Archive
This post is archived and may contain outdated information. It has been set to 'noindex' and should stop showing up in search results.
This post is archived and may contain outdated information. It has been set to 'noindex' and should stop showing up in search results.
How to Disable YouTube Live Chat
Jun 1, 2018Web and InternetComments (17)
Here's a simple way to hide the YouTube live chat window and block it from loading altogether. This should also result in a small improvement to page load speed when visiting YouTube video pages that have live chat.
To block the live chat, you'll need an ad blocker extension or plug-in for your browser. If you don't already have one, you can get one from your browser's extension/plug-in page. I recommend µBlock Origin for either Chrome or Firefox. Any one that supports the AdBlock Plus filter syntax will work.
Once you have the ad blocker installed, you'll need to add two lines to the custom filter section. You can do this in the "My filters" section of uBlock, which can be found depending on your browser at:
Chrome
More Tools > Extensions > uBlock Origin Options > My filters
Firefox
Add-ons > Extensions > uBlock Origin Options > Show Dashboard > My filters
Add these two filters on their own lines (copy and paste them) and then hit "Apply changes":
You shouldn't need to restart your browser.
If you want to revert back to allowing YouTube live chat, you'll have to remove the filters from your custom filters.
Get an Ad Blocker
To block the live chat, you'll need an ad blocker extension or plug-in for your browser. If you don't already have one, you can get one from your browser's extension/plug-in page. I recommend µBlock Origin for either Chrome or Firefox. Any one that supports the AdBlock Plus filter syntax will work.
Adding a Custom Filter
Once you have the ad blocker installed, you'll need to add two lines to the custom filter section. You can do this in the "My filters" section of uBlock, which can be found depending on your browser at:
Chrome
More Tools > Extensions > uBlock Origin Options > My filters
Firefox
Add-ons > Extensions > uBlock Origin Options > Show Dashboard > My filters
Add these two filters on their own lines (copy and paste them) and then hit "Apply changes":
https://www.youtube.com/live_chat
www.youtube.com###chat
You shouldn't need to restart your browser.
Reverting Back
If you want to revert back to allowing YouTube live chat, you'll have to remove the filters from your custom filters.
Hey, June 2022 this still works, updated Chrome browser, Mac OS. Thank you!
It's helping soooooo much !! Thanks a lot ! (I won't get lost anymore reading the whole chat! X'D)
It works!!! Stoopid youtube >=( Thank you so very much =)
thanks for the filter
feels like my life was saved
damn! respek!
Under ABP on Vivaldi (chrome fork) I'm using the following two .. the second one actually stopped the box from showing up: ====== youtube.com###show-live-chat-button youtube.com##div[class^="yt-uix-expander live-chat-expander"] But in Basilisk (firefox fork) using Adblock Latitude, I only needed to use: ||www.youtube.com/live_chat_replay* though reading the other comments, this ...replay* may or may not be blocking access to Youtube's relay subsystems (blocking would be good .. no attempts to connect/reconnect etc) Either way .. Youtube should've realized that there are people that don't want the chat. I mean its appearing on AVB's ASTOT episodes .. wow .. fantastic .. if I was ON youtube when this was live .. maybe it'd be relevant, but 6 months later? no, just stupid.
THANKS, thanks, thanks.
Thank you very much for posting this, very useful!
This still works thank you so much!!! Works as described and does exactly what Nick said in the comments from Jun 04, 2018.
What a breath of fresh air. Works as described. Thanks for the help, friend!
Good job, thanks.
Thank you so much! I hate that stupid chat. Good riddance!
You're a lifesaver! this worked like a dream, thank you so much!
Legit, thank you so so so so so much, this worked PERFECTLY. Loading chat has been devouring my CPU forever, cannot thank you enough for this tip. Copied and pasted the filters, you are a godsend. Very grateful.
I double checked the network traffic and this does block the requests as well as the element. The "https://www.youtube.com/live_chat" filter blocks the requests to "https://www.youtube.com/live_chat/get_live_chat" that are normally there. Testing it further, if you disable the filters, load a video page with live chat, then enable the filters (with the video tab still open), after a few moments the live chat window will show the message "Chat disconnected. Please wait while we try to reconnect you."
This doesn't actually block it from loading. It's only hiding it using css display:none. It's still there in the dom and loading in new comments etc.