Key takeaways
- Blocker is Shift's new built-in ad blocker, available now in Shift.
- It blocks ads, cookie banners, tracking scripts, social buttons, and push notifications before they reach your screen.
- Shift Advanced users also get video ad blocking, including pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads on YouTube.
- There's no extension to find, vet, or pay for. Blocker is part of the browser.
- It runs on the same proven ad-blocking engine as Brave, Firefox, and Perplexity's Comet.
- Blocker is a free ad blocker for every Shift user. Turn it on once in Advanced Settings and it runs quietly from there.
What an ad costs you
You're twelve minutes into a tutorial, finally at the step you came for, and the video cuts to a thirty-second ad for something you'll never buy. By the time it's over, you've checked your email, lost your place, and scrubbed back to find it.
It's a small moment. It also happens dozens of times a day, on almost every site you visit.
A big part of our job at Shift is thinking about what pulls people out of their work. Ads are one of the most consistent culprits, and that's by design. They're built to interrupt. An ad that doesn't grab your attention isn't doing its job.
Most people deal with this the same way. They search for the best ad blocker, scroll through a Reddit thread or two, install whichever extension comes up most, and hope it's trustworthy. Some pay for it. Few look into who's behind it or what it does with their browsing data.
We thought ad blocking deserved a better home. So we built it into Shift.
Meet Blocker
Blocker is Shift's built-in ad and tracker blocker. It filters out unwanted content before it reaches your screen, including:
- Text and image ads (plus video ads for Shift Advanced users)
- Cookies and cookie banners
- Tracking scripts
- Social media buttons
- Push notifications
The result is a browser that feels lighter. Pages load faster because there's less to download and render. There are fewer banners and pop-ups competing for space. And because Blocker stops many tracking scripts, more of your browsing data stays with you. We'll dig into the privacy side in a follow-up post.
Video ads, gone
This is the part I'm most excited about, and it's one of the features our community asked for most.
For Shift Advanced users, Blocker works as a YouTube ad blocker too, stopping pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll video ads. No ad before the video starts, no interruption halfway through, nothing tacked on at the end. You watch what you came to watch.
Many ad blockers don't touch YouTube ads at all, so this was a priority for us. If you're already on Shift Advanced, it's ready for you. If you're not, see what's included in Shift Advanced.
Ad blocking that lives in your browser
If you've ever looked up how to block ads in Chrome, the answer is almost always an extension. Extensions work, but they come with overhead. You have to find one, figure out who made it, decide whether to trust it with everything you browse, and sometimes pay for it. Then you have to keep it updated, and hope it keeps working as browsers change their extension rules. Chrome's move away from its older extension format has already disabled some long-standing ad blockers.
Blocker is part of Shift, so none of that applies. There's nothing to install and no third party in the middle.
Blocker runs on the same ad-blocking engine as Brave, Firefox, Waterfox, and Perplexity's Comet. It's proven technology, and we'd rather build on something that works than reinvent it just to say we did.
Here's how it works:
- Stopping the request. Blocker blocks ad and tracker requests before they're made, so the ad never loads.
- Cleaning up after. Once the page loads, it removes leftovers like empty ad slots.
Both rely on large, publicly maintained filter lists that are updated continuously, so Blocker keeps up as ad techniques change.
What's new is where it lives: inside your browser, set up once, and done right.
Out of your way
Once you turn Blocker on, you shouldn't have to think about it. It runs quietly in the background on every page you visit, with its icon tucked into the top right of your omnibox, out of the way until you need it.
When you want more control, it's there:
- Choose one or more trusted block lists
- Add links to new block lists
- Build a custom block list to hide specific page or site elements
- Allowlist sites you want to support, so they can keep showing ads
That last one matters to me. Plenty of independent sites depend on ad revenue, and you should get to decide which ones you want to support.
It's the same idea behind everything in Shift. You shape the browser around how you work, and Blocker is one more piece of it you control.
How to stop ads in your browser with Blocker
Blocker is available now in Shift. It's off by default, so you'll need to switch it on first:
- Open Advanced Settings in Shift.
- Go to Add on, then Blocker.
- Toggle Blocker on.
From there, you can manage it per site or per page.
One note: Blocker catches the vast majority of ads, but you might still see the occasional one. That can happen because of site-specific limits or non-standard ad formats. We're expanding coverage, and it'll keep getting better.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best free ad blocker?
The best free ad blocker is one you can trust and don't have to babysit. Reddit threads on the topic tend to weigh the same things: how well it blocks, who maintains it, and whether it still works after browser updates. Blocker is free for every Shift user, runs on a proven open-source engine, and is built into the browser, so there's no extension to vet or keep updated.
How do I block ads in Chrome?
In Chrome, blocking ads usually means installing an ad blocker extension from the Chrome Web Store. If you'd rather not rely on an extension, you can use a browser with ad blocking built in. In Shift, that's Blocker: open Advanced Settings, go to Add on, then Blocker, and toggle it on.
How do I remove ads from my browser?
The simplest way to get rid of ads in your browser is to turn on a built-in ad blocker. In Shift, Blocker removes text and image ads, cookie banners, tracking scripts, and push notifications once it's switched on. Shift Advanced users also get video ad blocking.
Does Blocker block YouTube ads?
Yes, for Shift Advanced users. Blocker blocks pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads on YouTube.
Is Blocker free?
Yes. Blocker is free for every Shift user. Video ad blocking, including YouTube ads, is part of Shift Advanced.
Your attention is worth protecting
The tools you use all day should help you focus. Ads do the opposite, on purpose. Blocker is a small change to how Shift works, but you'll feel it every time a page loads clean and a video plays straight through.
Download Shift, or update to the latest version, and turn on Blocker to see the difference.
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