How do I put filters on YouTube?

Last reviewed: October 14, 2026 · Markdown version

YouTube has four different things called filters, and each one is switched on somewhere else. Search filters narrow a list of results. Topics narrow what Home recommends. Chips narrow your own library and playlists. Restricted Mode is the one that filters content itself, across the whole app or browser. Find the one you meant below; each has its own way to turn it off.

1. Filtering search results

The steps differ by device, and YouTube's help has a version for each (YouTube Help: Advanced search (Filters), Android, read 14 October 2026):

Android app: search for something, then on the right tap More and Filters, and pick options “like Upload Date, Duration, and Subtitles/CC”.
iPhone app: when the results show, tap Filter, choose options “like Upload Date, Type, and Subtitles/CC”, then tap Back (YouTube Help: Advanced search (Filters), iOS version, read 14 October 2026).
Computer: after the results load, click Filter. The computer page only describes filtering “by the type of content (like video, short, movie, playlist, or channel)” (YouTube Help: Advanced search (Filters), Computer, read 14 October 2026).
Mobile site (m.youtube.com): “You can filter by Upload Date and Category.”

Removing one. Both app versions say the same thing: to adjust the filters, tap Filter again and select the filters you want. None of the three pages describes a separate “clear all” control, so changing the selection in the same panel is the documented way back. The upload-date filter in particular, and why it is not the same as sorting by date, is covered on how to sort YouTube videos by date.

2. Filtering Home by topic

On Home, the row of topics at the top is YouTube's filter for recommendations. Its help: “If you only want to see recommended content about a specific subject, explore topics on the Home and watch pages.” Those topics come from you rather than from a fixed menu; YouTube says they “are based on your existing, personalized suggestions and on content related to what you interact with” (YouTube Help: Manage your recommendations & search results, read 14 October 2026). If something under a topic does not fit it, tap More beside the video and choose Not followed by the topic.

To stop filtering, go back to the unfiltered Home; in the US there is now also an experimental prompt-based version, set out on our page about changing the homepage.

3. Filtering your own library and playlists

Library (phone): chips along the top filter it “by Purchased, Playlists, Podcasts, Music, or Courses”, and they only appear once the Library “contains more than 5 items” (YouTube Help: Explore the You tab (Android), read 14 October 2026).
A playlist: chips for All, Shorts and Videos; YouTube notes the Shorts chip “is only available on computers” (YouTube Help: Create & manage playlists (computer), read 14 October 2026).
Your subscriptions list: in the app, “You can go to a list of your channels by tapping All, and filter your results using the drop-down arrow at the top” (YouTube Help: Subscribe to YouTube channels, read 14 October 2026).

4. Restricted Mode: the content filter

When people ask for a filter to keep mature videos out, this is the documented one. YouTube calls it “an optional setting” that “can help screen out potentially mature content that you or others using your devices may prefer not to view” (YouTube Help: Turn Restricted Mode on or off on YouTube (computer), read 14 October 2026).

Computer: profile photo at the top right, Restricted Mode at the bottom, then Activate Restricted Mode.
Android app: profile photo, Settings, General, then turn Restricted Mode on or off (YouTube Help: Turn Restricted Mode on or off on YouTube (Android), read 14 October 2026).

Before relying on it, three limits from the same page. It is per device: “you must turn it on for each browser you use”, and for each profile in a browser that has several. It hides comments: “When Restricted Mode is turned on, you can't view comments on the videos you watch.” And YouTube does not claim it is exact; it says the quality “may vary” across languages.

If you cannot switch it off, the setting may not be yours. YouTube says computers in “libraries, universities, and other public institutions may have Restricted Mode turned on by a network administrator”, that some mobile networks run their own content filters, and that its YouTube content restrictions page will “assess whether an administrator set up these restrictions, or if they are on your personal account”. Parents can also lock it through Family Link, after which the child “can't change the Restricted Mode settings on any device they’re signed in to”.

Filtering the channels you follow by your own labels

YouTube's subscriptions list gives you that one drop-down filter and no groups of your own. If what you wanted was to filter the channels you follow by subject, Adinand Channel Sorter does that part: you make your own tags, label channels with them and filter your subscription list by a tag, alongside the smart categories it sorts channels into on its own. It filters channels, not search results or Home, and it has no Shorts filter. It is an independent tool, not affiliated with YouTube, and it runs on iPhone and Android.