How to Block Ads on Safari Mac

Can you block ads on Safari for Mac?

Yes, you can stop ads on Safari. The browser’s own built-in features let you stop unwanted pop-ups on web pages, but for more effective ad blocking, you should try a third-party ad blocking app such as MacKeeper’s StopAd. These apps offer more control, as well as the ability to stop trackers that record your online activity.

MacKeeper also offers adware removal for Mac. Adware is a form of malicious software that hits you with a barrage of unwanted and often aggressive advertising, and it can be installed on your Mac by rogue ads—another reason to block ads in Safari.

A note from our experts: 

 

If you want a quick and easy way to block ads in Safari, we recommend giving MacKeeper’s StopAd a spin. Designed especially for Mac users, StopAd gives you a clean, ad-free browsing experience, and it protects your privacy too.

 

Here’s how to get StopAd running on your Mac:

1. Download, install, and run MacKeeper.
2. Select StopAd from the menu of tools on the left.
3. Next to where it says Safari extension is disabled, click the Enable button.
4. A window will pop up, telling you more about StopAd. Click the Open Safari Preferences button.
5. You’ll now be in the Extensions area of Safari’s settings. Click the checkboxes next to every MacKeeper entry you see in the sidebar.
6. Now return to Safari, and you’ll see a MacKeeper icon next to your URL bar. Click it to open StopAd’s settings.

That’s it. StopAd will automatically block annoying ads on your Mac or MacBook. If you want to let ads through, you can at any time.

How to stop ads on Safari Mac?

To disable ads on Safari for Mac, you can use Safari’s own built-in blocking features, but these are limited to stopping pop-up ads. Dedicated ad blocking extensions have more powerful blocking abilities, as well as giving you more control over what is and isn’t blocked.

1. Block ads with Safari Preferences

First, we’re going to look at Safari’s built-in ad blocking feature, which lets you block pop-ups on Mac. Bear in mind, some legitimate websites use pop-ups for reasons other than advertising, so you may need to tweak this function to get the result you want.

In Safari, you can configure pop-up blocking like this:

1. In the Safari menu bar, select Safari > Settings.
2. Select the Websites tab.
3. From the side menu, choose Pop-up Windows.
4. You can now choose pop-up blocking settings for individual sites and select what Safari will do When visiting other websites.

2. Disable ads via Safari Reader Mode

We also suggest trying Safari’s Reader mode to get rid of ads. On sites that support Reader mode, you can view web pages as simple text and images, without any distracting extras such as ads. Here’s how to enable it:

1. While viewing a web page in Safari, simply press Cmd+Shift+R to enable Reader mode.
2. If the page supports Reader mode, you’ll see all the main text and images, and nothing else.

You can also customize Safari on Mac in the settings, including whether Reader mode will open by default on particular websites.  

3. Use ad blocker to stop ads on Safari Mac

If you really want to stop being bothered by ads in Safari, then you should try a dedicated ad blocking tool. We’ve already shown how MacKeeper’s StopAd can block ads, but there are also many other third-party ad-blocking apps for macOS.

Some of the most popular ad blockers for Mac include:

• Adblock Plus
• AdLock
• uBlock
• Ghostery

A key advantage of MacKeeper is that it’s also an antivirus tool. If you’re wondering if Safari can get a virus, yes, it can—but you can stop it from getting out of control.

Set Safari free with ad blocking

As you’ve seen, there are a few different ways to stop ads from displaying in Safari. We’re not against advertising in principle, because many sites rely on ad revenue to keep serving you content for free. But it’s nice to have the choice about when we do and don’t see advertising—and to be able to block the annoying and intrusive ads from running at all. Safari’s pop-up blocking and Reading mode can help with ad blocking, but they’re very limited features.

That’s why we recommend blocking ads with MacKeeper’s StopAd. This powerful browser extension gives you full control over what ads you see, but it’s not just ad blocker. StopAd also protects your privacy by preventing online trackers from recording your web browsing activity. For complete browsing security and privacy, try MacKeeper today.