How to Limit YouTube Time on Computer on Chrome and Safari

If you find yourself spending too much time on YouTube on your computer, it may be time to take some action. This article shows you how to limit YouTube time on Windows PC and Mac on Chrome, Safari and some other browsers in 3 ways.

YouTube doesn’t offer an official app for Windows and Mac computers, unlike with smartphones. Generally, the only way to access YouTube videos on your computer is through its website https://www.youtube.com/. So, the article is basically about setting a time limit for youtube.com access on Windows and Mac.

 

Method 1. How to limit YouTube time on Chrome & Safari on Windows & Mac with AppCrypt

Available for both Windows and Mac, Cisdem AppCrypt is a website blocker and app lock. When working as a YouTube time limiting tool, AppCrypt can provide the following benefits.

• You can set a time limit on YouTube by blocking YouTube at specific times of the day. (This way, you can control not only the amount of time spent on YouTube but also when the access is allowed.)
• You can set the same limit for every day, or different limits for different days of the week.
• One can’t bypass the time limit because there is a password.
• AppCrypt supports Chrome, Safari (on Mac only), Edge, Firefox (on Windows only), Opera and Brave.
• You are allowed to lock the unsupported browsers with a password.

Below are the steps to set time limit on YouTube.

Step 1. Install AppCrypt.

Download and install AppCrypt on your Windows or Mac computer.

Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7 Free Download macOS 10.12 or later

Step 2. Set a password.

Set an AppCrypt password. If you set the time limit for yourself (instead of your child), please ask someone else to set the password for you.

Additionally, it’s recommended to select the Launch at System Startup checkbox.

Step 3. Open the AppCrypt main window.

On a Windows PC, click the AppCrypt icon in the taskbar. (Alternatively, right-click this icon and choose Open Main window.)

On a Mac, click the lock icon in the menu bar and choose Open Main Window.

Now enter the AppCrypt password to access the main window.

Step 4. In the main window, click the Web Block tab.

In this step, if you are a Windows user, please install the extension on the browser(s) of your choice. If you are a Mac user, you don’t need to do this.

Step 5. Add YouTube to the block list.

In the URL field, enter youtube.com. Click Add.

Step 6. Add a time limit.

Select youtube.com by clicking it. Click the clock icon that appears, which will bring up the Custom Schedule dialog. In the dialog, turn on Custom Schedule first.

Now, editing the existing schedule. Set a time limit for YouTube by blocking YouTube during times of the day and days of the week that you specify. You can create multiple time limits by adding schedules. There’s lots of flexibility.

Below are some examples.

To edit a schedule/time limit, click it and make changes. To delete it, click this icon next to a schedule.

If you delete all schedules for YouTube, YouTube will be accessible all the time.

There are totally six ways to remove a limit temporarily or permanently, such as quitting AppCrypt, removing YouTube from the block list, or disabling/removing the extension (on Windows PC). However, any of the six ways requires the AppCrypt password. Therefore, this time limit thing is hard to bypass.

 

Method 2. How to limit YouTube Time on computer with Chrome extension

Whether you are using a Windows or Mac computer, it’s also possible to put a time limit on YouTube on Chrome with an extension like YouTube Time.

Designed to set a time limit for daily YouTube usage, this extension has helped many people improve their productivity.

Step 1. Go to the Chrome Web Store.

Step 2. Install YouTube Time.

Step 3. Control-click its icon in Chrome toolbar and choose Options.

Step 4. There are two ways. You can enter the amount of time allowed per day.

Or, you can customize limit for individual days of the week.

Step 5. Click Save Limit.

To give more flexibility, it allows you to ignore limit. To prevent yourself from keeping ignoring limit, you can limit the number of overrides allowed per day.

To make the YouTube time limit harder to bypass, you can follow this tip. Click the extension’s icon in Chrome toolbar and choose Manage Extensions. Scroll down and enable Allow in incognito.

Now it’s set up. When you are on a YouTube page, a countdown timer will display the time left in the extension icon. When the time is up, YouTube will be blocked on the Chrome browser on your Mac.

Note: An Chrome extension can be easily removed by you or someone else. If the YouTube Time extension is removed, the time limit set up for YouTube will also be removed.

 

Method 3. How to limit YouTube time on Mac on Safari with Screen Time

If you are a user of macOS Catalina 10.15 or later and Safari is your primary or only browser, this method is for you. This method uses Screen Time, which is a set of settings included in macOS Catalina or later. If you are using an earlier macOS that doesn’t come with Screen Time, then Method 1 can help.

Note: If you use Screen Time to set a limit for YouTube, the limit only applies to Safari. Screen Time doesn’t support any non-Safari web browser.

Step 1. Go to System Settings. If you are using macOS Monterey 12 or earlier, please go to System Preferences instead.

Step 2. Choose Screen Time in the sidebar on the left. Turn on Screen Time.

Step 3. This step is optional. Turn on Use Screen Time Passcode and then set a 4-digit passcode.

Step 4. Click App Limits. Turn on App Limits.

Step 5. Click Add Limit to bring up the Create a new app limit window.

Step 6. Scroll down to the end and expand Websites.

Step 7. Click the green Add button that appears. Enter the domain name youtube.com. Press the Return key.

Step 8. Now you are presented with two ways to limit YouTube time on Mac.

• Every Day: With this way, you can specify the amount of time per day during which youtube.com is accessible, regardless of the day of the week.
• Custom: You can also customize the amount of time for each day of the week. Click the Edit button and set the daily time limit. Click Done.

Step 9. Click Done.

Step 3 is recommended if you want to limit your children’s YouTube time.

When you finish setting time limits on websites on Mac using Screen Time, the limits will apply to Safari right away.

If you are looking for a solution for Google Chrome, see Method 1.

To change the time limit you have set on YouTube, in Screen Time, go to App Limits, and select youtube.com from the list of limited websites. Click Edit Limit and make modifications. To remove a limit, select the website and click the minus icon.

 

Conclusion

YouTube is a great place to spend leisure time. There are numerous great videos there. However, YouTube can be addictive. You may spend hours per day watching videos on this website. To spend less time on YouTube, you can limit time on it.

This article talks about three ways to limit YouTube time on computer on popular browsers like Chrome. Method 1 and Method 2 are useful for both Windows and Mac users. Method 3 is included in macOS and is for Mac users only. If you are looking for an easy way to control YouTube watching time, I hope this article can help.