NO// iphone // Mar 19, 2026 // 6 min
How to block YouTube on iPhone (and why it is the back door)
You can block the app in about two minutes. Blocking the website, the in-app players and the Shorts habit takes three more steps.
YouTube is the app that survives every cleanup. It reads as useful, so it gets an exemption, and then Shorts turns it into the same infinite feed you just deleted twice. If you are locking down a phone, YouTube is usually the leak.
> Block the app
Settings, Screen Time, App Limits, Add Limit, choose Entertainment or search for YouTube specifically, and set the limit to one minute. A one-minute limit is effectively a block and it is easier to set than the alternatives. Then go to Lock Screen Time Settings and set a passcode you do not choose, or the limit is a tap away from gone.
> Block the website too
Blocking the app without the site just moves you to Safari. Under Content & Privacy Restrictions, Content Restrictions, Web Content, choose Limit Adult Websites and then add youtube.com and m.youtube.com to Never Allow. This covers every browser on the device.
> The three leaks people miss
- ▪Embedded players: links from Reddit, X and news apps open YouTube inside those apps. Blocking the domain under Never Allow catches most of these.
- ▪Shorts: if you want YouTube for actual videos, disable Shorts in the app's settings and turn off autoplay — Shorts is the part behaving like a feed.
- ▪Smart TV and laptop: the phone block quietly relocates the habit. Filter the router DNS if you want the block to mean anything.
> If you still need YouTube for work
Keep the site, kill the feed. Sign out, turn off watch history, and use direct links or subscriptions only. Most of YouTube's pull comes from the recommendation column rather than the videos you went there to watch.
You do not have a YouTube problem. You have a recommendation-engine problem that happens to be wearing a YouTube logo.
> Making it hold longer than a week
App Limits fail for one reason: the Ignore Limit button, and the passcode you already know. A lock with a fixed duration that you cannot shorten from the phone removes both. Pick YouTube and the rest of the entertainment category, set a week, hand over the key.
// faq
- > How do I block the YouTube app on iPhone?
- Set a one-minute App Limit for YouTube in Screen Time and lock Screen Time with a passcode someone else holds.
- > Why does YouTube still open in other apps?
- Links open in embedded in-app players. Add youtube.com and m.youtube.com to Never Allow under Web Content to catch those.