Control Panel for YouTube

Control Panel for YouTube is a browser extension which gives you more control over YouTube by adding missing options and UI improvements

1. Can also be installed in Opera, Brave, and other Chromium-based web browsers.

2. Install Edge Canary from Google Play, then follow these instructions to install the Edge version.

Features

  • Hide AI Summaries
  • Remove the pink gradient from progress bars
  • Automatically pause channel trailers

Video lists

Hide videos and channels you don't want to see when browsing, and improve some of YouTube's built-in functionality.

  • Hide Sponsored videos & promos
  • Hide suggested sections in Home and irrelevant sections in Search results
  • Hide Live videos
  • Hide Streamed videos
  • Hide Mixes
  • Hide Playlists
  • Hide Movies and TV
  • Hide Upcoming videos
  • Hide Members only videos
  • Hide watched videos - choose your own watched %
  • Hide hidden videos
    • Hides the "Undo" button after 5 seconds
  • Hide channels
    • Adds "Hide channel" to video menus
  • Disable the Home feed
  • Make search thumbnails smaller (desktop version)
  • Choose the number of grid items per row (desktop version)
    • In Home and Subscriptions

Video pages

Hide elements you don't want to see on video pages, such as algorithmic recommendations, and improve some of the existing functionality.

  • Skip ads
  • Disable Autoplay
  • Hide Related videos
  • Hide video metadata other than the essentials
  • Hide Comments
  • Always use theater mode (desktop version)
  • Full size theater mode (desktop version)
    • Hide YouTube header and scrollbars (if needed) to use the full window height NEW
  • Always use original audio (desktop version) NEW
  • Hide Miniplayer button (desktop version)
  • Hide video end cards (desktop version)
  • Hide video endscreen content (desktop version)
  • Hide Merch, Offers etc. (desktop version)
  • Hide Chat (desktop version)
  • Add "Take snapshot" to the video context menu NEW
  • Make video Transcripts downloadable (desktop version)

Shorts

Hide Shorts entirely if you don't want them, or improve them somewhat if you do.

  • Hide Shorts
  • Redirect Shorts to the normal player
  • Hide Shorts metadata until you hover over the video (desktop version) NEW

UI tweaks

Hide non-essential UI elements and enhance the UI in other ways.

  • Hide information panels
  • Hide categories in Home
  • Hide Search with your voice
  • Tidy Guide sidebar (desktop version)
  • Hide "Latest" bar in Subscriptions (desktop version)
  • Use grid view for Subscriptions (mobile version - portrait only)
  • Hide Explore button in Home (mobile version)
  • Hide channel list in Subscriptions (mobile version)
  • Hide Open App links (mobile version)

Embedded videos

Hide algorithmic recommendations when viewing YouTube videos embedded in other sites.

  • Hide Share button
  • Hide pause overlay

Screenshots

Improved Subscriptions page, which acts more like an inbox of videos
Video ads can be automatically skipped, and other promoted content is hidden
Nothing but search results on the Search page, no suggested sections
Hide non-video content on the Home page, and improve YouTube's built-in hiding
Disable related videos, the Home timeline, and other algorithmic content
Grid view for Subscriptions and Search results in the mobile version on larger devices, instead of a single column
Improved Subscriptions page, which acts more like an inbox of videos
Video ads can be automatically skipped, and other promoted content is hidden
Shorts are hidden everywhere
Disable related videos, the Home timeline, and other algorithmic content

Frequently Asked Questions

Safari version

macOS / iOS

I just downloaded Control Panel for YouTube from the App Store, why is it not working?

Safari browser extensions require you to manually enable settings to allow them to run. After installing from the App Store, you need to:

  1. Enable the extension – the Control Panel for YouTube app which opens after installation has a button which will take you to the appropriate page in Settings. Use it to toggle the extension on.
  2. Give the extension permission to run on YouTube – change the website access permissions for www.youtube.com, m.youtube.com and www.youtube-nocookie.com to "Allow".
View a video example of turning on the Safari extension in iOS
iOS

I opened YouTube using a bookmark I added to my Home Screen - why is Control Panel for YouTube not working?

Safari doesn't currently allow browser extensions to run in Home Screen Web Apps. Open Safari then navigate to YouTube normally.

You can use the Shortcuts app to create your own shortcut to open YouTube in Safari.

iOS

How can I make the "Open in the YouTube app" banner go away?

This is a Safari feature we have no control over - to get rid of it, you have to uninstall the official YouTube app.

Support

To submit feedback or a support request, complete the Feedback & Support form. You can also submit bug reports directly via the support repository on GitHub.

For release announcements and other updates follow @soitis.dev on Bluesky.

Tip

If you find one of the free versions of Control Panel for YouTube useful and can afford to, a tip to help fund its development and the responsive maintenance we aim to provide would be most appreciated. If not, no worries – enjoy!

Support us on Ko-fi