YouTube Focus Shield

About

YouTube without Shorts — every surface, every page, zero flicker.
YouTube Focus Shield surgically removes YouTube Shorts from your homepage, sidebar, search results, subscriptions, endscreens, and channel pages — six independent shields, instant application, and cross-device sync built in.

The Problem: YouTube Shorts Are Everywhere — and You Didn't Ask for Them
You opened YouTube to watch a tutorial, catch up on subscriptions, or find a specific video. Instead, you're ambushed by a Shorts carousel on the homepage, a Shorts tab on every channel, Shorts cards mixed into your search results, and autoplay Shorts on the endscreen pulling you into an infinite scroll loop.
YouTube Shorts are designed to capture attention impulsively — and they're embedded into every corner of the interface to make them impossible to avoid. Existing extensions block one or two surfaces and miss the rest, leaving gaps that pull you back in.

The Solution: YouTube Focus Shield — Six Shields, Total Coverage
YouTube Focus Shield is the most comprehensive Shorts removal extension available for Chrome. Six independently configurable shields cover every surface where Shorts appear, using a zero-flicker CSS injection strategy that fires before the first paint — so you never see a Shorts element flash onto the screen, even for a fraction of a second.

✨ Why Users Choose YouTube Focus Shield
🛡️ Six Independent Shields — Total Shorts Elimination
Every surface covered, every one configurable:

Shorts Shelf — removes the carousel from your homepage feed
Sidebar Nav — hides Shorts from the left guide and mini icon bar
Search & Subscriptions — strips Shorts cards from results and your sub feed
Related & Endscreen — removes Shorts from Up Next and endscreen overlays
Channel Shorts Tab — hides the Shorts tab on every channel page
URL Redirect — automatically converts /shorts/VIDEO_ID links to standard /watch pages

⚡ Zero-Flicker CSS Injection — Shorts Never Appear, Even for a Millisecond
Most blockers inject their rules after the page loads, causing a visible flash of Shorts content before it disappears. YouTube Focus Shield injects CSS at document_start — before any paint occurs — so Shorts elements are hidden before they ever render. Combined with a MutationObserver for dynamically loaded content, nothing slips through.
🔄 Full SPA Navigation Support
YouTube is a single-page application. Navigating between pages doesn't trigger a full reload — which is exactly where most Shorts blockers fail. YouTube Focus Shield's SPA navigation listener keeps all shields active across every page transition, automatically and instantly.
🔁 Live Settings — No Page Refresh Required
Toggle any shield on or off and it applies immediately to the current page. No reloading, no waiting. Your YouTube experience updates in real time as you configure it.
☁️ Cross-Device Sync via Chrome Sync
Your shield preferences sync automatically across every Chrome device you're signed into via chrome.storage.sync. Configure once on your laptop and your shields are active on every machine.
🎛️ Master Switch — Pause Everything Instantly
One toggle disables all six shields simultaneously. Need to access Shorts temporarily? Flip the master switch, do what you need, flip it back. Simple.
🛡️ Manifest V3 — Secure, Modern, Future-Proof
Built entirely on Chrome's latest MV3 architecture for tighter security, minimal permissions, and guaranteed long-term compatibility with Chrome's extension platform.

🔒 Privacy-First. Zero Data Collected.

No account or sign-up required.
Zero external network requests — ever.
No browsing history, watch history, or personal data collected or transmitted.
Settings sync only through Chrome's own built-in sync infrastructure.
No third-party scripts, trackers, or analytics of any kind.


🙋 Perfect For:

Professionals using YouTube for learning without getting pulled into short-form content
Students who need YouTube for research but find Shorts derail their focus
Creators who use YouTube Studio and want a cleaner interface
Parents setting up a more intentional YouTube experience
Anyone who values deep-focus content over algorithmic impulse loops


📥 Install YouTube Focus Shield and Reclaim Your YouTube.
Six shields. Zero Shorts. Total focus — starting the moment you install.