Unhook Unified - Distraction-Free YouTube

About

Take back control of your time, focus, and attention on YouTube.

Unhook is a lightweight, privacy-first extension that removes YouTube's most addictive recommendation feeds, sidebar grids, and distraction triggers — so you can use YouTube as a tool instead of a time-sink.

By default, Unhook replaces the homepage recommendation feed with a clean, focus-oriented search box, keeping your attention on what you actually came to watch. Every feature below is fully customizable in real time from the toolbar popup — no page reload required.

★ 12 FOCUS CONTROLS

1. Hide Homepage Feed — replaces the recommendation grid with a clean search prompt.
2. Hide Sidebar Suggestions — removes "Up Next" and related-video grids on watch pages to stop autoplay loops.
3. Hide Comments — hides the public comments section under the video player.
4. Hide Shorts & Reels — blocks vertical Shorts shelves on home/search pages and removes the Shorts tab from the sidebar.
5. Hide End-Screen Suggestions — removes recommended-video tiles from the player during a video's final seconds.
6. Hide Pause Overlay Suggestions — hides the related-thumbnails grid that appears when you pause.
7. Hide Header Buttons — hides the notification-bell count and Create/Upload button.
8. Hide Live Chat — automatically closes and hides chat frames on live streams and premieres.
9. Hide Search Recommendations — removes shelves like "People also watched," "Latest from...," and "Trending."
10. Hide Playables — hides YouTube Playables (games) shelves and sidebar entries.
11. Hide Subscriptions Feed — hides the /feed/subscriptions page to prevent feed-scrolling habits.
12. Hide Explore Navigation — hides Trending, Music, Gaming, Podcasts, and Explore from the left sidebar.

★ PRIVACY-FIRST & LIGHTWEIGHT

✔ 100% local execution — no tracking of search history, watch habits, or personal data, ever.
✔ Least-privilege permissions — only "storage" (to save your toggle settings) and host access to youtube.com.
✔ Zero idle footprint — works via static stylesheet injection at document_start; no background processes, no memory use when YouTube isn't open.
✔ Zero flash of content — elements are hidden before the page renders, so you never see a flash of the content you asked to hide.
✔ Built on Manifest V3 for long-term security and performance.

★ QUICK START

1. Add Unhook to Chrome.
2. Click the puzzle icon in your toolbar and pin Unhook for one-click access.
3. Open YouTube.
4. Click the Unhook icon and toggle any of the 12 controls — changes apply instantly.

Have a feature request or found a bug? Reach out — see the support link on this page. Unhook is actively maintained with regular updates.