How to Block Unwanted YouTube Videos With YouTube Safety Mode

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Keeping kids safe on the internet is important. That’s why we often talk about different parental control methods that help parents block adult content and other inappropriate stuff from reaching kids who are still too young to know all that.

But most of the blocking methods usually can’t block site specific content. For example, YouTube, the most popular video site, also has content that’s not suitable for all. Blocking it completely won’t make sense because it does have a lot of useful stuff. So how do you make sure that your kid stays safe while browsing YouTube? The answer is YouTube Safety Mode.

YouTube Safety Mode, though not fool proof, is a nice way to filter out content from YouTube that you don’t want kids to see.

To enable this option, when you are watching a video you need to scroll down to the very bottom of that page and find the small link that says “Safety Mode: Off” (shown in the screenshot below). You need to click on OFF to turn it on.

youtube safety mode 1

You can also sign in to YouTube to make sure that the Safety Mode remains turned on.

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youtube safety mode 2

Once you click on “On” and then hit Save, you get a notification mentioning that you’ve successfully enabled safety mode.

youtube safety mode 3

Here’s what YouTube’s Safety Mode does:

  • Hides inappropriate videos
  • Doesn’t return results for adult search terms
  • Hides comments by default
  • Inappropriate words in the comments are hidden using asterisks

To know more about how it works, you can watch the video below.

So, if you are a parent whose kid is online most of the day and spends a lot of time on YouTube, you can consider enabling this option for a controlled browsing experience for him.

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  • Geomarmar

    YOUTUBE THIS DOES NOT GO FAR ENOUGH!!!! WE AS PARENTS NEED TO BE ABLE TO BLOCK VIDEOS THAT ARE UPLOADED AS CARTOONS AND TALK ABOUT KILLING AND RAPEING IN THEM WITH THE VOICE OVER!! WHY THE HELL ARE WE NOT ABLE TO BLOCK THESE VIDEOS FROM SICK PEOPLE? MY ONLY OPTION IS TO USE ANOTHER SEARCH ENGINE AND SAY GOODBYE TO YOUTUBE!!!!!!

    • Asdkfjahksdjfh

      you’re an idiot. your child will probably eat people anyway, so don’t bother….

    • http://twitter.com/elynch427 Erin Lynch

      Exactly!!!! That is the problem I am having! If you figure out how to fix it please let me know!!!!

    • http://www.facebook.com/garyharandoyle Gaz HD

      Yup this is exactly what I havfe an issue with – search word content.

    • http://puddleplays.com/ Puddle

      how about you pay attention to what your kid is doing online until they’re old enough to not have their mind warped by dumb voice overs? honestly it’s stupid to expect a site to have a functioning block system when so many uploads go up every hour. just be a parent and watch what they’re doing. If you can’t, then don’t let them on youtube unless you’re around. it’s literally that simple.

  • NIck

    i agree with poster below. my 3 year old uses my ipad to watch you tube cartoons and ended up, via related videos, on a video with a killer micky who was cursing and just a hot mess.
    my router only blocks URLs from keywords, not content. what a piece of junk!

  • Impostor8767

    Agree. Youtube should be sued.

    • Venta12

      Yes, the should be option to block (remove from public view) certain user or film

  • Thikazabrik

    I have just seen an unobjectionable video of women cavorting around sexually and the content of the video is not only demeaning to women but soft porn in nature. Surely you have people checking videos that are uploaded. Its enough that the F-word was used to make it a red flag. We should be able to notifiy you immediately so that the content can be reviewed and removed. Maybe I managed to stop my children from seeing it but what about all the other kids. Its disgusting, this access to sex and porn. It has its place and time, if you make youtube available to all ages then you are responsible for its content and its time that someone out there either developed a screener of videos or hire people to do it manually.. I dont care as long as it done asap.

  • Likenone0ther

    Let us be able to block users of our choice as well. When I open youtube I don’t want 20 videos of sxephil, non-English russian videos and boobies. You still have porn visible with sage search. It’s time to let users properly define what they want to see – or block.

  • Jjat

    Anyone can get around this “block” by simply turning safety mode off, or signing up for their own account. Also a simple search turns up dozens of pornographic images, sickening. Anyone up for a class action suit against youtube?

    • Megan Colette

      Yeah this is true but my 3 year old isn’t smart enough to figure out ways around it quite yet so this advice is helpful for me, I too like others wish I could block a certain video even though it is not inappropriate to all kids… one on cars 2 color changers (toy) because now he’s dunking all his toys in water….

  • me

    I agree… this is CRAP. There is no way to monitor this.

  • Miroarch79

    i wish i can block specific video in youtube, my autistic child is addicted to youtube, she learned her alphabet, colors, etc. but there are some videos that i don’t want her to watch like videos using bad words.

  • Vikasuberoi

    I think it would ( could also ) be better if YOUTUBE had a word function where we could put in words / words ( or combinations ) to be blocked,, that would help a little at least if not 100%

  • Blah

    You people are pathetic idiots. Quit using the internet to babysit your children. It’s not up to youtube to filter and rate every piece of content that flows from them. It’s simply not possible. It IS up to YOU to monitor your own children. Start being a more responsible adult and your kids will follow.

    • coresa

      “Start being a more responsible adult and your kids will follow. ” like you calling everyone idiots? Clearly your parents taught you nothing.

      It is perfectly possible for Youtube to police its content.

      Youtube has a duty to protect the young / vulnerable and naive people (like yourself) from harmful content.

      • John Doe

        Since when is ANY other entity OBLIGATED to YOU and YOUR Responsibilities? You willingly give up freedom and at the same time you toss off your responsibility for your own choices in life.

  • concerned

    it would be nice if you tube had a rating system like they do on movies, i mean a 10 year old wouldn’t be getting into a nc-17 movie, and then maybe had a block for the rating

  • Dr. Wheelo

    If you are going to let Youtube raise your child, then let it.

  • Eyabu

    Yo sólo quiero una opción q este debajo del video y diga “bloquear”,”eliminar”, u “ocultar”.. A mi sobrino le gusta ver videos para aprender música y aveces le sale la imagen de un video q le da miedo.. En facebook si hay una opción de ocultar contenido de otros.. no quiero eliminar totalmente la página del usuario sólo no quiero q aparezca ese video,, Mandenme un link de como hacerlo.. Yo creo q si lo pueden hacer..

  • xasdsadsa

    Amazing how it takes another source than the actual site to show you how to do this… Youtube like Google is f’ing retarded..

  • hasam05

    I am not looking for a filter. I want a way to block a specific video and all videos by a specific user. I keep an eye on what my child watches and when we run across some sick stuff I can’t even block the video. You can block a user but it does not block their videos….that is just stupid. It is super simple thing for youtube to do. I like all the lame comments by users without any kids.