How to block reaction videos on YouTube

Block reaction videos, viral clip compilations, and try not to laugh uploads on YouTube with rules for your child's computer.

What reaction videos contain

Reaction videos place a host beside clips from TikTok, television, games or other YouTube uploads. The host pauses, laughs or comments while the source clips supply most of the action. Try not to laugh videos and viral compilations use the same loop with many short clips in one upload.

The age fit can change from one clip to the next. A clean host may react to crude jokes, injuries, relationship conflict or scare videos without warning in the title. Parents also run into sheer volume because one upload can recycle dozens of clips and lead to near identical compilations.

Title and channel rules to use

These are plain text block rules that work with Vidward’s current rule engine. They do not use regular expressions. Add only the values that fit what your child watches. A channel rule hides every upload from that channel, not only videos about this topic. Use one only when you want the whole channel hidden.

Words in the title

reacts to
try not to laugh
viral compilation

Channels to block

SSSniperWolf
xQc
IShowSpeed
Ali-A
Baylen Levine

Reacts to catches the core format without also hiding science lessons about chemical reactions. Viral compilation is wider and can also hide sports or news roundups, so add it only if those uploads are part of the problem.

Add the rules in Vidward

1
Create your free Vidward account. The trial runs for 7 days with no credit card.
2
Add your child in the dashboard and note the activation code it shows. The code is reusable and stays valid until you regenerate it.
3
On your child's computer, install the Vidward extension from the Chrome Web Store, open its welcome page, and enter that activation code to link the computer to your child's profile.
4
If the child uses Block specific content, open the Channels tab and add one rule at a time.
5
For a title word, reopen the form, choose Block, select "Words in the title", then paste the value and save.
6
For a channel, reopen the form, choose Block, and select "Channel" rather than "Channel name". "Channel" gives you a search box: type the name, then pick the channel from the results. That stores the channel's own ID, so the rule cannot match a different channel that happens to share the display name.
7
A browser that is already running can take up to five minutes to fetch dashboard changes. Restart the browser to fetch them sooner.

Using Approved channels only?

That strategy blocks videos from channels you have not approved, but Shorts can still slip past it. Do not paste these channel names into the Approve form because that would let the channel through. Leave them off the approved list instead. Turn on Block Shorts in Filters if you want those clips hidden too. Title word rules are not available in this mode.

What YouTube gives you built in

Can YouTube block reaction videos?

YouTube has no reaction video switch for parents. A supervised account can block specific channels, and YouTube Kids can block a video or channel. Those controls do not follow a viral clip when another host uploads it. Don't recommend channel can trim suggestions, but it does not block searches or direct links and it does not match words in future titles.

Read our guide to YouTube’s parent settings if you want to compare those choices before adding rules.