YouTube has become an integral part of digital life, but sometimes its presence on the Xiaomi Redmi smartphone brings more problems than benefits: endless recommendations, autoplay in the background, aggressive advertising or just a desire to limit the pastime for video – the reasons can be very different, especially for parents who want to protect their children from unwanted content, or for users who want to extend battery life.
In this article, we will discuss 5 working ways to disable YouTube on Xiaomi Redmi, from completely removing the application to fine-tuning the system that will allow you to block access to the service without root rights. It is important to understand that some methods require technical training, while others will be suitable even for beginners. We will also take into account the features of MIUI firmware, which often complicates standard Android procedures.
Before you get started, make sure you have a backup of important data – some manipulation of system applications can lead to unstable smartphone performance. If your goal is simply to reduce the time you use YouTube, perhaps Digital Well-Being settings will be enough (which will also be discussed below).
1. Completely delete YouTube via MIUI settings
The most radical way is to remove the app completely. However, on Xiaomi Redmi with MIUI firmware, it's not that simple: YouTube is often embedded as preinstalled software. However, there are workarounds.
If the application was installed by you manually (not out of the box), standard removal is sufficient:
- Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
- Find YouTube on the list and tap it.
- Click Remove (if the button is active).
If the Remove button is inactive (grey), it means the application is system.
- 🔧 Use Disconnect button: This will remove all updates and block work, but will not free up disk space.
- 📦 Install. ADB to the computer and execute the command: adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.google.android.youtube Note: Requires the enabled Debugging mode USB developer-setting.
⚠️ Note: Removing system applications through ADB This can disrupt Google Play services, and on some Redmi models (such as the Redmi Note 10 Pro), this leads to account sync errors.
Enable debugging on USB developer-setting|Install Xiaomi drivers on PC|Download ADB Platform Tools from Google|Connect your phone to your PC and confirm your trusted device|Make a backup copy of the data-->
2. Blocking through Digital Well-being
If the goal is not to delete, but to limit the time you use YouTube, use the built-in MIUI tool:
- Open Settings → Digital Well-Being and Parental Controls.
- Select the Control Panel (may need to be configured) PIN-code).
- Find YouTube in the app list and set a time limit or block it completely.
This method is suitable for parents: you can adjust the schedule of use (for example, allow viewing only from 18:00 to 20:00) or set a daily limit of 30 minutes. PIN-code.
The restriction works even if the application is running in the background, but there's a caveat: MIUI sometimes resets the settings after an update. Check the validity of the restrictions once a month.
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To bypass the blocking through Digital Well-Being, the user can simply delete and reinstall YouTube. To avoid this, further block the installation of applications from unknown sources in the security settings.
3. Disabling Autostart and Background Activity
Even if you don't open YouTube consciously, the app can consume battery and traffic in the background.
- Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → YouTube.
- Choose the Battery. → Battery consumption management.
- Set limits to background activity.
- Go back and turn off Autostart.
These actions will not remove the app, but will significantly reduce its impact on the performance of the phone. For example, on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ after such settings, battery life increased by 12% (according to tests of users of the 4PDA forum).
You can also turn off notifications from YouTube:
- 🔔 In the same app settings, go to Notifications.
- 🚫 Disable all switches (recommendations, comments, channel updates).
4.Using third-party launchers to hide YouTube
If you don’t want to delete or block an app, but it’s annoying to see it on the home screen, install an alternative launcher, such as Nova Launcher or Microsoft Launcher, which allows you to:
- 📱 Hide the YouTube icon from the app menu.
- 🔒 Block access to the application with a password.
- 🎨 Set up gestures to quickly launch other services instead of YouTube.
Instructions for Nova Launcher:
- Install a launcher from Google Play.
- Press your finger on the main screen → Settings.
- Go to Apps and Widgets → Hide Apps.
- Mark YouTube on the list.
This method doesn't physically remove the app, but it makes it inaccessible to run accidentally, and is suitable for users who want to "forget" YouTube, but leave it to be returned.
Complete removal|Restrictions through Digital Well-being"|Background activity shutdown|Hiding through the launcher|Another option-->
5. Block through the hosts file (for advanced)
The method for power users: editing the hosts file allows you to block access to YouTube at the network level, which works even if the application is installed, but requires root rights or ADB.
Instructions:
- Connect your phone to your PC and open ADB Shell.
- Enter the commands: adb shell su mount -o rw, remount /system echo "127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com" >> /system/etc/hosts echo "127.0.0.1 m.youtube.com" >> /system/etc/hosts echo "127.0.0.1 youtubei.googleapis.com" >> /system/etc/hosts mount -o ro,remount /system
- Reboot the phone.
After that, all attempts to open YouTube (in the browser or app) will be redirected to 127.0.0.1, i.e. nowhere. To return access, delete the added lines from the hosts.
⚠️ Attention: Incorrect editing of the hosts file can lead to loss of Internet access.Before changes, make a backup copy of it with the adb pull command /system/etc/hosts.
What if the Internet disappeared after editing hosts?
Comparison of methods: which one to choose?
Each method has its pros and cons. Below the table will help you decide on the choice:
| Method | Difficulty | Required. root/ADB | Reversibility | Suitable for parents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Removal through settings | ⭐ | ❌ No. | ✅ Yes (can be reinstalled) | ❌ No. |
| ADB-removal | ⭐⭐⭐ | ✅ Yes (ADB) | ✅ Yes. | ❌ No. |
| Digital Well-Being | ⭐ | ❌ No. | ✅ Yes. | ✅ Yes. |
| Background activity shutdown | ⭐ | ❌ No. | ✅ Yes. | ❌ No. |
| Editing by hosts | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ✅ Yes (root/ADB) | ✅ Yes. | ✅ Yes. |
On Xiaomi Redmi models with MIUI 14 firmware and later, standard YouTube removal via ADB may not work due to system application protection, in which case only blocking through hosts or using third-party launchers will help.
Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
When trying to disable YouTube, users often face typical problems:
- 🔄 "The app has recovered after the update MIUI" → This is because Xiaomi returns system apps with major updates.Solution: Use ADB Remove or reset your digital well-being.
- 🔌 "The lock through hosts does not work" → Make sure you add all YouTube subdomains (including youtubei.googleapis.com for embedded players) and check if root rights are reset after a reboot (relevant to Magisk).
- 📱 "I can't find YouTube on my list of apps" → On some Redmi models (e.g. Redmi) 9A) The app can be hidden in the Google section. Use search by settings.
If you deleted YouTube via ADB, but it reappeared after resetting, it means that the app was part of the firmware, in which case only blocking at the DNS level (for example, through a router) or using Firewall applications like NetGuard will help.
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The most reliable way to permanently remove YouTube from Xiaomi Redmi is a combination ADB-However, for most users, restrictions in "Digital Well-being" or disabling background activity are sufficient.