A focused extension with a testable promise.

What Unshort does

Unshort targets two specific jobs on desktop YouTube: hiding links, shelves, and cards that lead into Shorts, and changing a /shorts/VIDEO_ID route into the regular /watch?v=VIDEO_ID player. It deliberately leaves normal videos, search, channels, subscriptions, playlists, comments, and the standard watch page available.

The extension does not promise to redesign YouTube, enforce a general-purpose productivity system, or change the YouTube mobile app. Its narrow scope makes the expected behavior easier to understand and test.

How the extension is tested

The project uses automated checks for the behavior that can be verified deterministically. Tests cover extraction of video IDs from Shorts URLs, conversion into regular watch URLs, default settings, recognition of Shorts-like links and labels, localization completeness, and the permissions declared in the Chrome manifest.

Separate server tests verify that public pages, robots.txt, sitemap.xml, redirects, error responses, and the analytics endpoint behave as expected. Analytics tests reject unknown event names and strip fields such as URLs and video titles before an event can be forwarded.

Because YouTube can change its markup without notice, automated checks cannot guarantee that every surface will keep the same selector forever. The release checklist therefore also calls for manual checks on the current desktop Chrome and YouTube interface before an extension release.

How the guides are maintained

Unshort guides separate informational intent from the product page. A guide may explain YouTube's own controls or a manual URL method before presenting the extension as an automatic option. Product claims should be traceable to current extension behavior, automated tests, the privacy policy, or an official YouTube Help source.

Pages are updated when their visible advice, tested behavior, sources, or product limitations change. Dates are not advanced merely because a page was rebuilt. Unshort does not publish paid rankings or invent ratings, review counts, or performance claims.

Known limitations

• Unshort is designed for desktop Chrome and does not modify the YouTube mobile app.
• YouTube may rename elements or change navigation behavior, which can temporarily affect hiding rules.
• The extension cannot remove Shorts from places outside the YouTube pages covered by its manifest access.
• A regular watch page still belongs to YouTube and can contain recommendations selected by YouTube.

Corrections and support

Report a broken selector, inaccurate guide, privacy concern, or correction through the Unshort contact page. Include the affected page, Chrome version, Unshort version, and what happened, but do not send passwords or sensitive account information.