Set watch limits and use Focus Mode
Watch limits set how much video you watch in a day, on all sites or on one site, and block sites where videos should not play. Focus Mode darkens the page around the video and hides what pulls your eyes away. Both are on the Video Features tab in Settings. Neither needs an account.
Set a watch limit
- Open Settings, go to the Video Features tab and find Watch limits.
- Turn on Watch limits.
- Set Daily limit, all sites, from 30 minutes to 4 hours.
- Pick Warn me before a limit: 5, 10 or 15 minutes before.
- Under Site limits, type a Site and its Minutes a day, then press Add.
- Under Blocked sites, add a site where videos do not play at all.
The card shows Today on this device with the minutes so far.
When time is up
The video pauses under a layer that says "Your watching time for today is up", or "Your time on this site is up for today" for a site limit. Press 5 more minutes to keep going a little, or Close. The count starts again at midnight.
On a blocked site the layer says "Videos on this site are blocked".
Lock it with a PIN
Set a New PIN of 4 to 8 digits and type it again under PIN again. Press Lock. Changing limits, unblocking a site or taking 5 more minutes then asks for it. Remove the PIN takes it off.
Keep the PIN somewhere safe. It is hashed and stays on this device, and it is never synced.
What is counted
Minutes are counted on this device only, and only while limits are on, and the extension keeps nothing but today's minutes for each site, which start again at midnight. Nothing is sent.
Watch limits help keep habits, or a child's watching, on track. They are not tamper-proof: someone who can change the browser's extension data can get around them.
YouTube's own watch-limits feature, in the YouTube extras, is separate and works as before.
Focus Mode
Turn Focus Mode on from the widget's Focus button. Then choose in Settings, Video Features tab, Focus Mode, how it behaves:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| How dark the page goes | How much the page around the video is darkened |
| Hide | Switches for Comments, Sidebar, Site header, Recommended videos, End screens and cards, and Live chat |
| Start Focus Mode with every video | Turns it on each time a video starts |
Changes apply at once to a Focus Mode that is already open. It works on YouTube, Netflix, Vimeo, Twitch and Udemy, and on other sites as far as their pages allow.
Focus Mode is separate from Theater Mode, which Ctrl + Alt + Z switches (Default shortcuts). They are not the same.
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