A new zero-minute Shorts feed limit lets users effectively shut out YouTube’s short-video stream, a small setting change that says a lot about where the platform is heading.

YouTube has introduced a new option that lets users set their Shorts feed limit to zero inside the app. The change appears in YouTube’s official help documentation and gives users a more direct way to control how much short-form video they see during their time on the platform. According to YouTube’s Help page for Shorts feed limits, users can now choose from a list of time limits, including zero.

That matters because Shorts has become a major part of the YouTube app over the past few years. For many users, it is one of the easiest parts of the platform to keep scrolling through without really planning to. By adding a zero-minute option, YouTube is giving users a clearer way to push back against that experience instead of just relying on softer reminders or manual self-control.

The company’s wording is still careful. YouTube does not describe this as a full removal of Shorts from the app. On the official help page, the feature is presented as a Shorts feed limit within Time management settings. YouTube also notes that once the limit is reached, users will see a reminder and may still be able to dismiss or ignore it. So the safer way to describe this update is that YouTube now lets users effectively shut down the Shorts feed experience more aggressively, rather than promising a complete and permanent removal everywhere in the app.

What makes this update more notable is that it fits into a broader shift in how YouTube is talking about viewing habits. Back in October 2025, YouTube introduced a daily Shorts timer as part of its effort to help people manage time spent scrolling. At that stage, the feature was more about limiting viewing than fully stopping it. The new zero-minute option makes that control much stronger.

There is also some useful context in YouTube’s recent messaging around kids and teen accounts. In a January 2026 official YouTube blog post about supervised teen accounts, the company said parents would soon be able to set the Shorts timer to zero for teens. Another official YouTube blog post published later in January described this as an industry-first Shorts timer that could turn the feed off entirely for supervised users. That makes this latest update feel less like a sudden new idea and more like a broader expansion of a control YouTube had already been developing.

In simple terms, the update reflects a tension platforms are increasingly dealing with. Short-form video is still one of the most powerful engagement formats on the internet, and YouTube is clearly still investing in it. In the company’s 2026 outlook, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said Shorts now averages 200 billion daily views and that the platform plans to bring even more formats into the Shorts feed this year. At the same time, YouTube is now making it easier for users to put up stronger limits around that same format.