How to block YouTube on iPhone so it actually stays blocked

You opened it for one video. Autoplay and Shorts did the rest. Here are the three ways to block YouTube on an iPhone, what each costs to get around, and how to close the Safari loophole.

Updated 31 October 2026 · Screen Time steps as of iOS 17 and iOS 18

The short version

There are three ways to block YouTube on an iPhone. They all use the same Apple mechanism underneath. They differ in one thing: what it costs you to get back in at 11pm.

Option 1: Screen Time, the built-in way

Free, already on your phone, and worth knowing, because every other blocker builds on it.

1. Open Settings, then Screen Time.
2. Tap App Limits, then Add Limit.
3. Choose Entertainment, then tick YouTube. Tap Next.
4. Set the daily time, switch on Block at End of Limit, tap Add.
5. Optional: under Downtime, schedule hours when only the apps you allow are available.

Here is what happens when the limit hits. The screen says Time Limit, and under it, a button: Ignore Limit. One more minute, remind me in 15 minutes, ignore for today. If you set a Screen Time passcode, the button asks for the passcode first. You know the passcode. That is the whole problem, and our guide to why you keep ignoring Screen Time limits goes through it. The one trick that works for some people is having a partner set the passcode and not tell you.

Option 2: a blocker app

Opal, Freedom, AppBlock, one sec, ScreenZen and the rest all run on the same Screen Time framework, so they shield YouTube exactly the way Apple does. What they add is a different key: a PIN, a waiting period, a breathing exercise, a timer you commit to, a "strict mode" switch. Each is better than Ignore Limit. Each is still on the phone, in your hand, at 11pm. Our ranking of nine blockers sorts them by exactly that.

Option 3: put the key in another room

YouTube is harder than most apps because it is useful as well as bottomless: the recipe, the repair video, the lecture. So the block has to be one you can get through when it matters, and can't tap through when it doesn't. Tollie shields YouTube with the same Apple mechanism as the options above; the key is a spot in another room. Setup takes about four minutes:

1. Install Tollie and pick YouTube. Tap New toll booth and choose YouTube. If you watch on the iPad as well, remember Tollie runs on iPhone only; set the iPad's own Screen Time limit.
2. Choose the booth. A daily budget of 30 or 45 free minutes covers the videos you meant to watch. Then the shield, and every ten minutes more costs a trip. Or close a window, 21:00 to 08:00, if the evenings are the problem.
3. Hide the key. Scan a spot in another room for a few seconds. That is the only key. Not at home? The walk key opens the booth after 100 real steps.
4. Pick the level. Standard is the default. On Strict, the second pass in the same evening costs more steps than the first. Easier changes wait 24 hours; stricter ones apply at once.

When the budget runs out, YouTube shows a shield with one button: Pay the toll. Walk to the spot, scan, ten minutes, long enough for the video you actually needed. Then the shield returns. A repair video is worth a walk to the kitchen. The forty-third Short is not.

What happens when you try to cheat

You will, within the first week. Here is what each exit costs, so there are no surprises:

• Pay the toll. Walk to your spot and scan it, or walk the steps. Ten minutes of YouTube, then the shield returns. Passes don't stack. On the Strict level, the second pass in the same block costs more steps.
• Change the clock, force-quit, delete Tollie. None of these work while a block runs.
• Open youtube.com in Safari. This is the one loophole that matters for YouTube, because the website works well. Tollie blocks apps, not websites, on purpose. Close the site with Apple's own tool: Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy Restrictions, Content Restrictions, Web Content, and add youtube.com and m.youtube.com under Never Allow. That setting lives behind your Screen Time passcode, so let someone else set it, or set it and accept that it is a speed bump rather than a wall.
• Break Glass. One tap opens everything for 30 minutes, once a week. If you named a witness, they get a note that you broke the glass.
• Switch Tollie off in Settings. Apple keeps this exit open for every blocker, Tollie included. Tollie counts it as a Break Glass and tells your witness.

One booth is free, forever. Put YouTube in it this afternoon. Tonight the key is in the kitchen.

Get Tollie on the App Store

On a computer? Scan to get Tollie on your iPhone.

Questions

Can I block Shorts but keep the rest of YouTube?

No app on iPhone can block part of an app, because Apple's Screen Time framework shields whole apps. The closest thing is a daily budget: 30 or 45 free minutes covers the videos you meant to watch and not an evening of Shorts. Inside YouTube itself you can also hide the Shorts shelf for 30 days, which some people find enough on its own.

How do I block YouTube in Safari?

Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy Restrictions, Content Restrictions, Web Content, then add youtube.com and m.youtube.com under Never Allow. The setting sits behind your Screen Time passcode, so it holds best when someone else sets that passcode.

Can I block YouTube only in the evening?

Yes. A window booth closes YouTube between the hours you choose, 21:00 to 08:00 say, every day or only on the days you pick.

What about YouTube on the TV?

Out of reach of any phone app, and honestly a different habit. The phone block removes the one in your pocket, which is the one you reach for in bed.

Tollie is made by the people who wrote this page. YouTube and other product names belong to their owners and are used to describe them. Screen Time steps describe iOS 17 and iOS 18 as of 31 October 2026; Apple moves things between versions.