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Hiding YouTube Thumbnails, Comments, and Sidebar Content in Mobile Guardian

  • Updated

This article explains how to hide distracting YouTube interface elements, including video thumbnails, comments sections, and sidebar recommendations, using the YouTube Filter settings in Mobile Guardian. These settings help maintain a focused viewing environment by removing visual clutter that can lead students away from assigned content.

When enabled, these options apply uniformly across all managed operating systems (iOS/iPadOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and ChromeOS).

Prerequisites

Before configuring YouTube content hiding, ensure the following:

  • You have administrator access to the Mobile Guardian Dashboard
  • A Baseline or Conditional Profile has been created for the target device group
  • The Web-filter and YouTube Filter are enabled within the profile’s Safe Content settings

Step-by-Step Configuration

Step 1: Access Profiles

  1. Log in to the Mobile Guardian Dashboard.
  2. On the left-hand side panel, select Profiles.
  3. Locate the profile you wish to edit and click the pencil icon under the Actions column.

Step 2: Navigate to Safe Content

  1. In the profile editor, under the What heading, select Safe Content.
  2. Ensure that Enable Web-filter and Enable YouTube Filter are both ticked.
  3. Click the YouTube Filter tab.

Step 3: Configure Content Hiding Options

Within the YouTube Filter tab, you will find toggle options for hiding interface elements:

Setting

Description

Hide Thumbnails

Removes video thumbnail preview images from search results and the home feed, reducing visual distractions

Hide Comments

Hides the comments section beneath videos, preventing exposure to unmoderated user content

Hide Sidebar

Removes the recommended videos sidebar, keeping students focused on their current video

  1. Enable the toggles for the elements you wish to hide.
  2. Click Save to apply the changes to the profile.

Step 4: Verify Profile Assignment

  1. Ensure the profile is assigned to the correct device group under the Which devices heading in the Profiles section.
  2. Devices will receive the updated settings on their next sync.

How It Works

When these settings are active, the Mobile Guardian Safe Browser modifies the YouTube interface on managed devices:

  • Thumbnails hidden: Video listings display titles and metadata only, without preview images. This reduces bandwidth usage and removes potentially distracting imagery.
  • Comments hidden: The comments section below videos is not rendered, preventing students from reading or being distracted by user-generated content.
  • Sidebar hidden: The recommended/related videos panel is removed, eliminating a common pathway to off-task browsing.

These settings work alongside other YouTube Filter controls (category blocklists, channel blocklists, and video URL blocklists) to provide layered content management.

Platform Coverage

These content hiding options apply uniformly across all supported operating systems:

Platform

Supported

iOS/iPadOS

Yes

Android

Yes

macOS

Yes

Windows

Yes

ChromeOS

Yes

No platform-specific configuration is required. The settings are applied once in the profile and enforced on all assigned devices regardless of operating system.

Tips

  • Hiding thumbnails is particularly useful in exam or test scenarios where visual distractions should be minimised.
  • These options can be combined with Conditional Profiles to hide elements only during school hours while allowing full access outside scheduled times.
  • If students report that YouTube pages appear blank or broken, verify that the YouTube Filter is enabled and that the profile is correctly assigned.

Please let us know if you found this helpful.

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