Paywall Reading Mode Toggle

WHAT IT DOES

Paywall Reading Mode Toggle detects and removes paywall overlays, subscription gates, and content blockers from articles on any website, restoring full access to the text you want to read. The extension identifies common paywall patterns including modal overlays, blur effects, scroll locks, fade-outs, and premium content gates. It removes these elements and restores normal page scrolling, revealing the complete article content. A dedicated reading mode strips away navigation, ads, sidebars, and comments, presenting the article in a clean, focused layout with customizable font size and background color. The extension works automatically on page load or with a single click, and supports custom site-specific rules for complex or unusual paywall implementations.

WHERE IT RUNS

The extension works on every website with article-style content, including news sites, magazines, blogs, technical documentation, and editorial platforms that use paywalls or subscription gates. It runs locally in your browser, analyzing the page's DOM and removing overlay elements without sending any data to external servers. The extension supports all major browsers and adapts to both desktop and mobile viewports seamlessly.

HOW TO USE

After installation, the extension automatically detects and removes paywall overlays when you visit an article (if auto-remove is enabled). A small status indicator appears in the bottom-left corner confirming when a paywall has been removed. To manually control the feature, open the extension panel. Click "Remove Paywall Now" to remove overlays on the current page, or "Restore Paywall" to revert to the original page state. Click "Enter Reading Mode" to switch to a clean, distraction-free view of the article with customizable font size (12-32px), background color, and text color. Use "Exit Reading Mode" to return to the normal page view. For sites with custom paywall implementations, add CSS selectors in the "Custom Selectors" section to target specific elements. Enable or disable the extension on individual sites using the per-site controls.

THE ACTUAL MECHANISM — MULTI-STRATEGY PAYWALL DETECTION WITH OVERLAY REMOVAL

The extension uses a comprehensive detection pipeline to identify paywall elements. First, it queries a predefined list of common paywall selectors including `.paywall`, `.subscription-overlay`, `.gate`, `.modal-overlay`, `[role="dialog"]`, `[aria-modal="true"]`, and many others. It also checks for elements that prevent scrolling by examining the body's `overflow` style and fixed-position overlays that cover most of the viewport. For dynamic content, a MutationObserver watches for changes to the DOM and re-scans for new paywall elements. When a paywall element is detected, the extension stores its original display state and then removes it by setting `display: none`, `visibility: hidden`, `opacity: 0`, and `pointer-events: none`. The body's scroll lock is also removed by resetting `overflow`, `position`, and `width` styles. For reading mode, the extension clones the main content, removes ads and sidebars using a separate list of clean-up selectors, and applies custom styles for font, background, and layout. All styles are applied inline to avoid conflicts with existing CSS. The extension supports custom selectors stored per domain using GM_setValue, allowing users to add site-specific rules.

THE PANEL

The settings panel is a lightweight, draggable overlay that appears in the center of your screen. You can reposition it by clicking and dragging the title bar; release it near the screen edge and it will snap into place automatically. To collapse the panel into a compact title bar, click the minimize button, expanding it again with the same control. The panel is fully responsive, adapting to different screen resolutions with a minimum width of 300px and a maximum of 480px. Press the Escape key at any time to dismiss the panel without applying changes. All controls—the enable/disable toggle, auto-remove toggle, remove/restore buttons, reading mode controls, font size input, color pickers, custom selector input, and per-site settings—are accessible within a clean, high-contrast interface that respects your system's color scheme.

PLEASE NOTE

This extension requires the free BotGentz companion extension to be installed and active, which provides the underlying DOM access and storage engine. Paywall implementations vary widely across websites, and the extension's predefined selectors cover the majority but may not work on every site. For complex paywalls, use the custom selectors feature to target specific elements on problematic sites. The extension modifies the page DOM and may interfere with site functionality in some cases—if you experience issues, disable the extension for that site using the per-site controls. No personal data, browsing history, or article content is ever collected, stored, or transmitted. All settings are saved using the browser's storage API and remain solely on your device. The extension does not inject ads, trackers, or analytics of any kind.