Calm YouTube · part of Parentech
One video. An hour later they're still there, and it's Shorts.
YouTube is built by very smart people to keep your kid on it. The home feed, the sidebar, the Shorts shelf, the next video starting on its own. Your kid isn't weak-willed; the page is doing exactly what it was designed to do, to them. Blocking YouTube completely throws out the science channel with the Shorts, and you'll cave in a week.
7 days free · then $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year for every computer in the house
What happens instead
Take the hooks out and leave the video. Hide Shorts. Hide the home feed. Hide the recommendations beside the video. Hide the comments, the end cards, the notifications bell. Turn autoplay off. Each one is a switch. Search still works, so they can find the thing they came for, and nothing else finds them.
Exactly what it does
- Hides Shorts shelves, Shorts in the feed and the Shorts link in the sidebar.
- Clears the endless grid on the home page, leaving search.
- Removes the suggested videos beside the one that is playing.
- Hides comments, end-screen cards and the notifications bell.
- Switches the player's autoplay toggle off when a video loads.
- Applies before the page paints, so there is no flash of the hidden parts, and changes reach open YouTube tabs instantly.
Setting it up
Three steps.
1
Open the YouTube section in Parentech, or on parentech.app from your phone.
2
Turn on Calm mode, then choose which parts to hide. All of them is a fine place to start.
3
Change your mind any time. Open YouTube tabs update on the spot.
What it will not do
Said plainly.
- It works on youtube.com in Chrome, not in the YouTube app on a phone or television.
- It hides; it does not block. A video reached through search or a link still plays. For that, use the block list.
- YouTube changes its page often. If YouTube moves something, the worst case is a part reappears until Parentech is updated, never a broken page.
Questions parents ask
Before you install.
- Can my child still search for videos?
- Yes. Search is left alone on purpose. The point is that they find the video they meant to watch, and nothing else finds them.
- Can I hide only Shorts?
- Yes. Each part has its own switch. Turn on Calm mode and choose only Hide Shorts.
- Does it work with a signed-in YouTube account?
- Yes, signed in or not. It changes what the page shows, not the account.
- Can my child turn it back on?
- Not without the parent PIN. The switches live in Parentech's dashboard, which locks when closed.