YouTube Adds New Search Filter to Hide Shorts from Results
YouTube has introduced a new search filter that allows users to exclude Shorts from search results, addressing long-standing user frustration with short-form video clips cluttering searches for longer-form content.
How to Filter Out YouTube Shorts
The filter is straightforward to use on both desktop and mobile:
- Desktop: Perform a search, click Filters in the search results, and select Videos under the Type option
- Mobile: Search for content, open the three-dot menu, select Search filters, and choose Videos
Alternatively, users can click the Videos filter option directly from the top of search results on either platform.
Important Limitation
The new filter only applies to individual searches and must be re-enabled each time you perform a new search. YouTube has not indicated whether the company plans to make this a persistent, global setting in the future.
Additional YouTube Search Updates
Beyond the Shorts exclusion feature, YouTube has refined its search interface with several other changes:
- Sort By menu renamed to Prioritize
- View Count option relabeled as Popularity, now accounting for multiple engagement metrics including watch time rather than just raw view counts
- Removal of Upload Date - Last Hour and Sort by Rating filters
Recent upload filters remain available through other date range options.
Why This Matters
The update addresses a common user complaint about search results being dominated by short-form clips, making it easier to discover long-form educational content and explainers without wading through dozens of brief videos. This is particularly useful as YouTube continues to expand its content recommendations across different video formats.