Tech fixes and hacks • DiGiztal

LAST UPDATED: October 2023

Find out how to read The Spectator for free, without having to register or being a subscriber.

In other words, you can bypass the paywalls for both The Spectator (UK) and The Spectator World (USA) websites.

Currently, there is no more free article from both The Spectator UK and The Spectator World websites.

But you can still read The Spectator UK and The Spectator World (USA edition) website article with these updated tips.

How to read The Spectator for free

My earlier methods by clearing and blocking the browser cookies do not work anymore.

Now let's find out how to get around both the Spectator paywall, to read unlimited articles for free.

1. Google Cached Pages

You can still read the every The Spectator web articles which are readily available from its Google cached pages.

NOTE: This method works for both The Spectator UK and the USA Edition.

For the The Spectator UK edition, you can see the full article in the "Full version".

But for The Spectator World or The Spectator USA site, you can only view the full article in the "Text-only version" (without images).

1. Go to The Spectator UK or US homepage.

2. Click on the article which you want to read.

For example you want to read this article from The Spectator UK, "What happened to the supermodels of the 1990s?" by Jenny McCartney.

3. The article appears incomplete, as it is blocked by its paywall.

4. Now go to the Firefox or Chrome address bar at the top of the page, and you can see this URL.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/what-happened-to-the-supermodels-of-the-1990s/

5. Add cache: in front of the URL.

6. Now it should look like this:

cache:https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/what-happened-to-the-supermodels-of-the-1990s/

7. Press on the "Enter" key.

8. The complete unblocked article "What happened to the supermodels of the 1990s?" appears right below.

To read the next free The Spectator article, just add cache: in front of its URL.

2. Archive.Today

This is an easy way to bypass The Spectator paywall.

Again this method works for UK and US edition, and for both Firefox and Chrome browsers.

You use the archiving site Archive.Today to get the complete unblocked articles.

If the article has already being archived, you can read it right away.

If not, then you need to load and archive it.

There are two ways of using Archive.Today to unblock The Spectator UK articles.

Use Archive.Today Site

1. Go to The Spectator homepage.

2. Right click on the title of the article which you want to read.

3. A menu box pops up, click "Copy Link".

4. Go to the Archive.Today site.

5. Paste the article URL in the space provided under "My url is alive and I want to archive its content".

Bypass The Spectator Paywall With Archive.Today

6. Next click the "save" button.

7. Should the article has already archived, it would tell you, and you can read it right there.

8. If not, it would say "No results" and you have to archive it, then only you can view the complete article.

Use Archive.Today Extension

For convenience, you can install the Archive.Today extension to your browser.

Get the Firefox Archive.Today extension here.

After you have installed and pinned the extension, you can see its small icon (globe with the share symbol) at the toolbar.

There are three (3) ways to use Archive.Today extension.

Click On Archive.Today Icon

1. When you come to the blocked article, click on the Archive Today icon at the toolbar.

2. It takes you to the Archive Today site.

3. If the article has been archived, you can read it right there.

4. If it hasn't, then you have to archive it as I have explained above.

Click On Article Text

1. When you are at the blocked article page, right click anywhere on the text area.

2. A context menu pops up, then click on "Search archive.today for page".

3. Similarly it will take you to the Archive Today site.

4. Should that particular has been archived, then you can read the unblocked article.

5. If the article is not there, then archive it.

Right Click On Article Title

1. Go to The Spectator homepage.

2. Right click on the article title, and a context menu pops up.

3. Move your cursor from "Archive" to "Archive link" and "Search link".

4. Click on any of the two options.

5. When you click on the "Archive link", and if the article is already archived, you can read it right away.

6. If not, then automatically it will start loading to archive it for you.

7. When you click on the "Search link", and if the article is already archived, you can see it right there.

8. But if the article is still not archived, it says "No results".

9. You have to click on the hyperlink "archive this url", then click the "save" button.

10. Then wait for it to archive it.

3. Bypass Paywalls Clean Extension

This simple trick also works for The Spectator UK and US edition, and for both Firefox and Chrome browsers.

Get Bypass Paywalls Clean extension for Firefox here.

Get Bypass Paywalls Clean extension for Chrome here.

After you have installed and pinned it to the browser toolbar, you can see this extension icon.

This is what you do:

1. Go to The Spectator UK or USA homepage.

2. You would see on top of the Bypass Paywalls Clean icon is a blue box with the word "OFF".

3. Click on the extension with the "OFF" word, a menu box drops down.

4. Then click on the blue color toggle button.

5. It changes to orange color, simultaneously, the blue box also changes to orange color with the word "ON".

6. Automatically The Spectator website will reload itself.

7. Now you have bypassed its paywall.

8. In short, you can read all the articles of The Spectator right away, without being blocked by its paywall.

June 2, 2021

How to read The Spectator for free 2023

LAST UPDATED: October 2023

1. Google Cached Pages

2. Archive.Today

3. Bypass Paywalls Clean Extension