Updated on: September 10, 2024
Watching ads was annoying before YouTube started running multiple ads in each video. Nowadays, it seems like you spend more time watching ads than actually watching content. As an avid YouTube enjoyer, the sheer amount of ads I encounter accompanying almost every video is enough to make me cry.
Needless to say, I’m invested in finding reliable ways to block ads on YouTube. This isn’t easy. YouTube has put a lot of resources into getting around most traditional ad blockers. For the most part, they simply don’t work anymore.
Fortunately, I found a few great solutions for blocking YouTube ads, including VPNs that come with built-in ad blocking features, some ad blockers that still work, and the dreaded (but potentially worthwhile) subscription to YouTube Premium.
My favorite VPN for blocking ads on YouTube is easily ExpressVPN. Its built-in ad blocker is surprisingly effective at stopping ads. Not only that, but its large server network makes it easy to find regions that don’t run ads on YouTube. You can use its risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee to try it before committing. YouTube frequently offers free trials of its premium subscriptions, too. Editors' Note: ExpressVPN and this site are in the same ownership group.
BLOCK YOUTUBE ADS WITH EXPRESSVPN
Best Ways to Block Ads on YouTube
YouTube has been cracking down hard on ad blockers and other solutions for several years. It’s shut down ad-free mirror sites, made it so watching a video while using an ad blocker requires huge amounts of RAM, and found ways around most ad blockers by using server-side ad injections. And it has a policy that lets it potentially terminate accounts for bypassing ads using traditional methods.
Because of all that, you should always be careful using any method that might break YouTube’s terms of service to block ads. That said, the policy doesn’t explicitly cover every method of ad evasion.
With all of that out of the way, let’s go over some ways to avoid ads on YouTube.
1. Use a VPN
The best way to block ads on YouTube is with a good VPN. This is for two reasons. A lot of VPNs have built-in ad blockers, and a VPN will let you browse YouTube as if you were in a region with fewer ads (or even no ads at all).
Quick summary of the best VPNs for blocking YouTube ads:
- 🥇 1. ExpressVPN — Best VPN to block YouTube ads from any region (fast + very effective).
- 🥈 2. Private Internet Access — Blocks most YouTube ads & maintains fast speeds.
- 🥉 3. CyberGhost VPN — High speeds on all servers (great for watching YouTube).
Enable Your VPN’s Ad Blocker
VPNs are known for enhancing your online privacy, but nowadays many come with built-in ad blockers, too. While not every VPN has an ad blocker, many of them have pretty good ones that work on par with (or better than) the best standalone ad blockers. But not all VPNs have ad blockers that can stop YouTube ads. I’d recommend checking out ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, or CyberGhost VPN, all of which have ad blockers that are good at getting rid of YouTube ads.
Using ExpressVPN as my example, here’s how to block ads on YouTube:
- Start by opening ExpressVPN and clicking the 3 vertical lines on the top left.
- Select Options.
- Navigate to Advanced Protection and make sure that Block ads is checked.
- Go back to the home page and choose which server you want to connect to. ExpressVPN’s Smart Location feature will choose an optimized server for you based on your location.
- Click the icon that looks like a power button.
- Go back to YouTube. If ads are still playing, try closing and reopening your browser.
Connect to a Country With Fewer Ads
Some regions show fewer ads than others. There are a variety of reasons for this — for example, some parts of the world are less appealing to advertisers who believe they’ll get more for their money by targeting viewers elsewhere.
It isn’t always easy to figure out which countries are best. Generally speaking, poorer countries have fewer ads, but this isn’t true of many larger developing countries like Brazil. Places that have tense relations or active conflicts with the countries where big advertisers and tech companies are domiciled are great if you’re trying to avoid ads.
A VPN lets you connect to another region where ads are less prevalent. The only drawback to this is that if you’re connecting to a faraway server, you may experience longer loading times, frequent buffering, and lower quality. That said, the best VPNs have excellent speeds, even when you connect to a server on the other side of the world. You’ll want to make sure you’re getting a fast VPN that has servers in the country you want to connect to, otherwise, it won’t be an effective solution.
To save you the hassle of trying out a bunch of different countries yourself, I went ahead and found 5 countries with a fairly low number of ads. Since ads that come in the middle of videos are the most disruptive by far, I focused on those to determine which countries work best. That said, these countries don’t tend to have many pre-video ads either.
- Moldova. Moldova has an extremely low Cost Per Click (CPC), meaning ad publishers (like YouTube) make less off each click and therefore put up fewer advertisements. When I tested it out, I went through 20 full videos without getting a single ad.
- Serbia. Similar to Moldova, Serbia has a very low CPC. In my experience, I only found about 1 ad per 5 videos. Most of these were pre-roll ads that I could skip past after a few seconds.
- Latvia. Latvia has one of the lowest CPC values of any country. Do you see the pattern? When I connected to servers in Latvia, I still had pre-roll ads on most of my videos, but I didn’t encounter any mid-roll ads. Personally, I’d rather have an ad at the beginning than have my videos interrupted halfway through.
- Ukraine. When I tested Ukrainian servers, I only experienced a single mid-roll ad each time I opened the application. Even after clicking through over 20 videos, I only experienced one pre-roll ad per session. You won’t be surprised to read that it has a low CPC value.
- Hong Kong. While connected to Hong Kong, I received ads in roughly half of my videos. While that’s not the best, countries like the US had at least 1–2 ads per video. That said, Hong Kong has increased the amount of ads it runs over time, so it might not be a lasting solution.
2. Use an Ad Blocker
The classic solution for blocking ads is to use an ad-blocking browser extension, but this is becoming less viable as YouTube continues to find ways to get around ad blockers. YouTube added experimental server-side ad injections (meaning the ad is loaded into the video before reaching your device). These cause ad blockers to simply display a black screen that never lets you click past it.
Some ad blockers, like uBlock Origin, have released updates to bypass this, but you’ll have to make sure you regularly update it. Sometimes it requires a bit of manual configuration. And the simple fact is that even if an extension-based ad blocker works today, it might not work tomorrow.
YouTube has gotten very creative recently. Rather than simply making it so ad blockers don’t work, they’re experimenting with a technique that causes YouTube to eat up solid buckets of RAM if you have an ad blocker installed.
All this is to say that ad blockers can be very effective, but in the long term, using a VPN is the most effective method for avoiding ads on YouTube.
The advantage of ad blockers is that they’re really easy to use. The steps vary slightly by platform, but for Chromium browsers you simply:
- Click on the puzzle piece icon on the top of your browser or click on the 3 horizontal dots and choose Extensions.
- Select Manage extensions.
- On Chrome, you’ll see a link to the Chrome Web Store. Other browsers might just have a hyperlink saying something along the lines of “get extensions”.
- Search for the extension you want. In this example, we’re choosing uBlock Origin. If you’re using Edge, click Get on the extension’s page (on Chrome, you’ll see an Add to Chrome button).
After this, open up a YouTube video. Check if you’re seeing ads. If your ad blocker is good enough, you won’t get your normal pre-roll ad.
Some browsers also work to block ads, but most of these run into the same problems. You used to be able to use the Brave Browser to block YouTube ads, but this doesn’t work so well anymore. Some extensions like Surfshark CleanWeb still work, but it’s tough to say for how long.
I wish I could say that you could just install your favorite ad blocker, and it will automatically work forever, but that isn’t the case. At any point in time, YouTube can implement new security features that render any given ad blocker useless. If you asked me 10 years ago, I’d recommend an ad blocker, but nowadays, using a VPN to connect to a country with fewer ads is a more reliable option.
If you’re going to try using an ad blocker, you’ll want to read through our list of top 10 ad blockers and see which ones are good for YouTube ads. It might still require a little experimentation on your part, but I can at least say that ExpressVPN and uBlock Origin both work well at blocking YouTube ads.
3. Pay for YouTube Premium
I know, I know, I can hear your collective groaning from here — but paying for a YouTube Premium subscription is the most reliable way to get rid of ads on YouTube. Once you pay for it, you won’t have to sit through unskippable video ads or be bombarded with display ads, overlay ads, and any other type of non-video ad YouTube scatters across its website.
That doesn’t mean it’s a valid solution for everybody. It can be a little pricey, about as much as a Netflix or Hulu subscription. Even if that’s not a deterrence, it isn’t available in every country. Countries like China and Russia don’t allow users to subscribe to YouTube Premium.
If you live in a country where YouTube doesn’t offer Premium, you can theoretically use your VPN to connect to a country with YouTube Premium to purchase a subscription that way. You’ll need a VPN that’s fast enough to let you watch YouTube from another region. All VPNs will slow down your speeds a little bit, but something like ExpressVPN or CyberGhost will be fast enough that it shouldn’t cause any noticeable buffering or a decrease in quality.
To get YouTube Premium:
- Log into your YouTube account using your browser or phone.
- Click on your user icon and select Purchases and memberships.
- Select which YouTube Premium plan you want. YouTube frequently offers free trials of Premium (sometimes lasting up to 3 months), but these aren’t always available and aren’t offered to viewers in every country.
- Enter your payment information and then confirm your purchase.
4. Use A Modded YouTube App or YouTube Clone (Least Recommended)
I’m including this because it’s technically a valid way to block YouTube ads, but let me stress that this is my least favorite method by far.
You can use a YouTube mirror, clone, or a modified app to watch YouTube content without ads. These aren’t going to be found in legitimate app stores, so you’ll need to venture deeper online to find them and set them up yourself. Options like SkyTube (an open-source YouTube player for Android) can be found on GitHub.
These platforms operate in a legal gray area (so don’t worry, you’re not breaking the law). That said, you should be wary of these websites. It’s possible to have your YouTube account suspended for being caught using one, though it’s rare. Another thing to remember is that these sites do not have the same level of security as YouTube. Every time you use one, you run the risk of hackers being able to infiltrate your computer, stealing data or infecting you with malware.
On top of all of that, YouTube makes an effort to shut these websites down. YouTube Vanced was once very popular but has since been shut down. The same story could be told about dozens of other alternatives.
As I said, it’s a perfectly valid way of blocking ads on YouTube, but it’s unsafe, operates in a legal gray area, and is at risk of being destroyed by YouTube at any moment. It’s best to use one of my options above. A quality VPN like ExpressVPN, a reliable ad blocker, or even a subscription to YouTube are better options.
Editors' Note: Intego, Private Internet Access, CyberGhost and ExpressVPN are owned by Kape Technologies, our parent company
Why Does YouTube Show Ads?
The simple answer is that ads make money. YouTube makes the majority of its income through advertisements, so it’s encouraged to show as many of them as possible. It used to just be pre-roll ads, but YouTube has slowly started introducing so many ads in the middle of videos that it can be irritating.
The types of ads YouTube will show include:
- Display Ads: These ads appear either just below or to the right of your video. They typically include an image, text, and a link to the advertiser’s website.
- Overlay Ads: These are semi-transparent ads that appear on the lower 20% portion of the video. They are available only on desktop and can be either image or text ads. Viewers have the option to close these ads. These typically show up when you pause a video, but they can appear at any time.
- Skippable Video Ads: These ads play before, during, or after a video and can be skipped after the first 5 seconds. They allow advertisers to create long-form video ads while giving viewers the option to skip if they’re not interested. These can be pretty annoying since they often interrupt videos halfway through.
- Non-Skippable Video Ads: These ads must be watched before the video can be viewed. They can be up to 30 seconds long and like the name suggests, they’re unskippable. They’re my least favorite types of ads by far. 30 seconds of ad time feels like more than 10 minutes of video time.
- Sponsored Cards: These ads display content that may be relevant to the video, such as products featured in the video.
- Masthead Ads: These are premium ads that appear at the top of the YouTube homepage for 24 hours. Large brands or companies typically purchase these in advertisement campaigns. They’re one of the less intrusive forms of ads because they don’t interrupt videos.
- Creator-Generated Ads: Many creators will run their own ads inside of their videos. Since these are part of the video itself, ad blockers and VPNs won’t be helpful for getting rid of them. That said, you can easily skip them by clicking ahead through the video, either by dragging the video progress bar forward or by double-tapping the screen (which fast-forwards your video by 10-second intervals). There are even extensions like SponsorBlock that can skip these ads with one click, but these rely on user contributions.
The sheer number of different ads on your screen means it’s difficult to avoid them without a good ad blocking method. Some ad blockers, like uBlock Origin, still block ads on YouTube at the time of my writing this, but you need to regularly update them. Even if fully updated, there’s no telling whether ad-blocking extensions will work next year or even next week.
The easiest way to block ads without subscribing to YouTube Premium is to use a VPN. A few top VPNs, like ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access, have built-in ad blockers that are surprisingly effective. ExpressVPN, for example, can block ads on YouTube and has a large enough server network that you can connect from anywhere in the world. It’s also fast enough that you won’t have a frustrating amount of buffering on your videos while you’re connected.
How Do I Block a Specific Ad on YouTube?
There’s a different process if you’re not trying to block all ads on YouTube, but you want to hide or report a specific ad. Just remember that this will not prevent you from seeing ads in the future. This only prevents you from seeing a particular ad.
Start by clicking on the little information icon on the bottom left of the ad (it looks like an i with a circle around it). This will open up My Ad Center.
From there, you can block the ad by clicking on Block Ad. A pop-up box will open up asking you to confirm your choice. The box will close after you click CONTINUE.
If you think the ad breaks YouTube’s Terms of Service or shows harmful content, you can also report it by clicking on the Report button. It takes you to another page to answer a few questions about why it’s harmful. Once you’re done, submit your report and YouTube will review it.
Once you’re finished, you can return to your video by clicking on the X symbol on the top right of the My Ad Center pop-up.
Is YouTube Premium Worth It?
It can be, but it’s not a solution for everyone. I’ll start with why it might not work for you. It’s a subscription service with a monthly price that costs as much as most streaming services. Frankly, it might be too expensive for a lot of people.
It’s also still being rolled out in new countries around the world, so not every region has it yet. If you live in one of these countries, you can still technically get a YouTube Premium subscription by using a good VPN to connect to another region, but that’s the only workaround.
That said, I still think there are a lot of benefits to YouTube Premium. Personally, I listen to a lot of YouTube while I game or instead of television before I go to bed, so I don’t mind paying the subscription to block ads without having to worry about YouTube suddenly preventing me from using it, needing a new update, or having to play around with my VPN to find a country that works best.
I guess it’s a cop-out answer, but you really should consider your individual needs to determine whether YouTube Premium is worth it to you. Are you okay with paying for yet another subscription service? Do you use the platform enough to justify the cost? Or would you rather spend time setting up a good ad blocker or VPN, even if it takes a little more trial and error than simply buying the subscription? While I can’t answer all of that for you, I will at least say YouTube Premium can be worth it.
Can I Get in Trouble for Blocking Ads on YouTube?
It is not illegal to use an ad blocker with YouTube. Some countries have stricter regulations on internet censorship, such as China, but even in those countries an ad blocker is not strictly illegal.
However, YouTube’s Terms of Service could be interpreted as prohibiting the use of certain types of ad blockers. While YouTube rarely enforces these rules (since it would be a headache to do so for any company), you could face consequences such as suspension or termination of your account.
That being said, it’s perfectly fine to install a good ad blocker and use it with YouTube. The only problem is that YouTube is cracking down hard on ad blockers — most of the best ad blockers struggle with blocking YouTube ads these days, so make sure you’re picking a good one that’s actually up to the task.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do VPNs help block ads?
A VPN doesn’t specifically block ads, but many VPNs have built-in ad blocking features. Some only block malicious advertisements, while some, like ExpressVPN, are better at preventing you from seeing any ads at all.
A VPN can also help bypass ads on YouTube thanks to the way YouTube runs ads. Some regions around the world don’t show ads (or they show far fewer), so if you use a VPN to connect to that region, YouTube will think you’re watching from there and you can skip (most) ads. Just be warned: if you’re connecting to a faraway server it can impact your streaming speeds.
Why did YouTube stop allowing ad blockers?
Money is the answer, really. YouTube makes a significant portion of its revenue from ads. There’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes it feels tiresome for the viewer. If you’re looking for convenient ways to get rid of these ads, I’d recommend checking out my guide.
Does blocking ads mean I’m not supporting creators?
No! Just because you block an ad doesn’t mean you’re not supporting your favorite content creators. There are plenty of other ways you can support a creator besides watching ads. That said, they won’t be getting as much revenue from your views as they would from someone who sits through ads (even if you skip them the second you can every time).
How can I block ads and support my favorite creators?
There are a few ways you can avoid the frustration of constant ads while still supporting creators. Even if you’re using one of my methods above, you can still support your favorite YouTubers by:
- Subscribing to YouTube Premium. This option lets you block ads and continue to support creators you like, but it requires a monthly subscription.
- Engaging with their content. Liking and commenting on videos, subscribing to creators, or sharing content is another good way to help your favorite YouTube personality increase their traction with YouTube’s algorithm.
- Supporting the creator directly. If you want to support a creator while skipping ads, I recommend donating to them directly or purchasing merchandise. Most creators have a Patreon or a similar donation platform and an online shop. This way you can support them as much as you want.
