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Use YouTube Without Shorts

Shorts are built for the next clip, not for finishing a lesson. Unbinge is a free Chrome and Edge extension that can hide Shorts in the YouTube interface, or stop Shorts pages from opening when Education Mode is on.

The problem

The Shorts shelf, the Shorts tab, and /shorts/ URLs sit next to ordinary videos. One tap and you are in an infinite vertical feed. Blocking ads does not remove that loop. People who search “YouTube Shorts blocker” usually want the long video, not the swipe feed around it.

Two different Shorts controls

Unbinge treats UI hiding and page blocking as separate tools:

  • Hide Shorts (Distraction Settings) conceals Shorts shelves and related chrome on YouTube pages you can still visit. Education Mode can stay off. This is the “quieter homepage / player” option.
  • Education Mode blocks Shorts URLs outright. Opening a Short shows Unbinge’s blocked screen. On Kids and Teens it also blocks Home, Search, and other browse pages so unapproved titles are not listed. Adult/Parent can still open Home and Search; Shorts pages still will not play.

You can use the hide toggle alone, Education Mode alone, or both. Filters do not whitelist channels. Education Mode does not replace every distraction toggle.

How to hide or block Shorts

  1. Install Unbinge

    Add it from the Chrome Web Store. It works in Chrome, Edge, and other Chromium browsers. See the install guide.

  2. Turn Hide Shorts on

    Open the popup → Distraction Settings → keep Hide Shorts enabled (it is on by default). A master switch can turn all UI filters off without uninstalling.

  3. Optionally enable Education Mode

    That is what blocks /shorts/ navigation, not just the shelf. Pair it with a channel whitelist if you also want only approved channels.

What this does not do

YouTube’s layout changes. Unbinge does not claim every Shorts chip will stay hidden forever. It does not remove Shorts from the YouTube mobile app. Browser extensions run on desktop Chrome and Edge; on phones, YouTube Kids or the device’s own restrictions are a better fit. Hiding Shorts also does not review every long video on an allowed channel.

Who it’s for

Students who lose a study session to the Shorts shelf. Parents who want fewer swipe feeds on a shared computer. Adults who already know Shorts is their rabbit hole. If you need a quieter player beyond Shorts, see the YouTube distraction blocker page. For a Kids profile and parent PIN, see YouTube for kids.

Related pages

Install Unbinge