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#7 of 100 · Browser

Block popups, not just ads

A browser add-on that kills newsletter popups, scroll hijacking, autoplay video, clipboard and back-button tricks, ideally from a shared community list.

23asks, each re-read
23separate threads
12of 19 years
4since 2024
2010first asked

Asks per year

’081’10’122’1431’162’1812’2023’222’2431’26

What the askers want

  • Would pay13%
  • Want it local or private17%
  • Object to subscriptions0%
  • Want it open source or self-hosted4%
  • Want AI to do it0%

Share of the 23 asks that say so, as judged by Jev.

What exists on Show HN

Built, still asked for1 Show HN launches do this job, and 7 more do part of it. People still ask, so the launches are missed, unknown, or not what they want. Ask what they’re missing before you build.

The idea, as matched

A browser extension that removes page annoyances (popups, newsletter modals, sticky headers, scroll hijacking, autoplay video, clipboard and back-button tricks), ideally driven by a shared community list.

Jev first matched 32 requests to this idea; a second reader kept 23 of 32.

Every ask, newest first

Each line is an AI paraphrase of what the writer wanted. The link goes to their own words on Hacker News.

Reader’s note. Scroll hijacking and signup modals most common.

  1. Aug 2026Wants a browser feature that forces normal scrolling on sites with overlapping, scroll-jacked layouts. Read it: a comment in “Ordinary Abundance”
  2. Dec 2025Thinks a paid solution blocking popups, async ads and autoplay video would sell, redistributing revenue to visited sites. Read it: a comment in “Web Browsers have stopped blocking pop-ups”
  3. Dec 2025Wants a Firefox setting or extension that stops autoplaying videos, which restart after being paused. Read it: a comment in “UniFi 5G”
  4. Feb 2025Wants a crowdsourced annoyances database plus extension that auto-removes page elements the community votes as annoying. Read it: a comment in “Retaking the web browser, one small step at a time”
  5. Apr 2023Wants a plugin that turns off newsletter signup popups. Read it: a comment in “I don’t want to sign up for your newsletter (2018)”
  6. Mar 2023Would pay a few dollars a year or monthly for a working popup blocker, after a trial. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: Death to blatantly obstructuve popups. What do you think?”
  7. Dec 2022Wants a plugin that reliably hides page elements chosen by selector. Read it: a comment in “Hide all numbers that relate to dark patterns”
  8. Jul 2022Wants a mobile-friendly way to read sites without being hit by repeated intrusive popups. Read it: a comment in “Real peer review has never been tried”
  9. Mar 2022Wants an easy way to disable scroll-jacking on websites. Read it: a comment in “Tolkien's Paintings”
  10. Dec 2021Wants a community browser that auto-applies popular JS fixes for UX, paywalls, newsletter boxes and consent banners. Read it: a comment in “What will enter the public domain in 2022”
  11. Sep 2021Would pay for an open source extension that breaks install-our-app popups, and for a subscription to EasyList. Read it: a comment in “‎Amplosion: Redirect AMP Links on the App Store”
  12. Sep 2020Wants an extension that automatically dismisses sign-up prompts. Read it: a comment in “Stop Asking Me to “Sign Up” (2014)”
  13. Aug 2020Would pay for a browser that removes popups and annoyances with script blocking and fixed-element hiding built in. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?”
  14. Mar 2019Wants a browser or extension that stops sites from altering what gets copied to the clipboard. Read it: a comment in “Firefox 66.0 Aims to Reduce Online Annoyances”
  15. May 2017Wants an extension that stops sites from hijacking scrolling. Read it: a comment in “Sharing public keys between iOS and the rest of the world”
  16. Jan 2017Wants a Chrome extension that blocks intrusive pop-up ads on mobile-style pages. Read it: a comment in “Google Has Started Penalizing Mobile Websites with Intrusive Pop-Up Ads”
  17. May 2016Wants an adblock companion that removes email-harvesting popups and other overlays that cover text. Read it: a comment in “The Day the Moon Blew Up”
  18. Sep 2015Wants a global way to disable text field auto-selection and helpful clipboard copying. Read it: a comment in “Clipboard.js: Modern Copy to Clipboard”
  19. May 2015Wants a feature that breaks web apps using modals for marginal benefit. Read it: a comment in “F*** those popups – signing up those who deserve it”
  20. Feb 2015Wants a plugin that removes giant full-screen hero graphics that must be scrolled past. Read it: a comment in “The Gig Economy Is Being Sued to Death”
  21. Nov 2013Wants a plugin that blocks sites from adding spam text to copied content, without disabling JavaScript. Read it: a comment in “US blogger fined 8,000 Euros by France for criticizing Société Générale”
  22. Sep 2013Wants a Chrome extension that stops sites from breaking the Back button. Read it: a comment in “Large patent holders hate this reform proposal. That’s a good sign”
  23. Sep 2010Wants a plugin that removes the social sharing buttons sites add to every page. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: What Firefox/Chrome extensions do you use?”

Building this?

Read ten of the asks above first, because they say what the existing launches miss. If you ship it, post it as a Show HN so the next run of this list finds it.

See all 100How the counts work

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