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For parents

Shorts and Reels: what you can actually switch off, app by app.

Last reviewed 23 October 2026

The video for tonight’s homework is one thing. The clip after it, and the one after that, is another. Keeping one and losing the other is a fair thing to want.

Each clip starts on its own and there’s always another one. What comes next is picked from what they click on, watch or like, and eSafety tells parents that’s how the system is designed, not the child’s fault. Here are the free switches for YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, by your child’s age, with the exact menus. Most you set once, from your own phone.

The under 16 rules apply to the platforms, not to parents, and this page doesn’t take a side on them. It’s about the part that was always yours: the screens in your house.

Written by the Australian team behind WOMBATS Shield.

The short answer.

  • Under 16: the apps’ own parent settings no longer reach them. On their phone or tablet, block the 16+ apps and give YouTube a daily allowance or set hours. Younger children can use YouTube Kids.
  • 16 or 17, linked to you: YouTube’s daily Shorts Feed limit can go down to the lowest time YouTube offers, Instagram can close at a daily limit or at set hours, Facebook at set hours, and TikTok at a daily limit or at set hours.
  • Any age: YouTube’s Restricted Mode is worth having on. It cleans up what plays; the Shorts stay.
  • One talk most families haven’t had yet: how the feed picks the next clip.

Jump to: Under 13 · Under 16 · 16 and 17 · YouTube · Instagram · Facebook · TikTok · iPhone and iPad · Android

Since December: what changed, and what didn’t.

Since 10 December 2025, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and the other platforms on eSafety’s list have had to take reasonable steps so Australians under 16 don’t have accounts. YouTube Kids isn’t covered.

What changed: the parent settings. They sit on the child’s own account. Under 16s are signed out of YouTube, which Google says takes away its Take a Break and Bedtime reminders and any controls a parent had set. Meta’s supervision isn’t available for 13 to 15 year olds in Australia, and TikTok accounts start at 16.

What didn’t: the watching. eSafety says most of YouTube can still be watched without an account. That includes Shorts: we opened youtube.com/shorts signed out, from Australia, on 18 October 2026, and the Shorts feed loaded. Three months into the rules, eSafety found three in four 10 to 15 year olds had used YouTube in the past four weeks. Fewer than one in four had a YouTube account of their own.

Start with their age.

Under 13

YouTube Kids is made for this age, and the under 16 rules don’t cover it. You choose what each child’s profile shows: Preschool (4 and under), Younger (5 to 8), Older (9 to 12), or videos you approve yourself, and you can set a timer (steps). If YouTube Kids is the plan, block the main YouTube app on their device. The under 16 steps below work at this age too. On an Android phone or a Chromebook with Family Link, a child under 13 can’t open the main YouTube at all (YouTube’s own rule), so YouTube Kids is the one to set up there.

Under 16

With no account to link, the switches are on their phone or tablet (iPhone and iPad, Android). Block the apps that aren’t for their age yet: in the Australian App Store in October 2026, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok were rated 16+, and YouTube 13+. Keep YouTube for the videos, with a daily allowance or set hours. That limits the whole of YouTube, the good videos included.

16 and 17

Each app’s parent settings work once your teen agrees to link their account to yours. Either of you can end the link later, so it’s worth agreeing on together.

App by app.

YouTube (16 and 17)

A linked teen’s daily Shorts Feed limit can be set to the lowest time YouTube offers. YouTube says that goes down to zero minutes, which turns the Shorts feed off for them.

  1. In your YouTube app, signed in, tap You (bottom right) > Settings > Family Centre. Not linked yet? You can add supervision for your teen here.
  2. Tap your teen’s account > Time management, and set the daily Shorts Feed limit as low as it goes. The same tab sets Take a Break and Bedtime reminders.

YouTube Kids (younger children)

  • Content level: tap the lock in the corner, solve the multiplication problem or enter your passcode, then Settings > your child’s profile (enter your password) > Edit, and choose the level.
  • Timer: tap Settings in the corner, solve the problem or enter your passcode, then Set timer > choose the time > Start timer. When time is up, the app stops.

Instagram (16 and 17)

Meta says Explore and Reels can’t be fully customised, so the levers are time and what shows up.

  1. Link accounts: Profile > Menu (top right) > under For families, tap Supervision > Create invitation > Continue, then find your teen or send them the link. You need to follow their account; the invitation lasts seven days. Since May 2026, Meta says one invitation from Family Centre (familycenter.meta.com/supervision) can cover Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.
  2. A daily limit that closes the app: Profile > Menu > Family Centre (under Settings and activity) > your teen’s account > Time management > the time under Daily limit. Choose a time, tap Save, then choose Block teen from Instagram. They can ask you for more time.
  3. Hours when it’s off: on the same screen, tap Sleep mode, switch it on, choose the days and times, tap Save, then choose Block teen from Instagram.
  4. What they see: Profile > Menu > Family Centre > Supervision for Teen Accounts > View, next to your teen > What content they see > Limited content, the strictest setting. It filters what shows up, in Reels too.

Facebook (16 and 17)

Not linked yet? Start supervision at familycenter.meta.com/supervision; since May 2026 one invitation can cover Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.

  1. Time limits: Menu > Settings & privacy > Settings > Family Centre (under Tools and resources) > your teen’s account > Manage time limits. Switch it on, set the days and times, then tap Set. When they reach it, Facebook reminds them to close the app. On a computer: familycenter.meta.com/dashboard.
  2. Sleep mode (the one that closes it): in Family Centre, open your teen’s account, tap Manage next to Their time spent, then Sleep mode. Switch it on, choose the times and days, then tap Save. Then, on the Time management screen, choose Block teen from Facebook, so Facebook closes during those hours.

TikTok (16 and 17)

TikTok is short video from top to bottom, so here it’s about the app itself and when it’s open.

  1. Link accounts with Family Pairing: on both phones, Profile > Menu > Settings and privacy > Family Pairing > Continue, choose Parent or Teen > Next, then follow the steps.
  2. Then, from your own phone (Family Pairing > your teen): Daily screen time (when it’s up, they need a passcode from you to keep watching); Schedule time away (the days and hours TikTok isn’t available, like dinner and bedtime; they can ask for more time, and you decide); and Restricted Mode and keyword filters, for the kind of videos that show up.

On their phone or iPad.

iPhone and iPad

From your own iPhone or iPad, with your child in your Family Sharing group: Settings > Family > your child’s name. (Not set up yet? Apple’s steps for Family Sharing and a Child Account are in the Sources. No iPhone of your own? These settings can be set on the child’s own device under Settings > Screen Time, with a passcode they don’t know.) Then:

  • Block an app: Apps & Websites > Add. Type the app’s name, tap Block App, then tap again to confirm. Do the same with the website’s name, like tiktok.com or instagram.com, to block it in Safari. (iOS 26 and earlier: Settings > Screen Time > your child’s name > App Limits for that app; or Content & Privacy Restrictions > App Store, Media, Web & Games, to set an age rating for apps.)
  • Limit apps by age rating: Apps & Websites > Restrictions, and choose an age rating for apps. A 13+ limit keeps Instagram, Facebook and TikTok off and leaves YouTube.
  • A daily allowance: Time Allowances > Add. Time is set by category, such as Social Media, and you can give an app like YouTube a category of its own. (iOS 26 and earlier: Settings > Screen Time > your child’s name > App Limits.)
  • The hours: Screen Time Schedule > turn on Schedule > Add Schedule, then choose the days. Each time window, such as Before School or After School, has its own allowed app categories. (iOS 26 and earlier: Settings > Screen Time > your child’s name > Downtime, with Block at Downtime on.)

These iOS 27 controls need every device in your Family Sharing group on version 27. If one can’t update yet, the previous Screen Time keeps working, under the names in brackets.

Android

In the Family Link app on your phone: your child > Screen time > Time limits > App limits > the app. Tap the Allowed switch so it shows Blocked, then Done, or tap Set limit for a daily time. A block takes about five minutes, and reaches each of your child’s Android devices and Chromebooks. The hours: Family Link > your child > Screen time > Schedules > Downtime (and School time).

The talk: how the feed picks the next clip.

Nearly every parent has had the online safety talk. eSafety found about one in four has had the other one: how the feed decides what comes next.

The app notices what they watch, pause on, like or finish, and lines up more of the same. eSafety’s example for young people: like one puppy video, and suddenly the feed is full of them.

A few ways in:

  • “What’s your feed full of, and why do you think that is?”
  • “Which videos would you miss if they went, and which wouldn’t you miss at all?”
  • “What would you change if you could?” Their answer may tell you which switch above is worth setting.

Where a home network fits.

Everything above is free, and so is our help: tell us which app the scroll is on, and whether their phone or tablet is Apple or Android, and we’ll tell you the settings that fit your house. This is the one part of the page about what we make.

WOMBATS Shield is a small box that plugs into your modem and sets the house rules for every phone, iPad, console and TV on your Wi-Fi. For everyone at home, YouTube’s Restricted Mode is one switch on the Shield, and an app such as TikTok can be switched off for the whole house.

TrustStream, on the Shield, is for the scroll. TrustStream takes the Shorts and Reels sections out of YouTube, Instagram and Facebook in Safari and other supported browsers, on the devices you choose. Ordinary videos and normal posts stay. It runs inside the Shield in your house, opens nothing else, and keeps no record of what anyone watched. You switch it on on your Shield, then add your Shield's certificate to each device you want it on, once.

How TrustStream works, service by service →

Box or no box, tell us which app the scroll is on, and whether their phone or tablet is Apple or Android, and we’ll tell you the settings that fit your house. “YouTube, iPad” is plenty. Khalid, our founder, answers every chat himself.

Ask us on WhatsApp

Common questions.

Does YouTube’s Restricted Mode take the Shorts away?

No. YouTube says it helps screen out videos that may be mature, and it hides comments. But when we checked youtube.com on 18 October 2026, with YouTube’s own checker confirming strict Restricted Mode, the Shorts feed still loaded. For a child under 16, it’s switched on in each browser they use, or once for the whole home network. On a 16 or 17 year old’s own account, it’s in the YouTube app: profile photo > Settings > General > Restricted mode.

Can I set a Shorts timer for my 14 year old?

Not inside YouTube. Its Shorts Feed limit is for a teen’s own account, linked to yours, and Australians under 16 have been signed out of YouTube since 10 December 2025. For a 14 year old, the phone’s own free settings are a daily allowance or set hours for YouTube, or the app blocked; they limit the whole of YouTube, the good videos included. On a laptop, some browsers and add-ons can hide Shorts on the YouTube website (see the next question).

What about browser extensions that hide Shorts?

Some extensions for Safari, Chrome and Firefox say they hide Shorts, and some say they hide Reels on the Instagram and Facebook websites. They work in the browser they’re added to, not in the apps, so each browser needs its own, and a website change can stop one working until it’s updated. We don’t name any, because they change often.

Can we be fined if our child uses these apps?

No. eSafety says there are no penalties for under 16s who use a platform covered by the rules, or for their parents or carers. The rules apply to the platforms.

Sources.