end-screen suggestions and no suggestions when you pause.
- Comments can go too, if you want.
Search, subscriptions, playlists, history, and any link someone sends you keep working. It is a few lines of CSS injected on the page, so nothing slows down.
Setting it up
- Install Grivun.
- Open the extension's options, go to Feed mode and turn on YouTube. Chrome asks for permission on youtube.com.
- Tick what you want hidden: home feed, Shorts, sidebar recommendations, comments.
Feed mode on one platform is free. If you want it on YouTube and X and Instagram at once, that is Pro.
Questions
Can I still watch a Short someone sends me?
Yes. The link opens as a regular video, with controls and no endless scroll into the next one.
Does it work in the YouTube app or on mobile?
No. It is a Chrome desktop extension; mobile Chrome does not run extensions. On a phone, pausing watch history is the best YouTube offers.
Does it break when YouTube changes its design?
It can, for the parts that are hidden. Grivun targets stable elements and is updated when YouTube moves things; search and playback never depend on it.
Doesn't pausing watch history do the same job?
For the home feed, yes. It does nothing about Shorts in the sidebar, in search or on channels, and nothing about recommendations beside a video.
Try it on the site that costs you the most
Grivun is free for up to three sites and feed mode on one platform, with seven days of full Pro to start. No account, and nothing leaves your browser.
Add to Chrome — free