Bypass a paywall at WSJ, Business Insider, NYT, etc. It should be something only a paying customer can do. A paywall exists for this purpose: to prevent anyone except paying users from accessing specific content.
However, depending on how the paywall works, you might be lucky if you use to see what’s behind it. Other times, a simple browser trick may be enough to remove the paywall and read the article, watch the video, etc.
There are two types of paywalls, and you’ll probably be lucky if you only unlock the “soft” type. A soft paywall is one that allows you to view some content before blocking the rest, while a hard paywall requires upfront payment with no preview of content or limited-time access.
Note: We do not recommend using paywall blockers as they deprive a company of a potentially huge revenue stream. Like ad blockers, you should use them wisely and consider the impact they may have on your favorite websites.
Also, if you prefer to watch instead of read, watch our short video of where we will walk you through some of the paywall bypass options mentioned in the article:
12 Paywall Unlockers
You can try several methods to bypass a paywall. Some won’t work, but there are certainly one or two options that should work for the site you’re trying to access.
Bypass Firefox Paywalls Extension
Use to bypass the paywall. It works on Bloomberg, Denver Post, Baltimore Sun, Inc.com, The Herald and many other sites. Simply use the download link at the top of this page to get the file and drag it into a Firefox window to install it.
From there, simply go to the website to see if the extension has removed the paywall. Can to disable blocking (enable paywall) on any of the supported websites.
Look for the article elsewhere
Copy the article title and paste it into a search engine to find a duplicate. This is one of the easiest ways to avoid a paywall, as many times a popular article from a subscription news channel will be copied and published elsewhere completely free of charge.
An important thing to remember when performing a search like this, where there are a lot of spaces, is to enclose words in quotes, as seen above. This will narrow down your search results, but make sure what you find is relevant to the item you’re looking for.
Try the Unpaywall Chrome Extension
is a Chrome extension that unblocks paywalls on scientific articles. Search the Internet for free PDF versions of the article and then provide a link to find the free version.
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Reset your browser cookies
Delete cookies from your browser or use incognito mode to bypass the paywall. If the site allows you to view certain articles and then blocks access with a paywall, it does so using the of cookies that track the number of pages you have viewed.
By deleting cookies or opening the website in incognito mode to ignore cookies, you will appear on the website as if you were a new visitor, thus resetting the number of free items you can open.
Find out where your browser’s cookies are stored to delete them. Or learn how to use private browsing mode in Chrome, Opera, Edge, Internet Explorer, or Firefox.
Use Schema.com
Enter the URL of the page in . The scheme is designed for annotating web pages and reading content with few distractions, but because of how it works, it’s often useful for bypassing paywalls.
Remove Paywall manually
Remove the paywall popup if possible. Some sites use a super basic checkout system where the only thing stopping you from seeing the page is a pop-up window. While there is no easily accessible exit button, you can preview the page source and manually delete it to reveal the content behind it.
For example, in Chrome, in the paywall message and select To inspect. Use the mouse pointer option in the top left corner of the Chrome tool to find the paywall source code. When you find it, right click on the data and choose Delete element. You may need to eliminate several things until you find the right combination to get rid of the entire paywall.
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A similar option that might work if the paywall uses JavaScript is to block the script with a tool like . If you’re not using Chrome or these methods don’t work, try a web proxy that can drop scripts like .
Prevent page from loading completely
Pause the page quickly before the paywall opens. If you are unlucky enough to remove it or block JavaScript, you can pause the page from loading completely and prevent the paywall popup from appearing.
You have to be fast; If the page loads too fast or the paywall starts before the article, it won’t work. To test this, simply refresh the page and press the button Esc
key several times right after loading the content.
Exploring archive sites
Archive sites like and save web pages for archiving purposes. You can take advantage of these methods to find items that you cannot access due to a paywall block.
Use a “Read Later” Tool
Submit the article to a bookmark or read-ahead service as to bypass the item limit. This only works if you have free access to the site the first few times you visit.
Similar to the cookie method above, this does not store the visit as yours, because the page content is sent elsewhere and not loaded on your computer.
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Convert page to PDF
There are many page to PDF converters, for example. Simply put the URL of the paywall page in the text box, convert it, and download the PDF to have a copy of the article offline and always accessible.
Find login information
If it is a paywall that requires a user account, try a payment service. shared. Sites like may have login information that you can use to on the site and bypass the paywall by posing as a real user.
Sign up for a free trial
Another method to bypass the paywall is to pay…sort of. If there is an option to request a trial to bypass the paywall, use it and cancel the trial before you are charged. It’s definitely a no-brainer, but the reason we’re bringing this is because it’s still free and will definitely get you over the block.
However, if you do, be sure to cancel the trial or you will have to pay! You can use a virtual payment service such as to ensure that the card you are using to pay only covers the trial version and will not charge you for the service.
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