FocusTube: Distraction Blocker

Tracking since Apr 5, 2026.

Changelog

• May 11, 2026
  description

  Block YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikTok, and Facebook Reels - and take back your focus.
  
  FocusTube is a powerful distraction blocker and productivity extension designed to stop doomscrolling without breaking the rest of your workflow. Unlike basic site blockers, FocusTube targets short-form video feeds specifically, so you can still use social media for work, messaging, and research.
  
  🚫 BLOCK SHORT-FORM CONTENT
  
  • YouTube Shorts Blocker – Hide the Shorts shelf, sidebar links, and automatically redirect when opening Shorts
  • Instagram Reels Blocker – Disable Reels and Stories feeds
  • TikTok Feed Blocker – Block the For You page while keeping messaging accessible
  • Facebook Reels Blocker – Remove Reels and short-video distractions
  
  ⏱️ BUILT-IN FOCUS TIMER (POMODORO)
  
  • Customizable focus and break durations
  • Automatically locks settings during active focus sessions
  • Prevents disabling the extension mid-session
  
  🧠 MODES FOR EVERY WORKFLOW
  
  • Strict Mode – No bypassing, no excuses
  • Warn Mode – Shows a warning with a conscious “Watch Anyway” choice
  • Passive Mode – No blocking, only visual cleanup
  
  ✨ VISUAL CLEANING
  
  • Removes distracting sidebars, shelves, and recommendation feeds
  • Reduces visual clutter to prevent accidental rabbit holes
  
  🔒 PRIVACY-FIRST & OPEN SOURCE
  
  • 100% local - no tracking, analytics, or external servers
  • Fully open source and transparent
  
  💡 WHO IS THIS FOR?
  
  • Students & professionals
  • People with ADHD
  • Anyone trying to reduce doomscrolling and improve focus
  
  🔄 LATEST UPDATE
  
  v2.0.0
  • LinkedIn feed blocking support
  • Expanded visual hiding controls
  • Redesigned popup & settings dashboard
  • Improved timer behavior and lock security

  FocusTube is a distraction blocker that helps you stay focused by reducing short-form content and social media distractions across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
  
  Instead of blocking entire websites, FocusTube targets the distracting parts: YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikTok feeds, Facebook Reels, LinkedIn Feed, Stories, Reels buttons, and other attention-grabbing sections.
  
  Key features:
  
  • Block YouTube Shorts
  • Block Instagram Reels and Explore
  • Block TikTok distractions
  • Block Facebook Reels
  • Hide LinkedIn Feed distractions
  • Hide distracting buttons, feeds, stories, and visual clutter
  • Use Strict Mode for immediate blocking
  • Use Warn Mode to show a conscious “Watch Anyway” warning
  • Use Passive Mode when you want no intervention
  • Use the built-in focus timer to stay locked in during study or work sessions
  • Customize blocking and visual hiding settings per platform
  
  FocusTube is useful for students, remote workers, developers, researchers, and anyone who wants to reduce doomscrolling, avoid short-form video distractions, and stay productive online without losing access to useful parts of each website.
  
  Supported platforms:
  
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  
  Privacy:
  
  FocusTube is local-first. Settings and stats are stored in your browser’s local storage. The extension does not include analytics, telemetry, or a project-controlled backend for sending your browsing data to the developer.
  
  Open source:
  
  FocusTube is free and open source:
  https://github.com/malekwael229/FocusTube
  
  Note:
  
  Websites like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn update often, so some blocking or hiding behavior may occasionally need updates. If something breaks, please report it on GitHub.

• May 11, 2026
  short_description

  Stop Doomscrolling. Block YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

  Reduce distractions from YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikTok, Facebook Reels, and LinkedIn.

Permissions & access

Permissions

storagealarmsnotifications

Host access

*://*.youtube.com/*, *://*.instagram.com/*, *://*.tiktok.com/*, *://*.facebook.com/*, *://*.linkedin.com/*

Screenshots

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