How to block YouTube ads for free with DuckDuckGo’s new feature

Imagine watching a YouTube video, completely invested in what’s going on, and suddenly the ad cuts out. It’s annoying every time and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way. I would like to install more ad blocker within minutes of paying YouTube Premium just to avoid ads.

If you’re tired of YouTube constantly begging you about ad blockers, here’s how to enable it on your device.

Before I tell you more about how to actually use it, let’s get you set up first.

If you use a Mac, Windows PC, or iPhone, you’re in luck. YouTube ad blocking is already enabled by default in the latest version DuckDuckGo browserso there is nothing you need to configure. Make sure your browser software is up to date, open YouTube and start watching your videos as usual.

Android users have one extra step. DuckDuckGo he says YouTube ad blocking will be enabled by default on Android “soon”, but until then you’ll need to enable it manually. Update the software to the latest version, then follow these steps:

1. open DuckDuckGo app on your Android phone.
2. Open a new tab and click three-line menu (hamburger symbol) in the upper right corner.
3. hit Parameters.
4. Scroll down Other Parameters and select Blocking YouTube ads.
5. turn it on Block Advertisements on YouTube transition.

that’s it. After enabling the settings, open YouTube in the DuckDuckGo browser and enjoy your videos without interrupting the usual stream of ads.

I followed these steps myself Google Pixel 10aand the whole installation took only a minute. The funny thing was, I was skeptical. I’ve tried enough solutions over the years to know that many of them stop working sooner rather than later, so while I was hopeful, I wasn’t living up to my expectations.

Obviously, I had to try it for myself. The first thing I did was play an hour long episode of one of my favorite shows on YouTube. I just pressed play and watched. There was no advertising throughout. To be honest, it felt a little weird because I was so used to cutting YouTube videos that I was waiting for an ad to appear. He never did.

So I continued. I watched music videos, podcasts, long documentaries, cooking videos, and anything else I would normally open on YouTube – and it all went smoothly. Although DuckDuckGo warns you may experience a little extra buffering, I experienced none during testing.

The experience was simpler on my iPhone, MacBook and Windows PC. Since YouTube ad blocking is already enabled by default there, all I had to do was make sure DuckDuckGo was up to date. After that it was the same story. I spent more time on YouTube than I planned, partly because I wanted to test it properly and partly because, for once, I wasn’t always there. removed from the experience with ads.

While surfing the browser, I came across another feature that caught my attention. It is called Duck Playerand it complements YouTube ad blocking surprisingly well.

Instead of opening videos in a regular YouTube player, Duck Player uses DuckDuckGo’s own built-in video player. The biggest advantage here is privacy. It uses YouTube’s strictest privacy settings for embedded videos, which means you’re not tracked with cookies or served personalized ads when you watch. The videos you watch in Duck Player won’t affect your YouTube recommendations, and it won’t remember your place in playlists.

If this sounds like something you’d like, you can enable Duck Player from your browser’s settings. Better yet, you don’t have to choose between the two. Duck Player and YouTube ad blocking work together, so you get a cleaner, more private YouTube experience without giving up either feature.

Of course, this made one wonder how DuckDuckGo pulled it off, given that YouTube spent so much time trying to crack ad blockers. So I learned how it actually works. DuckDuckGo is based on community-driven filter lists uBlock OriginIt is constantly updated by an active open source community to keep up with the way websites, including YouTube, serve ads. Additionally, DuckDuckGo applies its own tweaks to improve compatibility and keep things running smoothly.

My only hope is that it stays that way because it’s exactly what I’m looking for right now. I don’t have to add another month’s subscription to an already long enough list, and I don’t miss YouTube’s constant ad breaks after using it on my Pixel, iPhone, MacBook, and Windows PC.

If you’re in the same boat, I’d definitely recommend giving it a try.