One of the biggest annoyances we’ve all had to deal with while browsing the internet, are those sites that put an insufferable overlay on the content and block it from our view. Usually it’s a drawer for us to subscribe to a newsletter, or for us to “like” your Facebook page.
These kinds of things are just as annoying as pop-ups, especially when they pop up even though we’ve interacted with them before. No, I can not do “like” more than once on your Facebook page, please leave me alone. Luckily, there are several solutions to get rid of them and today we are going to share them with you.
Although there are several extensions that can help us in this case and are usually useful for more than getting rid of overlays, we try to give you some options that do not require the installation of one of them.
Many users feel that they already have enough add-ons in their browser, and although they are usually convenient and comfortable, we know that some prefer to keep the amount to a minimum and only install those that are strictly necessary. So, if there are alternatives, we can suggest them and everyone will decide that they like it the most.
The simplest method
This works in any modern browser without having to install anything, nor to adjust any type of special configuration and without resorting to a third party. Both Chrome and any browser based on it (Opera, Vivaldi, etc.), Firefox, Safari and Microsoft Edge include an option to inspect item on any webpage.
If when you open a site this shows an overlay on the content, right click on it, select Inspect and simply delete it by pressing the Delete key. As simple as that, you can delete everything you want from the page really, run to drive you crazy.
If all you are interested in is reading in peace
If you are not one of those who navigate through various sites by directly entering them every day or steadily, but usually you come to different articles from your social networks and feed reader, probably what you are interested in is reading what you want Read without having to close a bunch of pop-ups, mute videos that play automatically and, of course, deal with annoying overlays.
A simple trick to avoid those annoyances in the sites that have them, is to simply save the links directly in applications such as Pocket or Instapaper. There you will only find text and images and absolutely nothing else. The negative side is that you can end up becoming a content accumulator of those who in the end never read anything.
Both applications offer extensions to send directly from the browser any link and save it for later reading. Services like Feedly or Instapaper have buttons to save directly from your news feeds, and from your mobile devices you always have the option to send directly from social networks without ever having to go through the web.
Behind The Overlay
Here you can download all those who do not want to install extensions. BehindTheOverlay is an extension for Chrome and Firefox that offers a unique button that allows us to close any overlay on almost any site that you find. It does not work automatically, but a single click is more than comfortable.
Its creators are working on improving the plugin and would soon add a direct keyboard shortcut to block overlays. They will also offer the function of blocking an overlay permanently on a website, and although it only works in Firefox and Chrome, they have already started to develop an extension for Safari.
This extension does not require any special permissions, is extremely light and is activated only when you click the button, so that it has no impact on your navigation or speed.
Social Lockpicker
If BehindTheOverlay does not work as well as you expected (it’s not 100% foolproof and does not block some overlays) you can try an alternative called Social lockpicker. This is an extension that is only available in Google Chrome, its operation is also extremely simple.
Social lockpicker lets you see content that has been blocked behind some overlay and that forces you to subscribe or do “like” before you can continue browsing. The extension adds a button to the browser and also an option in the context menu when right click. By using it you skip the block and get rid of the overlay in an instant.
UBlock Origin
UBlock Origin is a much more powerful tool than all of the above, it encompasses much more than the simple annoyance of an overlay here and there. If all you are interested in is solving that problem, then with the tools we mentioned above you are more than covered.
Within its huge amount of filters and configurations, uBlock Origin includes something called “Analyze and apply cosmetic filter“, this eliminates elements that are considered a visual annoyance in a web page. Serves for overlays, at least those that are not detected with the request-based blocking engine that uses uBlock Origin. You can look at the option from the plugin’s configuration, under the “Third-party filters” tab.
By default uBlock Origia applies generic cosmetic filters and uses them on all pages. This type of functions increase memory and CPU consumption in some websites, especially if they contain a large amount of content. Using uBlock Origin alone for the purpose of blocking overlays is like using a war tank to kill a fly. In fact, they recommend disabling those filters if you have a resourceful team.
However, if you are interested in other tools that you have available, such as blocking ads and malware domains, in addition to avoiding much of the crawling that many websites apply, as in uBlock you have a Swiss knife with dozens of options.
Shital regularly contributes on health articles magazine and healthy living ideas to health blogs around the web. When she’s not busy working with the jobs, you will find her undertaking many of her own health-related topics and healthy living ideas! She has a lot of dreams. She works hard to fulfill her dreams. She loves to share her ideas, tricks, tips and information by blogging. She also works at Creativejasmin.com, a company that committed to helping businesses with online marketing.
