YouTube without ads, without the creators' sponsor reads and with the dislike counter back: it can be done completely free. How you do it depends on your device, so this article comes in two parts.

Part 1: YouTube without ads on your Windows PC

On a PC you do not need a patched app. Firefox still lets extensions do their full job, and three add-ons from the official Mozilla store give you no ads, no sponsor segments and the dislike counter back. Everything is free and open source, nothing to crack, and your YouTube account stays your YouTube account.

What you need

Just the Firefox browser. Does this work in Chrome? Partly — Chrome's move to Manifest V3 limits what content blockers may do, while uBlock Origin on Firefox is still the full version. Hence Firefox. Same story on mobile: Firefox for Android supports these extensions, mobile Chrome does not.

Step 1: uBlock Origin — kill the ads

The most important of the three. Blocks the ads before the video, the mid-roll interruptions and the banners that slide over the picture.

  1. Open Firefox and go to the uBlock Origin page on Firefox Add-ons.
  2. Click the blue Add to Firefox button.
  3. A pop-up appears at the top left. Click Add.
  4. Optionally allow it to run in private windows, then click Okay.

Step 2: SponsorBlock — skip intros and sponsors

Google's ads are gone, but the creator's own "this video is brought to you by..." is not: that segment is baked into the video. SponsorBlock fixes it with a crowdsourced database of timestamps, automatically skipping sponsorships, intros, outros and subscribe reminders.

  1. Go to the SponsorBlock page and click Add to Firefox.
  2. Confirm with Add in the pop-up.
  3. A settings page opens automatically. The defaults are fine; if you would rather keep intros, set that category to "ignore".

Step 3: Return YouTube Dislike — bring back the counter

Ever since YouTube hid dislikes, judging whether a tutorial actually works has been guesswork. Return YouTube Dislike restores the number using archived and crowdsourced data.

  1. Go to the Return YouTube Dislike page.
  2. Click Add to Firefox and confirm with Add.

Done. Open YouTube, play any video and watch the timeline: no ad, and where the sponsor read begins the player simply hops over it.

The three add-ons at a glance

Extension What it solves Price
uBlock Origin Ads before, during and over the video; trackers Free, open source
SponsorBlock Sponsor segments, intros, outros, subscribe reminders Free, open source
Return YouTube Dislike The hidden dislike counter Free, open source

Bonus: turn it into a real "app"

Want YouTube in its own window, without tab bar or menus, so it feels like a standalone app? You can, but how depends on your operating system.

Windows

Since Firefox 143 this is built into Firefox (if you installed Firefox from the Microsoft Store, you need version 150 or later). Open YouTube and click the web app icon in the address bar. Firefox installs YouTube as a separate app on your taskbar and in the Start menu; if you are asked whether to pin the app to the taskbar, click Yes. From then on YouTube opens in a clean dedicated window, and your extensions (uBlock Origin included) keep working. Source: Mozilla Support.

macOS and Linux

That taskbar feature is not available (yet). The simplest alternative: shrink the Firefox window so you can see your desktop, drag the padlock icon from the address bar onto the desktop and release. You now have a shortcut to YouTube. Source: Mozilla Support. If you truly want separate app windows, use the "Progressive Web Apps for Firefox" extension.

Part 2: YouTube without ads on your Android smartphone

On an Android smartphone you have two options. With Firefox you are done in a few minutes, but you watch YouTube in the browser. If you want the real YouTube app, with background playback and picture-in-picture, you need YouTube ReVanced. That takes about fifteen minutes.

Option A: Firefox for Android (the easiest)

  1. Install Firefox from the Play Store.
  2. Open Firefox, tap the menu (three dots) and choose Extensions.
  3. Add uBlock Origin and SponsorBlock with the plus sign, and confirm with Add.
  4. From now on, open youtube.com in Firefox instead of the YouTube app.

Downside: playing with your screen off does not always work in a browser. Option B is better for that.

Option B: YouTube ReVanced (the app without ads)

ReVanced is not a ready-made app. With the ReVanced Manager app you patch the official YouTube app yourself, on your own phone. You then get a second YouTube app without ads, with SponsorBlock and the dislike counter built in, and with background playback. Your regular YouTube app stays as it is.

Read this first

  • Download everything only from the official GitHub pages below. A site offering a ready-made "YouTube ReVanced APK" is misleading or contains malware.
  • ReVanced is unofficial and goes against YouTube's terms of service. Use it at your own risk.
  • You need Android 8 or newer, at least 1 GB of free storage and 10 to 15 minutes.
  1. Install ReVanced Manager. On your phone, open the official ReVanced Manager download page, download the .apk file under "Assets" (not the "Source code") and open it. The first time, Android asks whether your browser may install apps: allow it for this once.
  2. Install GmsCore. You need it to sign in with your Google account. Download the regular .apk file from the official GmsCore page and install it. Give GmsCore permission for notifications and turn off battery optimisation for it if asked.
  3. Download the right YouTube version. Open ReVanced Manager, tap Patcher and choose YouTube: the Manager shows which YouTube version is recommended (also listed on revanced.app/patches). Download exactly that version from APKMirror. Pick the DOWNLOAD APK button, not "APK BUNDLE", and do not install the file. The YouTube app from the Play Store cannot be used.
  4. Patch. In ReVanced Manager, select the downloaded YouTube file from your Storage. Keep the patches that are ticked by default, in particular GmsCore support and Spoof video streams. SponsorBlock, Return YouTube Dislike and background playback are among them too. Tap Patch and keep the Manager open on screen until it is done, 5 to 15 minutes.
  5. Install. First tap Export to keep a backup copy, then tap Install. You now have an extra app, YouTube ReVanced, next to your regular YouTube app.
  6. Sign in. Open YouTube ReVanced and sign in with your Google account, just like in the regular app.

Updating: YouTube ReVanced is not updated through the Play Store. If videos stop loading or the Manager reports new patches, repeat steps 3 to 5 with the newly recommended version. You can always reinstall your backup copy.

Is this legal? And will it keep working?

Installing an ad blocker is allowed; you decide what your own browser renders. But be honest about the flip side: ad revenue is the main income for many channels. If you value a creator, consider a membership, a tip, or simply watching their videos all the way through.

Do not expect permanent silence either. YouTube regularly experiments with blocker detection: throttled playback, warning dialogs, a player that refuses to start. In June 2025 that detection was tightened again, and YouTube is also testing ads that are stitched directly into the video itself. In practice the uBlock filter team usually patches around such changes within days; as of November 2026 the method still works.

Still getting an ad or a warning from YouTube? Click the uBlock Origin icon, open the dashboard (gear icon), go to Filter lists and click Update now. If that does not help, clear your YouTube cookies and reload the page.

Frequently asked

And on an iPhone or iPad? It does not work there: iOS does not allow patched apps like ReVanced and extension support is limited. Safari with a content blocker or a subscription is the realistic route there.

Can I also listen in the background, like with Premium? On a desktop, automatically, as soon as the window sits behind something else. On your Android smartphone with YouTube ReVanced (option B); in a browser it is unreliable. Downloading videos remains Premium's real selling point.

Will this slow my browser down? No, usually the opposite. uBlock Origin also blocks trackers and scripts, so pages often load faster. The extension is known precisely for its low memory and CPU footprint.

Why no ReVanced on a PC? On a PC ReVanced adds nothing: three extensions from the Mozilla store give the same result, with updates that take care of themselves. On an Android smartphone, however, ReVanced is the best way to use the real app without ads.

Sources

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