Block YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels in Chrome
“I’ll watch one Short” turns into forty minutes. Plainware Focus can block just the Shorts or Reels part of a site, so you can still watch a long video or message a friend.
How blocking part of a site works
Plainware Focus blocks by address. youtube.com/shorts is the address of the Shorts player, so blocking it leaves ordinary videos alone. The presets for Shorts, Reels, Explore and other feeds are just these address rules, ready-made.
Block Shorts and Reels
Open Plainware Focus’s Settings and make a list, for example “Short video”.
Under the list, choose a preset: YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels and Watch or TikTok.
If you also want Shorts gone from the YouTube home page, add YouTube home feed. It blocks the home page itself, not videos.
Choose how the list blocks. Always is simplest. After a daily limit lets you keep, say, 15 minutes a day.
Allow Plainware Focus on the site when Chrome asks. That lets it catch Shorts you open from inside YouTube.
The honest limits
- Shorts shown inside the YouTube home page can’t be blocked separately. The home feed preset blocks the whole home page. That is the trade-off.
- Sites change. The presets are plain address rules and may not catch everything, so check them now and then.
- Without site access, Chrome blocks the address but shows its own “blocked” page, and pages that change address without reloading are not caught.
- Incognito and other browsers are covered only as described in our blocking guide.
What’s free
The presets, schedules and daily limits are free, with no cap on sites. Pro adds things like keyword lists and strict mode for people who want a harder barrier.