How to Quit Short Videos Without Deleting the Apps (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok on iPhone, 2026)
This page covers all three short-video feeds together: YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok For You. With minulo, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok For You stay hidden while search, DMs and the people you follow keep working (hiding is free).
Short videos show up on the first screen when you open an app and after a video ends. They appear even when you didn't go looking for them, which is why they are hard to quit. Deleting the apps stops them, but you also lose YouTube for looking things up, Instagram DMs and TikTok messages. Here is what each app's official settings can do, and how to remove only the short videos.
This page is written by Ayumu Kitabayashi, the developer of minulo. One of the options compared here is my own app, so keep that in mind. The YouTube, TikTok and iPhone settings were checked against the sources below on 2026-11-02. Menu names can change with app and iOS updates.
| App | Official settings | Limits | What minulo hides |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | Set the Shorts feed limit to zero | When you reach it, a reminder appears and you can dismiss it or ignore the limit | Shorts and recommendations |
| No setting found to turn off the Reels tab | Reels is one tap away whenever you open the app | Reels, the Explore tab and suggested posts | |
| TikTok | Refresh your For You feed, Not interested, a daily screen time limit | For You itself stays | For You (or every tab but DMs) |
| iPhone Screen Time | Time limits per app or category, and schedules that block apps at set times | Can't pick only the short videos, so DMs are blocked too | Nothing (used to lock the official apps) |
Set YouTube Shorts to zero minutes (official setting)
- Sign in to the YouTube app.
- Tap the You tab, then Settings.
- Tap Time management, then Shorts feed limit.
- Choose a time from the list. Zero is one of the options.
According to YouTube Help, when you reach the limit a reminder appears in the Shorts feed and you can dismiss it or ignore the limit. It reminds you rather than stopping you. More on this in YouTube Shorts Feed Limit: How to Set It to 0.
Instagram and TikTok can't remove them with official settings
We could not find a setting in Instagram that turns off the Reels tab (How to turn off Instagram Reels). TikTok added a way to refresh the For You feed in March 2023. TikTok's announcement says a refresh lets you see For You content as if you had just signed up, and recommendations build up again from there. Settings you've already turned on and the accounts you follow are not affected. The For You feed itself stays (How to Turn Off the For You Page on TikTok).
Hide only the short videos with minulo
- Install minulo from the App Store.
- Open Instagram, YouTube or TikTok inside minulo and log in on each service's own login page. minulo does not receive your password.
- Tap the gear next to each service and turn on hiding: Reels and the Explore tab (and suggested posts) for Instagram, Shorts for YouTube, For You for TikTok. Hiding is free.
- In the Block tab, choose the official Instagram, YouTube or TikTok app and start a block. Tapping its icon shows a Blocked screen with an Open in minulo button. Free blocks last up to 2 hours each.
You keep search and normal videos on YouTube, DMs and posts from people you follow on Instagram, and messages on TikTok. Hiding stays on until you turn it off.
Here are minulo's weak points too. Reels and Shorts are hidden only inside minulo; the official apps don't change. While minulo is blocking an official app, that app's notifications don't arrive, and minulo doesn't send them for it. You can't post Stories, send voice messages or make calls. minulo is an iPhone app, and there is also a Mac app that works in Safari and Chrome. There is no Android version yet. It's new and has few ratings so far. See What minulo can't do.
If you still open the official apps
Keep the official apps locked with minulo's Block tab. Free blocks last up to 2 hours each, and you can start the next one right away. Nightly schedules, blocks longer than 2 hours and Hard Mode, which makes turning a block off take a few minutes on purpose (copy a sentence, answer some mental arithmetic, wait 60 seconds), are part of minulo Pro (US $9.99 a month or $39.99 a year). You can also block apps at set times, such as at night, with iPhone Screen Time: in iOS 27 this is a Screen Time Schedule with Time Allowances, and in iOS 26 it is Downtime and App Limits.
Can I quit short videos without deleting the apps?
You can make it much easier. YouTube lets you set the Shorts feed limit to zero, and in minulo YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok For You stay hidden while search and DMs keep working (hiding is free).
If I set the YouTube Shorts feed limit to zero, can I still watch Shorts?
Yes. According to YouTube Help, when you reach the limit a reminder appears and you can dismiss it or ignore the limit.
Can I turn off Reels in Instagram?
We could not find a setting in the Instagram app that turns off the Reels tab. If you open Instagram inside minulo, Reels and the Explore tab are hidden and DMs keep working.
Can I remove TikTok For You?
TikTok lets you refresh For You, but the feed itself stays. If you open TikTok inside minulo, For You is hidden and messages keep working.
Do short videos hurt your attention span?
This page doesn't cover that. What studies show is collected in Do Short Videos Ruin Your Attention Span? What Studies Show.
Sources
- YouTube Help: Set a Shorts feed limit
- TikTok Newsroom: Introducing a way to refresh your For You feed on TikTok (2023-03-16)
- Apple: Set Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances in Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27)
- Apple: Set schedules with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 26)
- minulo: What minulo can't do
- App Store (US): minulo