Block YouTube on Mac

YouTube is the biggest time sink

YouTube's recommendation algorithm is one of the most sophisticated engagement machines ever built. Autoplay, suggested videos, and notification emails are all designed to keep you watching. The average YouTube session lasts 40 minutes, and most people don't intend to spend that long.

How Sloth blocks YouTube

Sloth blocks youtube.com and www.youtube.com at the DNS, firewall, and browser level. This means:

• YouTube won't load in any browser (Safari, Chrome, Arc, Brave, Edge)
• Embedded YouTube videos on other sites won't play
• You can't bypass it with incognito mode or Private Relay
• Locked sessions can't be stopped early

Daily budget: watch less, not none

Maybe you don't want to block YouTube entirely. Sloth's daily budget feature lets you set a time limit, like 30 minutes per day. Once you hit your limit, YouTube is blocked until tomorrow. You get your videos, but the rabbit hole has a floor.

Schedule around your work

Set a schedule to block YouTube during work hours (say, 9 AM to 6 PM on weekdays) and leave it unblocked evenings and weekends. Sloth runs the schedule automatically, even if the app isn't open, because the daemon handles it.