LAST UPDATED: October 2023
This is one simple and easy trick to bypass paywall without browser extensions.
You just set it up once for both Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
And you can continue reading The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic and many more sites without subscription.
You do not have to manually clear the the browsing history each time when you are blocked by the site metered paywall.
The idea is you set up both browsers to stop or block the cookies of these websites with paywall.
NOTE: This method does not work for all websites with a paywall.
Below is a list of some websites which can work with this tip at the time of writing this post.
Bypass paywall without browser extensions
You do not need to install any browser extension or add-on to get around the paywall of some of these popular websites.
Preferably you should install minimum browser extensions to both your Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
Browser Extensions Access Your Data
When installing an extension, you would see a message asking for permission to access data or features in your browser.
They want your data before the extension can be installed onto your browser.
From the permissions messages, you can see which sites can access your data.
Some of these free extensions may put your security and privacy at risk by exposing sensitive browsing data.
So it is advisable to verify the integrity of the source, before you click the "Add" button.
Do you read the permission when you install the popular Bypass Paywalls extension?
See the visual below:
For more about the safety issue of installing extensions to your Firefox. read this.
For Google Chrome users, read this.
Anyway, let's find out how to get past paywall without installing browser extensions.
Block Cookies And Site Data
This how you do it:
MOZILLA FIREFOX BROWSER:
I use Harvard Business Review site as an example.
1. Go your Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. Click on "Open menu" (three horizontal lines icon) at the top right hand corner of your computer screen.
3. It drops down a menu box.
4. Click on "Settings" and a page appears.
5. Next click on "Privacy & Security" on the left side of the page.
6. Scroll down a little bit until you see "Cookies and Site Data".
7. Click on "Manage Exceptions..." button.
8. A box pops up, titled "Exceptions - Cookies and Site Data".
9. In the space below "Address of website", paste or type in:
https://hbr.org
10. Click on the "Block" button.
11. You can see the Harvard Business Review domain listed under "Website" and its "Status" as "Block".
12. Finally click the "Save Changes" button.
Now you can go to Harvard Business Review website and read as many free articles as you want.
You won't see the black box asking you to be a subscriber anymore.
Websites That Work With This Method For Firefox:
Forbes
https://www.forbes.com
GOOGLE CHROME BROWSER:
Again I use Harvard Business Review site as an example.
1. Go to Google Chrome browser.
2. Click on the three dots (Customize and control Google Chrome) and a box pops up.
3. Click on "Settings".
4. When you come to settings page, click on "Privacy and security".
5. Now click on "Cookies and other site data".
6. Scroll down to the last option "Sites that never use cookies".
7. Click "Add" button
8. A box pops up for you to add the site domain.
9. For this example, I paste in: [*.]hbr.org
10. Then click the blue color "Add" button.
That's all you have to do just one time.
Now you can continue to read Harvard Business Review site content without being blocked by its paywall reminder.
NOTE: For Chrome, you don't add in the normal website domain, but [*.]website domain without the https// or https://www.
Websites That Work With This Method For Google Chrome:
I hope this simple trick to bypass paywall without browser extension is beneficial to you.
At the time of publishing this post, all the websites mentioned work with this blocking the cookies method.
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