I changed these 12 YouTube settings to limit Shorts, stop autoplay, protect my privacy, and more
I changed these 12 YouTube settings to limit Shorts, stop autoplay, protect my privacy, and more
https://www.zdnet.com/article/12-youtube-settings-i-always-change-privacy-security-quality-autoplay/
Publish Date: 2026-07-14 06:00:00
Source Domain: www.zdnet.com
Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- YouTube’s default settings don’t equal the best experience.
- A few changes can really improve privacy and usability.
- Here’s how I make YouTube more enjoyable to watch.
YouTube is great. It’s one of the best places to learn a new skill, figure out how to fix something around the house, follow the news, find a new recipe, or watch a favorite celebrity eat incredibly spicy wings or play with puppies while promoting a new movie. Still, the default experience can be a lot. It can feel noisy, disruptive, and, dare I say, intrusive.
Also: I tried DuckDuckGo’s new video player, and it blocks YouTube ads for free
But I’ve found that spending just a couple of minutes toggling a few settings on or off makes YouTube far better to use. Here are the viewing, privacy, security, and feature controls I change, and why.
1. Limit Shorts
For whatever reason, YouTube won’t let me disable Shorts entirely. I hate that because it’s a never-ending feed of AI slop and absolute trash. (Sorry, not sorry.) The mobile app does, however, include a daily limit, including for zero minutes.
Also: YouTube Premium vs. Premium Lite: Is the cheaper tier still your best deal?
To set a daily limit in the YouTube app, go to Profile Settings Time management Shorts feed limit 0. The issue is this reminder can be easily dismissed, so it’s more of a speed bump. Still, it may be worth enabling if a child sometimes uses YouTube on the same phone, as mine likes to do. In that case, I also reduce Shorts recommendations in the mobile app and from my desktop.
In the Shorts shelf on the Home screen, tap the three-dot menu and select Show fewer Shorts.
Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
2. Turn off autoplay
I never want to watch the next video YouTube decides to serve up. They’re usually very loosely related to the video I just watched or not interesting to me at all. Because I’d rather find something else to…
