Algorithms are designed to be sticky. This makes them slippery.
Social media engineering is brilliant—it’s designed to interrupt your flow state and keep you scrolling. Block It Out is a source-available Chrome Extension that strips away the addictive "sugar" (Shorts, Reels, Suggested Feeds) from Instagram and YouTube, leaving you with a functional tool rather than a time trap.
We don't block the sites; we just make them behave.
Most blockers are all-or-nothing. You either block YouTube entirely (and can't watch that tutorial you need), or you keep it open and lose 2 hours to Shorts.
Block It Out sits in the middle. It’s a DOM-modifier that surgically removes the slot-machine mechanics while keeping the utility intact.
- Developers: It’s lightweight, vanilla JS, and runs locally.
- Users: It saves your brain cells without requiring you to delete your accounts.
Turn Instagram into a portfolio viewer, not a dopamine drip.
- Core Distractions: Hide Reels completely, use "Focus Mode" (Messaging Only), and enable "Safe Feed" to hide sponsored/suggested posts.
- Content Filters: Hide Stories, turn posts into black boxes, or blur thumbnails until you hover over them.
- Metrics & Tracking: Enable the Session Monitor to track wasted time, hide all like/follower counts, and disable the "Double Tap to Like" feature to prevent accidental engagement.
Use YouTube as a search engine, not a TV channel.
- Core Distractions: Remove the Shorts shelf, hide the homepage feed entirely, or use Focus Mode to remove the sidebar and feed.
- Ad Controls: Ad Accelerator (auto-skips and speeds up ads 16x), Auto-Mute Ads, and auto-close overlay banners.
- Player & Content: Theater Focus (dims surrounding UI), Kill Autoplay, hide End Cards, and remove the Comments section.
- Mindfulness Walls: Force yourself to type an intention (Intent Wall) or wait 30 seconds (Breathe Wall) before entering distracting sites.
- Focus Modifiers: Grayscale Mode reduces the dopamine reward of colorful icons by turning everything black and white.
- Restricted Sites: A built-in list manager to block the specific websites that waste your time.
Note: This is currently a manual install for privacy and transparency.
- Download: Clone this repo or download the ZIP and extract it.
- Open Chrome Extensions: Type
chrome://extensionsin your address bar. - Enable Dev Mode: Toggle the "Developer mode" switch in the top right.
- Load: Click "Load unpacked" and select the folder where you extracted these files (the one containing
manifest.json).
BlockItOut runs securely in the background. When you want to change settings:
- Click the BlockItOut icon
in your browser toolbar to open the settings popup. - Navigate between the Instagram, YouTube, and Global tabs.
- Flip the switches for the features you want.
- Changes sync instantly across your open tabs—no page reload required!
- Core: Vanilla JavaScript (ES6+)
- Architecture: Chrome Extension Manifest V3
- Storage:
chrome.storage.localfor persisting settings - Privacy: Zero data collection. Everything stays on your machine.
I'm a university student coding this between exams. If this tool saved you from a 3-hour doomscroll, consider buying me a coffee. It keeps the updates coming!
Educational & Personal Productivity Use Only. This software is provided "as is." It modifies the DOM of websites locally on your machine to improve user experience.
- Commercial Use: Prohibited without a license.
- Modification: Feel free to tweak the code for your own personal use.
- Disclaimer: Use at your own risk. We are not responsible if platforms update their code and break a feature.