How to Block YouTube on iPhone (App, Shorts & Website)

YouTube is the hardest app on this list to block, because it's the most genuinely useful. Recipes, tutorials, lectures, repair guides — and, right next to them, Shorts, autoplay and a sidebar designed to make one video become twelve.

Here's how to block or limit YouTube on iPhone — the app, the website and Shorts — and how to keep the useful part without losing your evening.

Quick answer: on iPhone, the most reliable built-in way to block YouTube is Settings → Screen Time → App Limits, with Block at End of Limit on and a Screen Time passcode someone else holds. Add youtube.com and m.youtube.com to the blocked websites so the browser isn't a back door. If you want a block that holds even when you're mid-scroll, use a dedicated blocker (more below).

Why is YouTube so hard to put down?

Two features do most of the damage. Autoplay starts the next video before you've decided whether to watch it, removing every natural stopping point. Shorts brings the TikTok model — vertical, endless, swipe-to-continue — into an app you open for completely different reasons.

So you open YouTube with a purpose ("how to fix a leaking tap"), and the app's job is to make you forget it.

How do I block YouTube with Screen Time App Limits?

These steps work on iOS 16 through iOS 26.

1. Open Settings → Screen Time. If it's off, turn it on.
2. Tap App Limits → Add Limit.
3. Find YouTube — open the categories or use the search bar — and select it.
4. Set a time. To block it almost completely, choose 1 minute; to cap it, choose something like 45 minutes.
5. Turn on Block at End of Limit. (You need a Screen Time passcode for this — Settings → Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings, or Use Screen Time Passcode on iOS 16.)

When the limit hits, YouTube greys out on your Home Screen. Without a passcode, though, the limit screen just offers Ignore Limit — which is why the passcode matters. See how to remove "Ignore Limit".

How do I block YouTube at certain times?

For a time window — nights, work hours, dinner — use Downtime:

1. Settings → Screen Time → Downtime.
2. Turn on Scheduled and pick your hours (e.g. 10:00pm → 7:00am).
3. Under Always Allowed, make sure YouTube is not on the list.

If you use YouTube for work or study during the day, a Downtime window is often a better fit than a tight daily limit — it protects the evening without blocking the useful daytime videos.

How do I block YouTube in Safari and other browsers?

An App Limit only covers the app. YouTube works perfectly well in a browser, so close that door too:

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 blocks the site completely in Safari and in apps that use Apple's web view. It's all-or-nothing — there's no time limit option for websites here.

Can I turn off YouTube Shorts or autoplay?

YouTube doesn't offer a switch to disable Shorts. You can reduce their pull:

• Turn off autoplay: in a video, 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: some users pause history (Settings → Manage all history) to make the home feed less personalised. YouTube's behaviour here changes over time, so results vary.

These soften YouTube. None of them block it.

Can I lock YouTube behind Face ID?

Yes. On iOS 18 and later, long-press the YouTube icon, tap Require Face ID, and confirm. You can also choose Hide and Require Face ID to move it into a hidden folder in the App Library.

It adds a second of friction and stops other people opening the app — but your own face unlocks it instantly, so it won't stop you.

Why don't these blocks hold?

YouTube blocks fail because you legitimately need the app. A 1-minute limit blocks the tutorial you actually wanted; a generous limit never kicks in. Blocking youtube.com also blocks YouTube videos embedded on other sites. And there's no way to block Shorts only, so it's all or nothing.

More broadly, every built-in method has the same weakness: you set it, so you can undo it. The App Limit has an "Ignore Limit" button or a passcode you know; Downtime has "Ignore Limit" too; the website block can be switched off in Settings; Face ID is your own face. We cover every gap in Screen Time loopholes.

And a daily limit is the wrong shape for YouTube. A 10-minute tutorial and a 90-minute Shorts binge count the same against a daily limit. The first is useful; the second is the problem. A daily total can't tell them apart.

What's a way to block YouTube that actually holds?

Detox is an iPhone and iPad app built for the moment the built-in tools fail: mid-scroll, low willpower.

• Consecutive-usage limit: watch a tutorial or a video someone sent you — that's fine. Once you've been scrolling YouTube continuously past your limit (say 20 minutes), Detox hard-blocks the YouTube app for a cooldown. Step away for about a minute and the counter resets, so quick checks never add up to a lockout.
• Schedules: block YouTube completely at set times — e.g. every evening after 9pm, or during focus hours.
• Focus sessions: a countdown block for deep work or study.
• Websites too: add youtube.com and m.youtube.com so the browser isn't a way round.
• Strict mode: while a block is active you can't edit or delete it, and Detox can stop you deleting the Detox app itself during a strict block. The emergency unblock is capped at one per 24 hours.

Detox blocks the whole YouTube app, not individual parts of it. It's iOS only, paid, with a free trial.

Which method should you use?

The bottom line

To block YouTube on iPhone, set a Screen Time App Limit with Block at End of Limit, add youtube.com and m.youtube.com to Never Allow, and use Downtime for the evening. Turning off autoplay helps a lot. If you need YouTube for real things but lose hours to it anyway, a limit on continuous watching fits far better than a daily cap.

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