How to Limit Time on YouTube and Other Websites in Chrome
"I'll watch one video" is how an evening disappears: the autoplay queue keeps feeding the next one, and willpower at 11 pm rarely wins. A rule enforced by your browser holds up better.
This guide shows how to set an automatic time limit for YouTube (or any other website) using a free, open-source extension for Chrome, Edge and Firefox.
Why not install a "YouTube limiter" extension?
The store is full of single-purpose limiters: one for YouTube, another for TikTok, a third for Instagram.
- One extension per site means five sites, five tools, five sets of permissions
- Most of them only know their one target site; a news habit or a Reddit habit is out of scope
- Each extra extension is extra memory and one more party your browser must trust
A general-purpose rule engine handles all of them with one tool: the same extension that tracks your time can also enforce limits on any URL pattern.
How the limiting rules work
In Time Tracker - Web Habit Builder, each rule combines a target URL with one or more constraints (see the full control guide):
| Constraint | What it does |
|---|---|
| Daily limit | Maximum time per day on the site; once the budget is used up, the site is covered by a blocking mask until the next day |
| Limit per visit | Caps each single visit, so "just checking quickly" can't become an hour |
| Not allowed periods | Blocks the site during defined windows, e.g. 9:00–12:00 on workdays |
| Weekly limit | Maximum time per week, for patterns where a daily cap doesn't fit |
| Focus sessions | While a Focus or Pomodoro session runs, restricted sites stay blocked |
URLs support expressions, so one rule can cover a whole domain or specific sections of it.
Setting a YouTube limit, step by step
- Install the extension from your browser's store; it's free and needs no account
- Open the dashboard and go to the control section
- Create a rule with
https://www.youtube.comas the restricted URL - Set a daily limit — for example 30 minutes
- Optionally add a per-visit cap of 10 minutes, and "not allowed" hours for your deep-work window
From now on, when the daily budget is spent, the page gets covered by a blocking mask, and it stays blocked until the next day unless you deliberately change the rule. The optional unlock verification (a question, a password or two-factor) makes bypassing the rule a deliberate act rather than a one-click one.
The same rule works for everything else
Because the rule engine matches URL patterns rather than a hardcoded site list, the same approach limits social media, news, shopping or gaming sites. It also runs on Chrome, Edge and Firefox, so your rules cover every browser you use.
A practical starter set:
- Social feeds: 20 minutes/day, plus not-allowed hours during work
- News: per-visit limit only, so quick checks stay quick
- Video streaming: daily limit in the evening window you actually want
All data, your rules and usage history alike, stays local in your browser. You can export it anytime or answer common questions in the FAQ.
Start with one rule for the site that costs you the most time; the rest can wait. The install page has the store links.