One minute they’re watching funny or educational YouTube content, the next it’s something inappropriate, violent, hateful, or filled with misogyny.
Super worried about this? You’re not alone.
I talk to worried parents on a daily basis about digital safety. One of their big fears is failing to understand and prevent toxic content from being piped into their child’s brain each day.
But you don’t have to block YouTube content completely to keep your child safe. You can simply block inappropriate and adult content, or even specific channels, as part of your parental control efforts.
In this guide, I’ll show you how. I’ve shortlisted four great options and walk you through how to implement them.
I’ll start with how our own parental control app can help you—because it really is the most complete, safest option.
The four methods:
- Method 1: Using Canopy – An Advanced Parental Control App (Recommended)
- Method 2: Using Restricted Mode on YouTube
- Method 3: Using YouTube’s Built-in Features to Block Specific Content and Channels
- Method 4: Using YouTube Kids to Block Specific Content or Entire Channel
Best Method: How to Block YouTube Content Using Canopy Parental Control App
Canopy is an advanced parental control app that comes with a range of impressive features to ensure a safer browsing experience for everyone.
Here’s a video to help you understand how Canopy works.
Benefits:
Canopy is like a virtual guardian that doubles as a porn blocker. Our AI-powered content filtering feature is second to none. Wherever your child goes online, Canopy follows them and blocks the content in real-time before they see it.
Hence, there’s no chance for your kids or even you encountering inappropriate content.
The app also offers excellent customization options that gives you more control over your children’s content consumption. You can even manage their screen time.
And here is good news for parents who are not particularly tech savvy: setting up this app and using it to regulate your child’s digital habits is a hassle-free job.
Check out this review of a parent who shares her experience of using Canopy to supervise her kid’s internet activity.
Steps to Block Youtube Content With Canopy
- Create an account and start with a 7-day free trial to experience all the premium features.
- Download the app on all devices you wish to protect.
- Open the app on your device.
- Select Device Settings → Advanced Filtering Tab → Apps on your device.
- A list of apps installed on the device will show on your screen. Scroll through and find YouTube.
- Select YouTube and pick from the three levels of protection; Filtered, Unfiltered, and Blocked.
- Since you want to block specific content and not the entire app, you can choose the Filtered option.
Follow these steps if you want to block the content using Canopy web dashboard.
- Open the web dashboard.
- Choose Protection Settings → Advanced Filtering
- Click on Websites tab from the top menu. Then select +Add Website button.
- Enter the website’s URL, pick from the three levels of protection; Filtered, Unfiltered, Blocked. Click Save.
And there you have it. Canopy will start filtering out any content on YouTube that goes against the restriction you have set.
After setting-up this filtering feature on all the devices in my house, I felt a great peace of mind knowing now my kid won’t end up on a video that is not suitable for their age.
Related Read: Learn why we’re the best parental control app on the market today.
Method 2: How to Block Content on Youtube Using Restricted Mode
This is another method I discovered while exploring various solutions. It uses YouTube’s Restricted Mode, a built-in feature that helps filter out potentially mature content that you may prefer not to see or don’t want your kids to stumble upon.
Method:
Restricted Mode on YouTube is straightforward and quick to activate. Enabling this mode will allow you to foster a safer, age-friendly environment for your children.
Benefits:
The primary advantage of using Restricted Mode is that you can make your child’s feed free from inappropriate content. This not only ensures age-appropriate content but also reduces the chances of encountering potentially harmful content.
Steps to Block Youtube Content With Restricted Mode
Here’s how you can enable Restricted Mode on the YouTube app in your device:
- Open YouTube on your device.
- Select your profile on the top right corner.
- Tap on Settings → General → and then turn on the Restricted Mode.
If your kid uses YouTube on computer or laptop, then you can enable the Restricted Mode there as well. Follow these steps.
- Open YouTube and go to your user profile at the top.
- From the drop-down list, click on Restricted Mode and enable it.
YouTube will start filtering out mature content automatically and stop recommending it on your feed. However, it’s not 100% accurate. Sometimes, it can filter out harmless content, or conversely, may not filter inappropriate content.
For a more comprehensive solution and enforcing solid boundaries, consider using Canopy.
Method 3: How to Block Specific Content or Entire Channel Using YouTube’s In-Built Features
While testing out different methods, I found a few in-built features that can come in handy for blocking specific content or entire channels on YouTube.
Here’s the method, the benefits and step-by-step guide:
Method:
YouTube provides you with the option to select ‘Not Interested’ or ‘Don’t Recommend Channel’ when watching a video. These allow you to prevent videos similar to these being pushed towards you or your child in the future.
Once you mark any video or channel as unfit, the algorithm begins filtering out similar videos and channels. This offers a level of personalization and allows you to control which channels or videos you don’t want your children to see.
Check out this response from one of Reddit’s users who confirms the effectiveness of this method:
Benefit:
Using this method, you get direct control over the content you or your kids can access. You can block specific videos, channels, or even comments to create a safer viewing environment for your children.
Besides, these features are easy to access and use. No additional software or extension is needed
Steps to Block Content Using YouTube In-Built Features
- Open the YouTube app on your device.
- Scroll through your YouTube feed and identify the videos you don’t want to see.
- Tap on the three dots next to the video title.
- From the menu, you can select either ‘Not Interested’ or ‘Don’t Recommend Channel’
The ‘Not Interested’ option informs the algorithm that you don’t want to see this type of content, and it will avoid recommending similar content in the future. However, you may still encounter other content from the same channel.
If you choose ‘Don’t Recommend Channel’, the platform will stop recommending any content from that channel, as well as from similar channels.
This method can be somewhat annoying, as you might need to repeat it on multiple videos for the algorithm to learn your preferences.
In contrast, Canopy is a more user-friendly and efficient solution. You only need to set up filters once, and they will remain effective for as long as you want. This saves you the time and effort of individually selecting videos or channels.
→ Grab Your 7-Day Free Trial Here ←
Method 4: How to Block Content on Youtube Kids (or a Specific Channel)
In this last method, I’m going to teach you how you can block content on YouTube Kids and its benefits.
Method:
Switching your child over to Youtube Kids can be a great solution as the app is designed specifically for them. Within YouTube Kids, parents have a lot of control over which content their child can see‚ more so than on regular YouTube.
Benefits:
The content is automatically tailored for children on this app. It is easy-to-use and parents can set-up content-level restrictions based on age and preferences.
Furthermore, it’s quick to block particular videos or entire channels.
Steps to Block Content On YouTube Kids
These simple steps will help you block content on YouTube kids.
- Start by launching the YouTube Kids application on your kid’s phone. Sign in with your parent account.
- Find the video you don’t want them to see and tap on it.
- Then, tap once more on the video playback screen.
- From the options that appear, select “Block”. Finally, to prevent all content from that specific channel from showing up, tap on “Block entire channel”.
- Put your passcode to complete the authorization.
You’re all set! Now, your child won’t be able to watch any videos from this channel. However, these restrictions only apply to YouTube Kids and do not affect the regular YouTube platform.
A more comprehensive solution that operates across all platforms and browsers, like the Canopy Parental Control App, is necessary.
I know I keep nagging about Canopy, but it is the only all-in-one and robust solution I was able to find. Adult content can surface from any corner of the internet. But with Canopy on your side, you don’t have to worry about your kid seeing it.
Other methods can often be bypassed quite easily, which is not the case with Canopy. This app provides the ultimate layer of protection and sends you alert notifications if anyone tries to bypass the restrictions.
How to Block YouTube Content – Frequently Asked Questions
Can parental controls be used to block certain types of content on YouTube?
Yes, you can use parental controls to block certain types of content on YouTube. One common method is by using YouTube’s Restricted Mode, which helps filter out potentially mature content. In addition, you can set up a supervised account that would allow you to limit the content your children can access.
Are there any third-party apps that can help me control the content my child sees on YouTube?
Canopy is one of the most powerful third-party apps that give you full-control over your child’s content consumption on YouTube. It uses AI-powered, real-time content filter features to create a safer digital environment for your children. The app ensures your kids do not get exposed to potentially harmful or adult content on YouTube or anywhere else on the internet.
How effective is YouTube’s restricted mode in blocking inappropriate content?
YouTube’s Restricted Mode is quite effective at filtering out potentially inappropriate content. It uses community flagging, age restrictions, and other signals to identify and filter out potentially mature content. However, no filter is 100% accurate, so some inappropriate content may slip through. It should be used in conjunction with active parental supervision and other parental control tools.
Block YouTube Content (and All Inappropriate Content) With Our Resource Library
It’s wonderful to see you taking steps to keep your child safe from harmful and unsuitable content online. But remember, it’s not just about their device – it’s about every device they could use. Let’s spread that safety net a little wider, shall we?
Consider the following guides to block inappropriate content on various devices:
