How to Block YouTube on iPhone: App, Safari and Shorts

To block YouTube on iPhone, set a Screen Time App Limit with Block at End of Limit, add youtube.com to the blocked websites, and let someone else hold the passcode. The catch: YouTube is also the most useful app you'll ever block, so a blunt block tends to get undone the first time you need a tutorial.

Here's how to block the app, the website and (sort of) Shorts, and how to keep the useful part.

Quick answer

• App: Settings → Screen Time → App Limits → YouTube, with Block at End of Limit on.
• Browser: add youtube.com and m.youtube.com to Web Content → Never Allow.
• Evenings: use Downtime and leave YouTube off Always Allowed.
• Shorts: no built-in switch. Turn off autoplay instead.

Why is YouTube so hard to put down?

Two features do most of the damage. Autoplay starts the next video before you've decided to watch it, so there's no natural stopping point. Shorts brings the TikTok model (vertical, endless, swipe for more) into an app you opened for something else.

You open YouTube to fix a leaking tap. The app's job is to make you forget that.

How do I block YouTube with Screen Time?

These steps work on iOS 16 through iOS 26.

1. Open Settings → Screen Time and turn it on.
2. Tap App Limits → Add Limit.
3. Search for YouTube and select it.
4. Pick a time: 1 minute to block it almost completely, or something like 45 minutes to cap it.
5. Turn on Block at End of Limit. This needs a Screen Time passcode (Lock Screen Time Settings, or Use Screen Time Passcode on iOS 16).

Without the passcode, the limit screen just offers Ignore Limit. Ask someone else to set it, then read how to remove "Ignore Limit".

How do I block YouTube at certain times?

For nights, work hours or dinner, use Downtime:

1. Settings → Screen Time → Downtime.
2. Turn on Scheduled and pick your hours, for example 10:00pm → 7:00am.
3. Check that YouTube is not under Always Allowed.

If you use YouTube for study during the day, a Downtime window often beats a tight daily cap. It protects the evening without killing the useful videos.

How do I block YouTube in Safari?

An App Limit only covers the app, and YouTube works fine in a browser. Close that door:

1. Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions (turn it on).
2. App Store, Media, Web & Games → Web Content → Limit Adult Websites. On iOS 16 to 18.0, the first menu is called Content Restrictions or Store, Web, Siri & Game Center Content.
3. Under Never Allow, add youtube.com and m.youtube.com.

This is all or nothing: there's no time limit for websites, and it also blocks YouTube videos embedded on other sites.

Can I turn off YouTube Shorts or autoplay?

YouTube has no switch to disable Shorts. You can make them less sticky:

• Turn off autoplay: tap the autoplay toggle at the top of the player, or go to Settings → Autoplay.
• Set reminders: Settings → General → Remind me to take a break and Remind me when it's bedtime.
• Pause watch history: a less personalised feed is a less tempting one. YouTube changes how this behaves, so results vary.

On iOS 18 and later you can also long-press the icon and choose Require Face ID. That stops other people, not you: your own face unlocks it in a second.

Why don't these blocks hold?

Because you genuinely need the app. A 1-minute limit blocks the tutorial you wanted; a generous one never kicks in. And every built-in block was set by you, so you can undo it: Ignore Limit, a passcode you know, a website toggle in Settings. We list every gap in Screen Time loopholes.

There's also a shape problem. A 10-minute tutorial and a 90-minute Shorts binge look the same to a daily total. One is useful, the other is the problem.

Which method should you use?

A limit on the binge, not the tutorial

Detox limits continuous use instead of your daily total. Watch a recipe and leave: nothing happens. Keep scrolling YouTube past your session limit (say 20 minutes) and the app is blocked for a while. A short break resets the counter, so quick checks never add up to a lockout.

You can also schedule YouTube off for the evening, add youtube.com to the block, and turn on strict mode so the rule can't be edited while it's active. On a computer, the Detox Chrome extension hides YouTube Shorts.

The bottom line

Use an App Limit with Block at End of Limit, block youtube.com in Safari, Downtime for the evening, and turn off autoplay. If you need YouTube for real things but still lose hours to it, a limit on continuous watching fits far better than a daily cap. That's what Detox is built for, with a free trial.

Related: How to block TikTok on iPhone · How to stop phone distraction while studying · How to block apps on iPhone