YouTube Time Guard

About

🛡️ YouTube Time Guard — Take Back Your Time

Do you open YouTube "just for one video" and lose an hour without realizing it? YouTube Time Guard is a lightweight Chrome extension that warns you the moment you open YouTube and automatically closes the tab after your chosen active time limit — so you stay in control of your focus.

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⚡ HOW IT WORKS
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1. You open a YouTube tab
2. An instant warning notification appears — reminding you of your time limit
3. A live countdown banner shows inside the YouTube page
4. At 2 minutes remaining, the banner turns red and pulses as a final warning
5. When your limit is reached, the tab closes automatically

That's it. No complicated setup. No distractions.

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⏸️ SMART ACTIVE-TAB TRACKING
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Unlike other screen-time tools, YouTube Time Guard only counts time when YouTube is your ACTIVE, focused tab. The timer automatically pauses when you:

• Switch to another tab
• Minimize or switch apps (Alt+Tab)
• Move focus to a different browser window

This means your 10 minutes are truly 10 minutes of YouTube — not background time while you were working in another window.

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⚙️ FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE SETTINGS
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YouTube Time Guard adapts to your schedule and habits. From the Settings page you can customize:

• ⏱ Time Limit — Set your own limit (e.g. 5, 10, 20, or 30 minutes)
• ⚠️ Warning Time — Choose how early you want the red warning to appear
• 🔔 Notifications — Enable or disable Chrome notifications
• 🔄 Reset Behavior — Choose whether the timer resets when you navigate away from YouTube or carries over across visits

Your settings are saved automatically and applied every session.

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📊 LIVE STATUS POPUP
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Click the extension icon in your toolbar at any time to see:

• Whether the timer is currently running
• Exactly how much time you have remaining
• A color-coded progress bar (green → red as time runs out)

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✅ WHY USERS INSTALL IT
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🎓 Students — Block YouTube distractions during study sessions
💼 Professionals — Stay productive during work hours
👨‍👩‍👧 Parents — Control how long children spend watching YouTube
🧠 Anyone — Who wants a healthier relationship with online video

YouTube is designed to keep you watching. YouTube Time Guard gives you a simple, automatic way to set your own rules.

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🔒 PRIVACY FIRST
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• No account required
• No data collected or sent anywhere
• No tracking of what you watch
• Works entirely on your device

YouTube Time Guard only monitors whether a YouTube tab is active — nothing else.

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🛠️ TECHNICAL DETAILS
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• Built with Manifest V3 (Chrome's latest extension standard)
• Minimal permissions: only tabs, notifications, alarms, and local storage
• Lightweight — zero impact on browser performance
• Compatible with Chrome 102 and above

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📥 GET STARTED IN SECONDS
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1. Install the extension
2. Open YouTube — your timer starts automatically
3. Adjust your preferred time limit in Settings
4. Stay focused!

Take back your time. Install YouTube Time Guard today.