YT Rec Fix — YouTube Recommendation Fix & Section Hider

About

YT Rec Fix helps you take control of what YouTube shows — on individual recommendation cards and whole page sections.

YouTube's manual flow to stop a video from coming back is tedious: ⋯ → Not interested → Tell us why → checkboxes → Submit. This extension adds small Watched and Dislike buttons on recommendation cards so one click runs the full feedback flow and adds the video to a persistent local blocklist.

From v0.2.0 you can also hide entire shelves — Shorts carousels, channel For You and Feature blocks, topic chips, and more — so feeds and channel pages stay focused on what you actually want.

What you can do

Watched — one-click “Not interested” with “I've already watched the video”
Dislike — stronger negative signal (“I don't like the video”)
Optional Ch / Don't recommend channel button (off by default — irreversible on YouTube)
Persistent local blocklist — matching cards stay hidden across reloads
Auto-block videos when you visit /watch pages
Hide sections — Shorts, Breaking news, Explore more topics, Most relevant, channel For You, channel Feature, channel Popular videos, Youtube Playables, Get more with a membership
Toolbar popup for toggles, block count, and clear blocklist
Optional debug logging for tuning selectors

Latest update: 0.2.5 — You can now also hide "Youtube Playables" and "Get more with a membership" on the Home page.

Download

Firefox

Install the signed .xpi from this site, or use AMO when listed.

Download for Firefox

Latest available version 0.2.5

Chrome

Install from the Chrome Web Store (recommended). Works in Chrome, Microsoft Edge and other Chromium browsers.

Chrome Webstore

Latest available version 0.2.5

Screenshots

Before — YouTube's multi-step Not interested flow.

After — one-click Watched button on a recommendation card.

Dislike and optional channel button — Dislike and optional Ch / Don't recommend channel button.

Channel page with sections hidden — Channel page with Feature, For You, and Shorts shelves hidden.

Privacy policy

Last updated: 2026-06-25. Applies to YT Rec Fix (Firefox and Chrome), version 0.2.0 and later. Canonical copy on GitHub.

Summary

YT Rec Fix runs entirely in your browser on YouTube pages you already have open. Blocklist, settings, and section-hide preferences are stored locally on your device. Normal browsing on YouTube is handled by your browser and YouTube — not by data collection performed by this extension.

Network activity is limited to normal YouTube requests triggered by automated UI actions when you click Watched, Dislike, or Ch — the same actions as using YouTube's own menus.

There is no analytics, no external servers operated by the developer, and no accounts.

What we store (locally only)

When you block videos or change settings, YT Rec Fix saves the following in your browser's local extension storage (browser.storage.local / chrome.storage.local):

Blocked video IDs and optional channel keys for the local blocklist
Extension settings (hide blocked videos, inject buttons, auto-block on watch, prefer dislike reason, optional Ch button)
Section-hide toggles (Shorts, Breaking news, Explore more topics, Most relevant, channel For You, channel Feature, channel Popular videos)
Debug mode preference

This data never leaves your browser through YT Rec Fix. It is not transmitted to the developer or to any third-party service operated by the developer.

What we do not collect

YT Rec Fix does not collect, store, or transmit to the developer:

Personal identifying information (name, email, address, etc.)
Browsing history outside what you already do on YouTube in your browser
Authentication credentials
Financial or payment information
Health information
Location data
Analytics or usage telemetry

The developer cannot see your blocklist, settings, or YouTube activity.

Network activity

The extension does not add its own backend or proxy. The only network requests related to extension actions are normal YouTube requests that occur when you use the feedback buttons (Watched / Dislike / Ch) — equivalent to using YouTube's native "Not interested" flow yourself.

Your control

Clear all blocked videos from the toolbar popup
Toggle any feature off in the popup
Uninstall the extension
Clear extension data in your browser settings to remove stored blocklist and settings

Permissions

Permission	Why it is needed
`storage`	Save blocklist and settings on your device only
`activeTab`	Refresh the current YouTube tab from the popup when you request it
`tabs`	Find and reload the active YouTube tab from the popup (e.g. after granting site access)
`https://www.youtube.com/` and `https://youtube.com/` (host)	Run on YouTube (with or without `www`) to inject buttons, hide blocked cards, and hide optional page sections

Firefox: data_collection_permissions is set to none in the extension manifest.

Chrome: Host access is declared as host_permissions for https://www.youtube.com/* and https://youtube.com/* only. No other sites are accessed.

Third parties

YT Rec Fix is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Google LLC or YouTube. The extension does not use the YouTube API. YouTube's own privacy policy applies to your use of youtube.com.

Children's privacy

YT Rec Fix is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the "Last updated" date above will be revised. Material changes will be reflected in store listings before updates when practical.

Contact

Issues / questions: GitHub Issues
Source code: github.com/Waymoot/yt-rec-fix