From excessive ads to distracting sites, I’m tired of feeling like the internet is taking advantage of me. That’s why I use these handy Chrome extensions to stop the distractions and claw back some semblance of privacy amid all of the attention-grabbing churn we’re fed daily.

AdBlock Plus is one of the best ad blockers for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. I typically use it for news websites, many of which have so many ads that their sites become unusable. I safelist many sites I want to support through ads; it’s mainly for those going too far.

It’s easy to block or unblock ads on each website quickly via toggles, and the basic version of the app is free. I have noticed it doesn’t work very well for YouTube ads nowadays, but it used to be excellent for this.

I use AdBlock Plus in my browser and have installed the app on my phone. The premium version has extra benefits, like blocking cookie consent popups, but I’ve never felt the need to upgrade. You can also use this tool on social media; it’s not worth paying Meta to not show you ads (or any other network other than YouTube).

I have noticed some websites are getting smarter about ad blockers and will not let you access them until you disable the tool. However, AdBlock Plus still works on most sites.

I don’t have a huge problem with ads, as long as they fit into the user experience. However, I dislike pop-ups. I almost always find them intrusive, and I can’t remember a single occasion where I have signed up for a newsletter or bought a product because of them.

Poper Blocker is one of the best browser extensions for stopping website pop-ups. The app’s main focus is blocking overlays and popups, and once activated, I noticed a clear difference in my browsing experience.

You can upgrade to a paid version with ad blockers, but I don’t feel the need to do so. Poper Blocker is available on Chrome, but unfortunately, it can’t be found on other browsers at the time of writing.

Ghostery is mainly known for its private browser, but the program also has a browser extension designed for blocking ads. The tool works in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera.

In addition to blocking ads, Ghostery can block trackers on each site you visit. The app shows you in-depth statistics, such as how many trackers it has blocked and modified. You can control all of your settings within the app to make them more customizable.

If you need to, for whatever reason, Ghostery lets you pause its website settings for a specified period. The app aims to complement your user experience, rather than hinder it, by keeping sites fast-loading.

uBlock Origin is one of the best-known ad blockers, and it’s completely free and open-source. The tool works in several browsers but has stopped working in Chrome after Google stopped supporting Manifest V2 apps. It’s one of many of the best Chrome extensions that no longer works.

Still, uBlock Origin is great on the likes of Edge and Firefox. You can easily block ads on websites you don’t want to see, and you also have the option to see how many ads were blocked on each site. Moreover, you have the option to find out the number of ads that have been blocked altogether.

uBlockOrigin doesn’t have a huge suite of features, but it does what it’s supposed to. If you use Google Chrome, you can use uBlock Origin Lite instead. The tool has filtering modes with differing levels of protection and adjustments.

Cold Turkey might seem like a left-field option to block annoying websites, but it’s one of the best extensions I’ve ever used. I mainly downloaded it to stop distracting websites from throwing me off track while doing my work.

I can easily enter the URL for any site I wish to block in Cold Turkey. Sometimes, I only block it for a few hours while I’m working. But if I want to get rid of a habit, I will set a hard blocker for several months.

The app is very easy to use, and the free version is great. I upgraded to a paid plan to have access to more features, like scheduling blocks, but I don’t think this is necessary.

Compared to other website blockers, Cold Turkey is difficult to uninstall. Moreover, removing active blocks is very challenging. This resistance helps keep me more focused.

I’ve used this popup-blocking Chrome extension as an alternative to some of the others I’ve mentioned on this list. As the name suggests, the add-on adopts a strong approach to pop-ups and similar annoyances on websites. Each time Popup Blocker (Strict) blocks something, you’ll get a notification.

The tool focuses exclusively on blocking pop-ups, and as a result, it won’t work for ads. You can use this alongside some of the ad blockers on this list. Popup Blocker Strict is also available in Firefox and Opera.

Download: Popup Blocker (Strict) for Firefox | Chrome | Opera (Free)

It may take a bit of extra work to stop annoying websites from ruining your online experience, but several extensions can help. Many of them are free, too, so you don’t need to worry about having a huge budget. You may not need their premium versions, either.