Quick answer: on iPhone, turn off Autoplay from the switch at the top of any video, or permanently from profile picture → Settings → Autoplay. On youtube.com, use the toggle at the bottom-right of the video player. On a smart TV, go to Settings → Autoplay in the YouTube app. None of this touches Shorts, which has no autoplay setting at all — it's a continuous vertical feed by design.

Turn off Autoplay on iPhone

There are two ways to do it in the iOS app, and they control the same setting:

1. From the video you're watching: at the top of the video player, tap the Autoplay switch to turn it off. A pause icon means it's off; a play icon means it's on.
2. From your settings, for every video going forward: tap your profile picture, then Settings, then Autoplay, and switch it off.

If Autoplay is on but you want to stop just the next video, tap Cancel on the countdown that appears as the current video ends. Note that Autoplay can be set independently per device — turning it off on your iPhone doesn't change it on your computer or TV.

Turn off Autoplay on youtube.com

On a computer, the toggle sits at the bottom of the video player, next to the volume control. Click it to switch Autoplay off; the same "Cancel" option appears on the end-of-video countdown if you want to stop one video without changing the setting permanently.

Turn off Autoplay on a smart TV

On the YouTube app for TVs and game consoles (Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, game consoles, and similar):

1. Open the YouTube app and go to your profile, then Settings.
2. Scroll to Autoplay.
3. Select the option to turn it off.

If you're casting from your phone or tablet instead of using the TV's own YouTube app, expand the control bar at the bottom of the screen to reach the Autoplay toggle for that session. YouTube TV (the live-channel subscription product) has a separate "Autoplay on start" setting in its own app settings, which controls whether content starts playing the moment you open the app rather than what plays next.

Why Shorts has no autoplay switch

Search "turn off YouTube Shorts autoplay" and you won't find a setting for it, because Shorts isn't built around the same end-of-video handoff as regular videos. It's a continuous vertical swipe feed, closer to a short-video app than a video player with a queue — there's no "next video" prompt to decline, because the next one is already loaded and ready the moment you swipe.

Turning off ordinary Autoplay, pausing your watch history, or using "Take a break" reminders in Settings doesn't change this. If Shorts itself is the problem, those controls won't fix it; see our full breakdown in How to disable YouTube Shorts: every option in 2026 and how Stillfeed removes the Shorts tab and shelves on iPhone, free from your first launch.

What Autoplay does and doesn't stop

• It won't autoplay past typing or scrolling. If you type a comment or search, or scroll past the player, the queued-up next video doesn't start on its own.
• It stops itself after inactivity. On mobile data, Autoplay stops after about 30 minutes of inactivity; on Wi-Fi, after about 4 hours.
• Under-18 accounts default to Autoplay off, and a supervised account may have it locked off by a parent or guardian.
• It doesn't touch the Shorts shelf on your home feed or the Shorts tab in the bottom bar — those stay regardless of your Autoplay setting.

Common questions

How do I stop YouTube from autoplaying the next video?

On iPhone or Android, tap the Autoplay switch at the top of the video player, or turn it off for good from Settings → Autoplay. On a computer, use the toggle at the bottom of the player. On a TV, it's under Settings → Autoplay in the YouTube app.

Does turning off Autoplay stop YouTube Shorts from playing one after another?

No. Shorts is a swipe-based feed with no autoplay setting of its own — the continuous playback is the format, not an Autoplay toggle you can switch off.

Why does Autoplay keep turning back on?

Autoplay is set separately per device and per YouTube profile, so turning it off on your phone doesn't change your computer or TV. If it resets on the same device, check whether you're signed into a different Google Account than usual.

Does pausing my watch history stop autoplay?

No, those are separate settings. Pausing watch history stops YouTube from using what you watch to shape recommendations; it doesn't change whether the next video plays automatically.

Sources

• Google, Autoplay videos — YouTube Help.

If it's really Shorts eating your time rather than ordinary autoplay, turning off Autoplay won't be enough — see what actually removes Shorts, or open YouTube through Stillfeed for free and skip the setting hunt entirely.

Originally published at https://stillfeed.pro/blog/turn-off-youtube-autoplay/

Quick answer: deactivating hides your profile, posts, comments and likes until you log back in — nothing is deleted, and reactivation is instant. Deleting starts a 30-day countdown to permanent, unrecoverable removal. Instagram also limits deactivation to once every seven days: if you reactivate, you have to wait a week before you can deactivate again.

Deactivate vs delete, at a glance

If you're not sure which you want, that's usually a sign you want to deactivate: it costs you nothing to try and nothing to undo.

How to temporarily deactivate your Instagram account

As of late 2026, the route runs through Accounts Center, the same menu Instagram uses for deletion:

1. Tap your profile picture, then the menu icon, and open Accounts Center.
2. Tap Personal details, then Account ownership and control.
3. Tap Deactivation or deletion and select your Instagram account.
4. Make sure Deactivate account is selected (not Delete account), and tap Continue.
5. Choose a reason, and enter your password to confirm.
6. Some versions of the flow let you set an automatic reactivation window (1–7 days) instead of deactivating indefinitely.

If that menu isn't available in your app yet, the browser method still works: log in at instagram.com, open Settings → Accounts Center → Personal details → Account ownership and control → Deactivation or deletion, and choose Deactivate account from there.

How often you can deactivate

Instagram's own support guidance is specific here: you can only deactivate your account once a week. If you reactivate before seven days are up and then want to deactivate again, you'll have to wait out the rest of that window first. The seven days count from when you reactivated, not from a fixed weekly reset, so there's no way to "save up" deactivations.

This limit is worth knowing if you're using deactivation as a recurring habit (weekends off, say) — a strict seven-day cycle works, but anything more frequent won't.

What other people see while you're deactivated

• Your profile returns "user not found" to anyone who visits it, and you disappear from search and from followers' or following lists.
• Your posts, Reels, Stories and comments stop showing up anywhere on the platform.
• Direct messages you already sent stay visible to the other person — deactivating doesn't pull your messages out of someone else's inbox, though your name and photo in that conversation may show as a generic placeholder.
• No one is notified that you've deactivated. To a friend, it just looks like your account vanished.

How to reactivate

There's no special process: open the app or go to instagram.com and log in with your username and password. Reactivation is usually immediate, though you may occasionally need to wait up to an hour if you try right after deactivating. Your profile, followers, posts and messages all come back exactly as they were.

Which one do you actually want?

• You want a short, clean break and might come back: deactivate.
• You're testing whether you can live without Instagram: deactivate for a week or two and see how it feels.
• You're certain you're done and don't need the data: delete — see how to delete your Instagram account for the full process and the 30-day window.
• You want your DMs and Following feed but you're tired of Reels and Explore: neither deactivating nor deleting actually fixes that, since the problem is the feed, not your presence on the platform. Stillfeed keeps your account live and just removes Reels and Explore, free from the first launch.

If you only want the app out of reach on your phone and not your account, see how to block Instagram on iPhone. Our guide to taking a break from Instagram walks through deactivating, deleting the app, and keeping the useful parts side by side if you want the longer comparison.

Common questions

How can I deactivate Instagram?

Open Accounts Center from your profile menu (or from instagram.com), go to Personal details → Account ownership and control → Deactivation or deletion, choose your account, select Deactivate account, pick a reason, and confirm with your password.

How often can I deactivate my Instagram account?

Once every seven days. If you reactivate and want to deactivate again, you need to wait out the full week from when you logged back in.

Does deactivating delete my photos and followers?

No. Deactivating only hides everything from view. Your posts, followers, following list and messages are preserved on Instagram's servers and return exactly as they were when you log back in.

Can people tell I deactivated my account?

Not directly. Your profile just stops appearing to them, with no notification sent. Messages you previously sent them stay in their inbox.

What's better if I just want a break from Reels, not from Instagram entirely?

Deactivating removes everything, including your DMs and Following feed, which is more than most people actually want. Opening Instagram through Stillfeed keeps your account fully active while removing Reels and Explore specifically.

Sources

• Instagram Help Center, Deactivate or delete your account.

Whichever one fits, you don't have to choose between "all of Instagram" and "none of it." Deleting your account, deactivating above, and removing just the feed with Stillfeed are three different tools for three different problems — pick the one that matches what's actually bothering you.

Originally published at https://stillfeed.pro/blog/deactivate-vs-delete-instagram/

What News Feed Eradicator is

Its GitHub page describes it as "A browser extension that replaces your social media feeds with a quote". It's a WebExtension for Chrome and Firefox, the code is public, and the repository lists the AGPL-3.0 license. For people who want to read what runs in their browser, that openness is a real strength.

The idea is easy to grasp: open the site, the feed is gone, a quote sits where it was. For someone whose problem is mainly the home feed, that's a clean answer. Its list of supported sites changes between versions, so check its own store page or repository for the current one. This comparison is about approach, not a feature scorecard.

Two approaches to the same problem

You can remove a feed in two broad ways. The first clears the main feed container and replaces it with something calm. The second treats each site as a set of separate surfaces and hides the specific ones that drive compulsive use.

The second matters because modern social sites aren't one feed. Instagram has a home feed, a Reels tab, a Reels shelf inside the feed, suggested posts and an Explore grid. YouTube has a home page, a Shorts shelf, a Shorts menu entry and Shorts pages. X has For You, Following, Trending and a right column of trends. A tool that only handles the main feed can leave the other surfaces alone, and those are often where the time goes.

What Stillfeed's extension covers

Stillfeed's extension is free, needs no account and runs inside your browser. It works on eight sites: Instagram, YouTube, X, Reddit, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn and Snapchat. It doesn't block arbitrary websites. Hiding is on by default per site and can be switched off from the toolbar popup.

There are optional controls, off until you enable them and available where a site supports them: hiding sponsored posts on X and Reddit, hiding comments on YouTube, X and Reddit, word filters on X, Reddit and LinkedIn, a media filter on X, Reddit and LinkedIn. Where something isn't available on a site yet, the popup says "Not available yet" instead of showing a switch that does nothing. Some features read English labels.

Messages, profiles, posts you open, search and sign-in stay untouched.

The time tools

The other difference is that the limits live in the same extension, on all eight sites:

• Daily limit: a total for the day. When it's used up, the sites close until midnight, with five extra minutes once per visit.
• Session timer: two, five, ten or fifteen minutes per visit, with one five-minute extension.
• Quiet hours: named schedules that close chosen sites on chosen days, overnight windows included.
• Pause before opening: five or ten seconds before a site loads.
• Grayscale: removes colour from the page.

They apply in the browser where you set them.

How to choose

• One home feed is your problem and you like the quote idea. A feed eradicator does that simply, and if you value a public codebase, News Feed Eradicator has one.
• Your time goes to Reels, Shorts, For You, Explore or r/popular as well as the feed. Per-surface hiding is built for that.
• You want a limit as well as a block. Stillfeed bundles the daily limit, session timer, quiet hours and pause. With a feed-only tool you'd add another extension for time.
• You want to block whole websites. Neither tool is that. See how to block a website in Chrome for the options.

You can run more than one extension. Two tools changing the same page can behave oddly, so test one site at a time.

Install

Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera and Arc: the Chrome Web Store. Firefox: Firefox Add-ons. Both are linked from stillfeed.pro/extension.

Questions

Is Stillfeed a replacement for News Feed Eradicator? It solves a similar problem differently: it hides specific surfaces such as Reels, Shorts and For You on eight sites and adds time limits, instead of replacing the feed with a quote.

Does it cost anything? No. Free, no account.

Where does my data go? Its privacy section says nothing leaves the browser. Settings and minutes of use stay on your device.

Adapted from the original at stillfeed.pro.