1. Try Incognito mode to bypass a soft paywall.
Viewing a site in Incognito or Private prevents the site from storing cookies on your computer, phone, or tablet. If the news site you want to view relies on cookies to prevent readers from viewing more than a certain number of articles, you can usually read more free articles in Incognito or Private mode. Here’s how:
- In any web browser on a computer, press Ctrl + Shift + N (PC) or Command + Shift + N (Mac).
- Chrome for Android or iPhone/iPad: Tap the three dots at the top-right or bottom-right corner, then tap New Incognito tab.
- Safari for iPhone/iPad: Tap the two overlapping squares, tap the number of tabs at the bottom, then tap Private. Now tap + to create a new private tab.
2. Install Mercury Reader for Chrome or Edge.
Mercury Reader clears the clutter (and often, the paywall) from any website. This extension is made for Google Chrome, but it’ll work in Microsoft Edge, too. You can simply activate the Mercury Reader extension any time you see a paywall to instantly strip the paywall from just about any news site, including the New York Times, The Atlantic, and more. Just go to, click Install Mercury Reader for Chrome, and click Add to Chrome (even in Microsoft Edge).
- Once the extension is installed, head over to a paywalled article you want to read. Then, click the puzzle piece icon at the top-right corner of your browser and select Mercury Reader.
This free web-based tool can remove the paywall from many news sites. You don’t have to install anything, and you can use the site on any computer, phone, or tablet. Just go to, paste the URL of the article you’re trying to read, and click or tap Remove Paywall.
- While 12ft.io isn’t guaranteed to work for all news sites, it has a pretty good success rate for most of the sites we’ve tried.
- Once the content loads, you’ll see a notification asking you if the paywall is gone. You can help the developers by selecting Yes or No on the notification.
6. Paste the headline into Google.
