Remember those annoying pop-up ads from the early Internet era (such as the early 2000s)? They automatically open multiple ad windows and require you to close one by one, which is very annoying. Because of this, all mainstream browsers now block websites from opening new windows by default. However, the website has found a workaround to display ads or induce you to subscribe to their newsletter: Overlay.

You have definitely seen them, even if you have never heard of the term before. The overlay will obscure what you are reading, watching, or accessing and will usually require you to provide an email address or other personal information. In most cases, their purpose is relatively harmless, but sometimes these pop-ups are designed with dark mode: intentionally confusing designs that manipulate users to collect their personal information.

Luckily, you can remove the overlay by editing the HTML code of the web page. You can do it manually in your browser if you prefer, but this is not as convenient as using an extension designed specifically for this.

One-click removal: BehindTheOverlay

BehindTheOverlay is free and runs on Firefox and Google Chrome, and can be downloaded and installed by Edge and Opera users. This extension is very easy to use: just see the overlay and click its icon to remove it.

[Related: 5 browser extensions to help you get rid of the overflow of tabs]

If you prefer, you can also use the application's keyboard shortcuts to start the extension: Ctrl Shift X for Windows and Cmd Shift X for MacOS. If you are a Chrome user, you can abandon the default key combination and set your own shortcut keys. Click the puzzle icon in the upper right corner of the interface, select Manage extensions, or enter Chrome://Extensions in the address bar to enter the extension settings page . Click the three-line menu in the upper left corner of the screen, and select the keyboard shortcut in the pop-up sidebar. Find the BehindTheOverlay extension and click the pen icon below it to edit the shortcut keys.

This is a minimalist tool, but this simplicity has its drawbacks. It can't remove overlays automatically, and there's nothing you can do if the extension doesn't work on a specific website. Still, BehindTheOverlay works fine for most cases, so it's worth a try.

Automated but slightly picky option: PopUpOff

PopUpOff is also free and runs on Chrome, Edge, Opera, and Firefox. It requires more configuration than BehindTheOverlay, but it automatically disables these annoying overlays in return. This extension also allows you to set default methods for each website you visit: Radical, Medium or Hibern.

Aggressive Mode will remove almost everything you encounter while scrolling. In some cases, this may even remove page elements, such as titles, which is why there are also medium options. This is the default setting for the extension, which tries to remove only the annoying overlays. Finally there is Hibern mode, which does nothing, and it is useful when the extension seems to break the website you are viewing.

PopUpOff is certainly a tool that takes you some time to adjust, but once it is done, the overlays will become a past tense and you won't even think of them again.

Reading mode or Postlight Reader

Most modern browsers have some reading mode: Firefox provides reading views, Microsoft Edge provides immersive readers, and Safari provides readers. This feature extracts articles from any website you are viewing, allowing you to read without viewing any ads, sidebars, or other distractions. This includes overlays, which means that reading mode is an excellent tool to avoid overlays.

[Related: 7 more features of Safari than Google Chrome]

Google is an advertising company that doesn't offer reading mode in Chrome -- at least, it won't work without some digging in hidden settings. If you are using Google Chrome, the Postlight Reader extension can add reading modes to Chrome and even allow you to configure the font and text size of the article you are reading.

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