I changed these 12 YouTube settings to limit Shorts, stop autoplay, protect my privacy, and more

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ZDNET's key takeaways

YouTube's default settings don't equal the best experience.

A few changes can really improve privacy and usability.

Here's how I make YouTube more enjoyable to watch.

YouTube is great. It's one of the best places to learn a new skill, figure out how to fix something around the house, follow the news, find a new recipe, or watch a favorite celebrity eat incredibly spicy wings or play with puppies while promoting a new movie. Still, the default experience can be a lot. It can feel noisy, disruptive, and, dare I say, intrusive.

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But I've found that spending just a couple of minutes toggling a few settings on or off makes YouTube far better to use. Here are the viewing, privacy, security, and feature controls I change, and why.

1. Limit Shorts

For whatever reason, YouTube won't let me disable Shorts entirely. I hate that because it's a never-ending feed of AI slop and absolute trash. (Sorry, not sorry.) The mobile app does, however, include a daily limit, including for zero minutes.

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To set a daily limit in the YouTube app, go to Profile > Settings > Time management > Shorts feed limit > 0. The issue is this reminder can be easily dismissed, so it's more of a speed bump. Still, it may be worth enabling if a child sometimes uses YouTube on the same phone, as mine likes to do. In that case, I also reduce Shorts recommendations in the mobile app and from my desktop.

In the Shorts shelf on the Home screen, tap the three-dot menu and select Show fewer Shorts.

2. Turn off autoplay

I never want to watch the next video YouTube decides to serve up. They're usually very loosely related to the video I just watched or not interesting to me at all. Because I'd rather find something else to watch myself, I switch off Autoplay entirely.

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While watching a video, look for the Autoplay toggle near the top or bottom of the video player. It looks like a pill-shaped switch with a play button inside. On mobile, Autoplay can be disabled directly from Settings. Go to Profile > Settings > Playback, then turn off Autoplay next video. Once turned off, YouTube stops automatically starting another video when the current one ends.

3. Stop previews

I don't mind YouTube previewing videos while I'm scrolling and looking for something to watch on my desktop or TV. On my phone, though, video previews can burn through data and honestly make the app feel too busy and noisy, especially when I'm out and about and using YouTube. I can also see why anyone who gets overstimulated easily would want to stop them from playing automatically.

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To disable video previews, go to Profile > Settings > Playback > Playback in feeds, then select Off. For more of a middle ground, choose Wi-Fi only instead.

4. Change video and audio quality

YouTube's mobile app offers far more settings than the desktop version, including for video quality. Sure, while watching a video on my Mac or PC, I can click the Settings cog in the player and then adjust the quality for that specific video, like switching from 1080p to 4K if YouTube doesn't select it automatically. On mobile, however, I can set permanent defaults for both video and audio quality.

In the mobile app, go to Profile > Settings > Video quality preferences.

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From there, video quality on mobile networks can be set to Auto, Higher picture quality, or Data saver. The same options are available for Wi-Fi. So I use Data saver on mobile networks and Higher picture quality on Wi-Fi. I'm also hard of hearing, so I prefer to set audio quality to Higher in this same menu. Unfortunately, though, that option does require a paid YouTube Premium subscription.

5. Speed up videos

YouTube Academy has taught me so much over the years, from drywalling to rockhounding. But, my God, I can't stand a long, rambling video tutorial. For those, I like to watch at 1.25x or 1.5x speed. Go to Settings > Playback speed and choose a rate. While I'm in the vido settings, I also turn on Subtitles so I can read along and make sure I don't miss anything as the video plays faster.

6. Set sleep timers

I like to fall asleep with the TV on, and although I usually put on a movie at night, sometimes I'll watch a long YouTube video.

A little vintage noir jazz, anyone? Don't judge me. Some people like fans; I like a little TV glow. But I know light and noise from my TV could disrupt my sleep quality, so I make sure to set YouTube to stop playing about an hour later when I'm fast asleep.

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To do the same on mobile or desktop, open the video and go to Settings > Sleep timer. Choose a duration, and YouTube will automatically pause the video when the timer ends.

7. Turn on ambient mode (and dark theme)

This one isn't really necessary, but I like how it looks. Ambient mode spills colors from the video onto the surrounding page, creating a shifting background instead of the typical static player. To use it, Dark theme must be enabled under Settings > General > Appearance. Once that's set up, I can open any video, select Settings > More > Ambient mode, and switch it on.

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It's handy having dark theme enabled if watching videos at night, too, which I like to do. It's just easier on the eyes and less bright.

8. Reduce notifications

I get notification overload too easily. I don't want endless recommended-video alerts, product updates, or email notices, so I reduce how many notifications YouTube can send on both mobile and desktop.

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In the YouTube mobile app, tap Profile > Settings > Notifications, then turn off notifications. On desktop, select Profile > Settings > Notifications and disable desktop alerts, as well as the different notification types, such as subscriptions, activity, and promotional.

9. Auto-delete YouTube history

My watch and search history can help improve the recommendations I get, but I don't need a permanent archive of everything I've ever clicked on, so I auto-delete older activity. Open Google My Activity > YouTube History > Manage history > Auto-delete, then choose four, 18, or 36 months. From the YouTube History screen, I can also delete a specific time range from my watch history.

Tip: If you want, you can disable YouTube History entirely from the Google My Activity page.

10. Use Incognito

Speaking of watch history, I recently looked up how to make a Bluey birthday cake for my daughter. I didn't want her to see what I was searching for because it's a surprise, and I also didn't want YouTube recommending similar videos for weeks. So I used an Incognito session, which keeps that activity out of my account's watch and search history.

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In the mobile app, tap Profile > Accounts > Turn on Incognito. On desktop, I can open an Incognito window in Chrome and go to YouTube. Either way, YouTube behaves as though I'm signed out and won't add that activity to my signed-in watch or search history.

11. Turn off personalized ads

Unfortunately, turning off personalized ads does not remove ads entirely, but it does stop Google from tailoring them based on my account activity, search and watch history, and inferred interests. In the mobile app, open Settings > Privacy > My Ad Center, then switch Personalized ads off. What's especially neat is that this choice applies across all the Google services I use while signed in.

12. Set subscriptions and playlists to private

I don't want anyone to see which channels I've subscribed to because, frankly, that's none of their business. On desktop, open Settings > Privacy and enable Keep all my subscriptions private.

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I also make my playlists private unless I plan to share one with someone. Believe it or not, they can reveal more personal information than one might expect. To change a playlist's visibility, open the Profile tab > Playlists, select the list, and set Visibility to Private.

Can Shorts be turned off completely?

No. I can set a daily limit, which is easily dismissible, and I can ask YouTube to show fewer Shorts on the Home screen. But that's it.

Does Incognito hide activity from an internet provider or employer?

No. It prevents my watch session from being attached to my signed-in YouTube history. It does not act like a VPN or network tool.

Does turning off personalized ads remove commercials?

No. I still get ads unless, of course, I subscribe to a YouTube Premium plan to remove them.

Should I enable Restricted Mode?

Restricted Mode (Profile > Settings > General) filters out mature content, which is so useful on shared devices. The problem is that Google warns it isn't 100% accurate, and in my experience, it really does fall short. I've tried it with my daughter, and she still gets served up videos I don't want her to see. For stronger age-appropriate controls, YouTube Kids is the better option, in my opinion.

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