How to Block YouTube Channels

YouTube only lets you block a channel for a younger child, on a supervised pre-teen account or in YouTube Kids. On a supervised pre-teen account, sign in with the linked parent account, open the channel and choose "Block channel for kids". In YouTube Kids, block the channel from the More menu on one of its videos. Your own YouTube account has no block button for channels. The closest control is "Don't recommend channel", which steers recommendations away from it but leaves it searchable. Google's help page on blocking channels for kids also says a block covers only content uploaded to that one channel, so reuploads and lookalike channels get through. Below are the exact steps for each account and device, and where a channel whitelist does the job better.

How to Block a Channel on Your Own YouTube Account

On an ordinary account, with no supervision, there is no way to block a channel outright. What YouTube offers is a recommendation signal, and it works the same in the phone app and on a computer.

1. Find a video from the channel in your home feed or in the videos suggested next to the one you are watching.
2. Tap or click the three-dot menu next to the video title.
3. Choose "Don't recommend channel".

Google's page on managing your recommendations says this feedback may be used to tune what you are shown. It does not promise the channel disappears. Search for it, open a shared link, or check your subscriptions, and it is still there.

You may also see "Hide user from channel". That is a tool for creators: it stops one person's comments from appearing on your own channel. It does nothing to what you watch.

How to Block a Channel on a Supervised Account

If your child has a supervised pre-teen account set up through Family Link, you can block a channel for them. The option only shows up when you are signed in with the parent account linked to your child's, so switch accounts first.

1. Sign in to YouTube with your linked parent account.
2. Go to the channel page of the channel you want to block.
3. In the app, tap More. On a computer, open the channel's About section and click the report icon.
4. Choose "Block channel for kids".
5. Select Block next to each child it should apply to, then tap Done.

According to Google's instructions, if your child also uses that account in YouTube Kids, the block carries over there too. To undo every block at once, open YouTube Family Center, pick your child's profile and choose "Unblock videos". For everything else a supervised account can and cannot do, see our guide to YouTube supervised accounts.

How to Block a Channel in YouTube Kids

In YouTube Kids, you block straight from the video your child is watching.

1. Make sure YouTube Kids is signed in with your child's profile. Blocking needs a signed-in profile.
2. While the video plays, tap More.
3. Tap Block.
4. Choose to block just that video or the entire channel.
5. Enter your passcode or answer the parent check to confirm.

On the home screen you can also tap More next to a video and choose "Block this video", but that only removes the one video. Watch the sign-in state, too. Google's YouTube Kids blocking page says content blocked while signed in remains available if you sign out.

YouTube Kids also has a free setting that works the other way around. Instead of the Preschool, Younger or Older content levels, you can pick "Approve content yourself", and your child then sees only the videos, channels and collections you have chosen.

Can You Block Channels for a Teen?

Not with YouTube's own tools. Supervised teen accounts link a parent through Family Center, but the teen supervision features let you see channel activity such as uploads and subscriptions and get email alerts. Channel blocking is a pre-teen feature only. For a teen, the content filter that remains is Restricted Mode, which screens out potentially mature videos across the account but cannot target a single channel.

How to Block YouTube Channels on a Smart TV

The YouTube app on a smart TV or Google TV has one channel control of its own, and it only changes recommendations:

1. Highlight a video from the channel and press and hold the select button.
2. Choose "Not interested", then "Tell us why".
3. Choose "Don't recommend channel".

To block the channel for your child, use a phone or computer. Google documents the "Block channel for kids" steps for the app and the web, so block the channel there with your parent account. Then check the TV is signed in to your child's supervised account and not to yours.

Blocks and settings tied to your child's account do not apply while the TV is signed out, and many households leave an adult account signed in. If a younger child mostly watches on the TV, use their YouTube Kids profile and turn on the parent code in the TV app, which stops kids from watching while signed out. Our smart TV parental controls guide covers each TV platform.

Why Blocking Channel by Channel Falls Behind

Blocking is a blacklist. You are always one step behind, because a channel has to reach your child, or catch your eye some other way, before you can act on it. New channels appear on YouTube all the time, so the list is never finished.

Google also says a block covers what was uploaded to that one channel, not reuploads of the same videos and not similar channels. If the same clips turn up on a new channel, that channel needs its own block, and you only find it after the fact.

Blocking vs. Whitelisting: What to Use Instead

A whitelist flips the model. Instead of starting with all of YouTube open and blocking channels as you find them, you start with nothing visible and approve channels one at a time. A channel you have never heard of cannot appear, because nothing is available until you add it.

YouTube Kids' "Approve content yourself" setting is a free way to do this, and for some families it is enough. It stays inside YouTube Kids, though, and the regular YouTube app has no equivalent for supervised accounts.

This is the approach we built Kivvie around. Parents search for channels from the web dashboard and approve the ones they trust; the child app only ever shows that list, with no Shorts feed, comments, or recommendation feed layered on top.

If you want the full setup process, the step-by-step whitelist guide walks through three methods, including the dedicated-app route. WhitelistVideo takes a similar whitelist-first approach; see how it compares in our Kivvie vs WhitelistVideo comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions