Free Chrome extension

Ad Skipper for YouTube

Skips YouTube video ads before they start and hides promoted videos in your feed and in Shorts. Nothing to configure, no account, no other sites touched. Used by 20 000 people.

Add to Chrome - it's free How it works

★ 4.3 · 83 ratings
Chrome · Edge · Brave · Chromebook
Only on youtube.com

YouTube player with the ad countdown crossed out and a green checkmark: the video plays right away

What it does

YouTube shows three kinds of ads: video ads before and during a video, promoted videos mixed into the home feed and search results, and sponsored clips inside Shorts. Ad Skipper handles all three inside Chrome:

Video ads are skippedPre-roll and mid-roll ads are removed from the player's data before they play, so the video starts at once - no countdown, no "skip ad" button to hunt for.

Promoted videos are hiddenSponsored cards in the home feed and in search results are hidden, and empty slots close up so the grid stays even.

Ad Shorts are hiddenSponsored clips in the Shorts feed are skipped over as you scroll.

Two switches, nothing elseThe popup has Auto-skip and Rewind. Turn Auto-skip off and YouTube is exactly as it was.

How to skip YouTube ads in three steps

Add the extension. Open Ad Skipper for YouTube in the Chrome Web Store and press Add to Chrome. It is free.
Open any video. Reload YouTube once after installing. From then on video ads are skipped automatically - you do not need to click anything.
Adjust if you like. Click the extension icon next to the address bar: Auto-skip is on by default; Rewind restarts a video from the beginning when an ad was cut out of the first seconds.

Ad Skipper and Skins for YouTube player

The same ad skipping is built into our other extension, Skins for YouTube player, under Autoskip ADs in its popup. If you want both a custom player skin and no ads, install Skins alone; if you only want the ads gone, Ad Skipper is the smaller extension - a few hundred lines that do one thing.

What it does not do

It is not a general ad blocker: it runs only on youtube.com and leaves every other website alone. It does not remove YouTube's own recommendations, end screens or channel banners, and it cannot skip sponsor segments that creators put inside their videos. It does not work in the YouTube mobile app - phones and tablets do not run Chrome extensions.

Skip YouTube ads from the next video onFree · no account · 20 000 users

Add to Chrome

Frequently asked questions

Is Ad Skipper for YouTube free?

Yes. There is no paid version, no trial and no account. Add it from the Chrome Web Store and it starts working on the next video.

Is it an ad blocker?

Not in the usual sense. It does not filter the whole web and it does not touch other sites. It works only on youtube.com: video ads are skipped before they play and promoted videos are hidden from the feed and from Shorts.

Why did an ad still play?

YouTube changes its player and its ad delivery often, sometimes several times a month. When that happens an ad can slip through for a day or two until the extension is updated - updates arrive automatically through the Chrome Web Store. If ads keep playing, open the popup and check that Auto-skip is on.

Does it work on a Chromebook and at school?

Yes, wherever Chrome Web Store extensions are allowed. Nothing is downloaded and no administrator rights are needed. If the store is blocked for your account, no extension can be added.

Does it work in Edge, Brave or Opera?

Yes - every Chromium browser installs extensions from the Chrome Web Store. It does not work in the YouTube mobile app; on a phone use YouTube in the Chrome browser with the extension only where the browser supports extensions.

Is it safe?

The extension is published on the official Chrome Web Store and reviewed by Google. It runs only on youtube.com, asks for no personal data and sends nothing anywhere; the source is a few hundred lines that do exactly what this page says.