Unclutter — A new approach to reader mode
Hey! This is a reader mode browser extension I built that hides noisy page elements rather than extracting and re-rendering only the page text. The idea is to not make all articles look the same [0], have them still render graphs, and ideally to work in more cases. There are a few "tricks": patching the site CSSOM to apply simpler mobile styles even at desktop width, detecting the likely main text & removing its non-text siblings, blocklists for classnames that contain words like "sidebar", and testing this on a few hundred popular sites. I got carried away and also added a dark mode, page…
Unclutter — A new approach to reader mode launched on June 18, 2022 with 49 votes, #852 of 3,005 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 4 years on.
In plain words
Unclutter is a browser extension that provides a reader mode by hiding distracting page elements rather than extracting and reformatting text, allowing articles to retain their original design and interactive content like graphs. It works across hundreds of popular websites using techniques like applying mobile-friendly styles, detecting main content, and filtering out common noise elements like sidebars. The extension also includes dark mode, page outlines, private annotations, and integrates Hacker News comments directly into articles when accessed from that platform.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
Unclutter makes articles readable and customizable. Unclutter articles, block ads and popups, save highlights, organize your read-it-later list & more. Instantly in your browser, and free.
Unlike all other reader modes, Unclutter modifies a website's CSS styles to remove ads and popups. So The Guardian still looks like The Guardian, and The Atlantic like The Atlantic. Want to make the text on that one website larger? Or enable dark mode everywhere? Your favorite settings are one click away. No need to open a separate website or to find your phone. Add them to your reading queue or find information when you need it. There's also a nice activity graph! Saving quotes you want to remember shouldn't take elaborate synchronization setups. Just select the text you want to save, then search across it later. Directly in your browser. Just try out the extension to find all the…from unclutter.lindylearn.io
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hey! This is a reader mode browser extension I built that hides noisy page elements rather than extracting and re-rendering only the page text. The idea is to not make all articles look the same [0], have them still render graphs, and ideally to work in more cases. There are a few "tricks": patching the site CSSOM to…
Does a similar job
all alternatives →- URUnclutter – Reader mode, but better2022 · unclutter.it · ▲212
Hey everyone! In the last months I've been working on Unclutter, a modern reader mode browser extension. In contrast to all existing approaches, it unclutters articles by modifying their CSS instead of extracting the text content. This results in a more visually pleasing result that reuses the original article style. The idea is to remove friction so you use the reader mode more often. There are a few more features around saving articles automatically and taking highlights -- more details are on the website. The extension has about 400 active weekly users right now, mostly from organic web…
Reader Mode Premium2020 · readermode.io · ▲314Read, highlight and annotate the web without distractions
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