You click "Don't recommend channel," feel a small victory, and two weeks later it's back at the top of your feed. YouTube's recommendation system is built to keep showing you things, not to obey you. Here's how to actually stop unwanted recommendations in 2026.
Why "Don't recommend channel" doesn't stick
"Don't recommend channel" is a soft, temporary signal. YouTube treats it as "show this less for a while," not "never again." After a few weeks the channel quietly returns, and the option does nothing at all for search results. It nudges the algorithm; it doesn't give you control.
The other native option — pausing or clearing watch history — makes recommendations generic instead of personalized. That cuts targeted junk, but it also throws away the good recommendations and still won't block a specific channel. It's a sledgehammer, not a scalpel.
The durable fix: a persistent blocklist
To stop a channel rather than nudge it, you need a blocklist that reapplies itself. A Manifest V3 browser extension does this: it holds your list locally and hides those channels on every page load, so they can't drift back.
Blokari works this way:
- Block a channel once — click the block button it adds, or paste a URL / @handle. It's hidden from your homepage, search, subscriptions feed, and recommendations, and it stays hidden.
- Stop whole categories — enable curated lists (clickbait, AI farms, propaganda, gambling, info-scams) to stop thousands of low-quality channels at once.
- Whitelist exceptions — anything you actually want is never touched.
Because the list is enforced on every load, there's no "it came back" — the channel simply doesn't appear.
Make YouTube's own signal permanent, automatically
Here's the clever part: Blokari doesn't only hide channels locally — it can also send YouTube's account-level "Don't recommend channel" signal for the channels you block, and re-send it whenever they resurface. That turns YouTube's temporary nudge into a standing instruction, because the extension keeps reinforcing it instead of clicking it once and forgetting.
And since that signal is tied to your Google account, the effect carries beyond desktop: the channels you stop get recommended less in the mobile app and on your TV too. It's a reduction on those surfaces rather than a hard block, but it's real — and you didn't have to touch your phone.
Quick reference
| Method | Stops a channel? | Permanent? | Covers search? | Carries to phone/TV? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don't recommend channel | partly | ❌ resets | ❌ | account-level (soft) |
| Pause watch history | broadly | ❌ | ❌ | — |
| Blocklist extension (Blokari) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ account training |
Stop fighting the same channels every few weeks. Block them once on desktop, let the extension keep YouTube's own signal pinned, and they stop coming back — on your computer, and increasingly everywhere you're signed in.
FAQ
Why does YouTube keep recommending channels I said not to?
"Don't recommend channel" is a temporary, soft signal — YouTube reintroduces the channel after a few weeks, and it does nothing for search. To stop a channel for good you need a persistent blocklist, which a browser extension provides.
How do I permanently stop a channel from being recommended?
Use a blocklist extension like Blokari. It hides the channel across your homepage, search, and recommendations on every load, so it doesn't drift back the way "Don't recommend" does. You can also block whole categories at once.
Does turning off watch history stop recommendations?
Pausing watch history makes recommendations generic rather than personalized, which reduces targeted junk — but it also removes useful recommendations and doesn't block specific channels. It's a blunt reset, not a per-channel control.
Can I stop recommendations on my phone too?
Indirectly. "Don't recommend channel" is account-level, so training it on desktop (manually or with Blokari) reduces those channels in the mobile app and on TV too, since they share your Google account.