How to block YouTube on Android

The direct answer

Use Google Family Link for a child's Android phone or tablet. It can block the YouTube app for that child and block the YouTube domain in Chrome.

Changing settings on the Android device itself can hide or disable YouTube on some models, but that local switch is easy to reverse. Family Link is the parent held control.

Block the YouTube app with Family Link

The child must use a Google Account supervised through Family Link on the Android device.

1. 1
   Open Family Link on the parent's phone and select the child.
2. 2
   Open Screen time, then Time limits, then App limits.
3. 3

   Select YouTube. Change its status from Allowed to Blocked, then tap Done.

4. 4

   Wait for the child's device to connect. Google says a block may take about five minutes and gives an active app a one minute warning.

5. 5

   Open YouTube on the child's device and confirm that the supervised account cannot use it.

Google keeps the current menu path in its Family Link app guide. Some system apps cannot be blocked, so check the result on the actual phone rather than assuming the switch worked.

Block the website in Chrome

The app block does not stop youtube.com in Chrome.

1. 1
   In Family Link, select the child.
2. 2
   Open Controls, then Google Chrome and Web.
3. 3

   Under Manage sites, open Approved sites and Blocked sites. Add the domain youtube.com to Blocked sites.

4. 4

   Test the home page and a direct video link in the child's signed in Chrome session.

Google explains the domain rule in its Chrome child account guide. The rule applies to Chrome and some Android apps. Test any other browser installed on the device or block that browser as a separate app.

What the phone's own settings can do

On many Android phones, open Settings, then Apps, then YouTube. If Disable appears, it hides the built in app and removes its updates. A child who can reach the same setting can enable it again.

If YouTube was installed from Google Play, you may see Uninstall instead. Google's Android app guide notes that disabled or deleted apps can be added back.

Digital Wellbeing can pause distracting apps through Focus mode. On a supervised account, Google sends parent held app limits back to Family Link. Use the Family Link block when the rule must hold.

If a full block is too broad

The built in YouTube controls changed in 2026. A supervised child account can now block a named channel. Family Center can set the daily Shorts feed limit to zero. Google documents both in its supervised YouTube settings.

Those controls filter a signed in supervised account. They do not block the YouTube app itself.

Vidward cannot block YouTube on Android. It is a browser extension for the desktop, plus a parent dashboard. It does not run in the Android app or mobile Chrome.

If the child also uses a computer, Vidward can set rules in that desktop Chrome profile. Read how to block YouTube in Chrome or the related Chromebook guide.