The quickest way to remove ads from a news article is to strip the page down to the story itself. You can do that in one click with a free extension, with your browser's built-in reader mode, or by pasting the link into a text extractor. If you want ads gone on every site automatically, install an ad blocker or use a browser that blocks ads by default.
| Method | What it removes | Works on | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1One-click extension | Ads, menus, pop-ups, related links | Any article in Chrome | One click |
| 2Reader mode | Ads, sidebars, autoplay video | Pages the browser sees as articles | One click |
| 3Ad blocker | Ads on every site | Every site, automatically | Install once |
| 4Phone-wide ad blocking | Ads in every app and browser | iPhone and Android | Set up once |
| 5Text extractor | Everything but the story | Any URL, even JavaScript-heavy pages | Paste a link |
| 6Print view | Often ads and menus | Varies by site | Two clicks |
1Remove ads from an article in one click
When you just want to read (or keep) the story without everything around it, a reader extension is the fastest fix. The free URL to Text Chrome extension works on any article:
- Add URL to Text to Chrome (it's free, no account needed) and pin it to the toolbar.
- Open the news article you want to read.
- Click the URL to Text icon.
It copies the article's main text, without the banner ads, sidebar ads, menus, newsletter pop-ups and "recommended for you" links, and opens it as clean text or Markdown so you can check it. The text is also on your clipboard, ready to paste into your notes, an email, or ChatGPT or Claude for a summary.
Unlike reader mode, it doesn't depend on the browser deciding the page is an article, and unlike an ad blocker, it doesn't need to know every ad network. It reads the story and leaves the rest behind.
You can also right-click any page and open the URL to Text submenu to copy the page as Markdown or plain text, download it, or open the text in a new tab. Right-click the icon and choose Options to set your defaults once: main content or the whole page, Markdown or plain text, and whether to include the title and URL. They apply to every click and to the Alt + Shift + C shortcut.
2Use your browser's reader mode
Every major browser has a reader view built in. It pulls out the headline, text and main images, and drops the ad slots, sidebars, autoplay videos and pop-ups. Nothing to install.
Chrome (Windows, Mac, Chromebook)
Since April 2026, Chrome's Reading mode opens the article full page instead of in the side panel.
- Right-click the page and choose Open in Reading Mode, or click the Reading mode button in the address bar when Chrome offers it.
- Change the font, text size, spacing and colors from the toolbar, or have Chrome read the article aloud.
- Click the X at the top right to go back to the page.
Chrome on Android
Tap the ⋮ menu, then Show Reading mode (just below "Listen to this page"). The redesigned reader rolled out with Chrome 145 in February 2026 and replaced the old "Simplified view" icon. You can switch to a larger font, sepia or dark background, and text up to 250%.
Safari on Mac
- Click the Page Menu button in the address bar and choose Show Reader, or press Shift + Cmd + R. Press Esc to leave.
- Always use Reader on a site: go to and set that site to On.
Long articles in Reader also get a table of contents and, on Macs with Apple Intelligence, a summary.
Safari on iPhone and iPad
- Tap the Page Menu button in the address bar, then Show Reader. Tap it again and choose Hide Reader to go back.
- One site, every time: Page Menu > Website Settings > turn on Use Reader Automatically.
- Every site: .
Hide ads without reader mode in Safari
Safari (iOS 18 and macOS 15 or later) can also hide individual parts of a page while keeping its layout. Open the Page Menu, choose Hide Distracting Items, tap the banner, pop-up or box you want gone, then tap Done. Safari remembers the choice for other pages on the same site.
Note: Apple says this doesn't permanently hide ads or anything that changes often, such as rotating ad slots. It's best for sticky banners, cookie bars and sign-up boxes. For ads, use Reader or an ad blocker.
Firefox (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Click the Reader View icon (a small page) at the right of the address bar, or press F9 on Windows, Cmd + Option + R on Mac, or Ctrl + Alt + R on Linux. The toolbar on the left lets you change the text size and font, or listen to the article.
Firefox on Android
Tap the Reader View icon in the toolbar. It only appears on pages Firefox recognizes as articles. Adjust the font and colors under .
Microsoft Edge
Edge (Windows and Mac) has a reader built in, called Immersive Reader in older versions and now labeled Reader Mode in the address bar. Press F9, or click the reader icon (a small book) at the right of the address bar. The toolbar across the top adds Read Aloud, Translate and Summarize. To keep the button visible, turn it on under . You can also select part of a page, right-click, and open just that selection in the reader.
When reader mode doesn't work
Reader mode guesses which part of the page is the story. It often gives up, or shows a nearly empty view, on:
- Live blogs, photo galleries and stories split into many short blocks.
- Sites that load the article with JavaScript after the page opens.
- Paywalled articles, where the full text never reached your browser.
When that happens, a one-click extension or a text extractor usually still gets the text.
3Install an ad blocker
If you don't want to switch to reader mode on every story, an ad blocker removes ads across every site you visit. It stops the ad requests from loading and hides the empty boxes they leave behind.
uBlock Origin is the best-known free, open-source blocker, but which version you can use now depends on your browser:
- Firefox (desktop and Android): the full uBlock Origin is still available and fully supported. It's the most capable free option, which makes Firefox the best browser for blocking ads.
- Chrome: Chrome's switch to Manifest V3 removed the full uBlock Origin from the Chrome Web Store on August 31, 2026. Chrome users get uBlock Origin Lite, which blocks most ads with built-in filter lists but doesn't support custom filters.
- Microsoft Edge: Edge is retiring the older extension format through the end of 2026, so plan to use uBlock Origin Lite there too.
- Safari (Mac, iPhone, iPad): install a content blocker from the App Store, such as uBlock Origin Lite, AdGuard or 1Blocker, then turn it on under (on Mac, ).
Browsers that block ads for you
- Brave blocks ads and trackers by default with Shields. It's built into the browser, so Chrome's extension limits don't affect it.
- Opera and Vivaldi have built-in blockers too, but they're off by default. Turn them on in privacy settings.
- Samsung Internet on Android supports ad-blocker add-ons. Open the menu, tap Ad blockers, and install one.
Good to know
- Many news sites detect ad blockers and show a "please turn off your ad blocker" message. You can pause the blocker for that site, subscribe, or switch to reader mode, which often still works behind the message.
- Ad blockers hide ads, not every distraction. Most include optional filter lists for cookie notices and annoyances (newsletter pop-ups, chat widgets). Turn them on in the blocker's settings.
4Block ads on your phone
Ads on news sites are often worst on phones. Besides reader mode and a blocking browser, you can filter ads for the whole phone.
Android: Private DNS
Android can block ads system-wide, in every browser and app, with a DNS filter:
- Open (on some phones, Connections or Wi-Fi & internet) > Private DNS.
- Choose Private DNS provider hostname.
- Enter
dns.adguard-dns.comand tap Save.
That's AdGuard's free public DNS, which blocks known ad and tracking domains. To undo it, set Private DNS back to Automatic.
iPhone and iPad
Install a Safari content blocker (uBlock Origin Lite, AdGuard or 1Blocker) and turn it on under . For ads in apps too, AdGuard offers a DNS configuration profile you install from its site.
Note: DNS blocking works on whole ad domains. It can't hide the empty spaces ads leave behind, or ads a news site serves from its own domain, so pair it with reader mode for the cleanest view.
5Paste the link into a text extractor
Sometimes you don't just want to read without ads. You want the article's text itself: to save it, quote it, translate it, or summarize it with ChatGPT or Claude. A text extractor gives you exactly that, from any browser or device.
URL to Text turns any URL into clean plain text, Markdown or HTML:
- Paste the article's link.
- Tick Extract Only Main Content with AI. This keeps the story and removes the ads, menus, sidebars and footers.
- Pick a format and click Convert.
For tricky sites, a few more options help:
- Render JavaScript: for sites that build the page in the browser, so the text loads before it's extracted.
- Extract with a CSS selector: to keep exactly one part of the page, such as
articleor.article-body. Right-click the first paragraph, choose Inspect, and look at the surrounding element to find it. - End of article: enter a phrase that comes right after the story, like "Related stories", and extraction stops there.
- AI prompt: add an instruction like "summarize this article in five bullet points" and get the summary with the text.
It works on phones too, since it runs in any browser. For more ways to do this, see how to extract text from a website.
6Use print view or save as PDF
Many news sites have a print layout that hides ads, menus and comments. Press Ctrl + P (Windows, Linux) or Cmd + P (Mac) and check the preview:
- In Chrome and Edge, open More settings and turn off Headers and footers and Background graphics for a cleaner page.
- In Firefox, turn on Simplify page in the print preview (it appears on pages where Reader View works).
- For the cleanest PDF, open the article in reader mode first, then print.
Choose Save as PDF to keep an ad-free copy to read later. Results vary by site: some publishers design their print view carefully, others print the whole cluttered page.
Why news sites have so many ads
Most free news is paid for by advertising, and ad slots pay per view, so pages carry more of them: top banners, sticky footers, sidebar boxes, ads between paragraphs, and autoplay video. Many readers have had enough. Roughly 1.1 billion people, about 30% of internet users, used an ad blocker at the end of 2025, according to the 2026 ad-blocking report from eyeo (the company behind Adblock Plus), with the growth now coming from phones.
A note on supporting publishers
Ads pay for a lot of journalism. If you rely on a news site, consider supporting it another way: allow ads on that site, subscribe, or donate if it accepts donations. Blocking intrusive or unsafe ads is reasonable. Free news just isn't free to produce.
These methods are for reading articles you already have access to. Don't use them to get around a paywall, and don't republish an article's text without permission.
Which method should you use?
- One article, right now: reader mode, or one click with the URL to Text extension.
- Every site, every day: an ad blocker (uBlock Origin on Firefox, uBlock Origin Lite elsewhere) or Brave.
- Your whole phone: Private DNS on Android, a content blocker on iPhone.
- Keeping, summarizing or translating the text: URL to Text with Extract Only Main Content.
- A clean copy for later: reader mode, then print to PDF.
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove ads from news articles on my phone?
Use reader mode. On iPhone, tap the Page Menu in Safari's address bar and choose Show Reader. In Chrome on Android, tap . To block ads everywhere on Android, set Private DNS to dns.adguard-dns.com. On iPhone, install a Safari content blocker such as uBlock Origin Lite or AdGuard.
Is there a website that removes ads from articles?
Yes. Paste the article's link into URL to Text, tick Extract Only Main Content with AI, and click Convert. You get the story as clean text or Markdown, without the ads, menus and sidebars. It's free and works in any browser.
How do I hide ads on a news website without an ad blocker?
Use your browser's reader mode, which shows only the article. In Safari, you can also use Hide Distracting Items to remove banners and pop-ups on a page. Or use a one-click extension like URL to Text to open just the article text.
How do I stop ads on news sites in Chrome?
For one article, right-click the page and choose Open in Reading Mode. To block ads on every site, install uBlock Origin Lite from the Chrome Web Store; the full uBlock Origin is no longer available for Chrome. Or switch to Brave, which blocks ads by default.
Does reader mode remove ads?
Yes. Reader mode shows only the article's headline, text and main images, so the ads, sidebars and pop-ups around the story disappear. It only works on pages the browser recognizes as articles.
Why doesn't reader mode show up on some pages?
The browser only offers reader mode when it thinks a page is an article. Home pages, live blogs and pages that load their text with JavaScript often don't qualify. Try an ad blocker, a one-click extension or a text extractor with JavaScript rendering instead.
Is it legal to block ads?
Using an ad blocker for your own browsing is generally legal. A site can still refuse to show you content if you block its ads, so check its terms if you hit a block message. This isn't legal advice.
Does reader mode get around paywalls?
No, not reliably. If a site only sends the full text to subscribers, reader mode has nothing to show. Respect paywalls and subscribe to the sites you read often.