How to Get Rid of Ads on Hulu
Love watching shows on Hulu but hate the ads? Here are some tips that will help you skip or outright block commercial breaks.
One of the most popular streaming services available today is Hulu. You can try the ad-supported version, or you can pay a little bit more for Hulu without the ads. The cool thing is you can block or shorten the length of ad breaks.
If you want to get rid of ads on Hulu, here’s what you’ll need to do.
Note: If you have Hulu + Live TV, the following tips will block ads for Hulu (the video-on-demand service), but not Live TV streams. If you record a live TV show to the cloud-DVR, you can sometimes skip through the ads, but not always. It depends on the show and the device you’re watching it on. Unfortunately, it’s not a consistent experience.
How to Upgrade to Hulu With No Ads
The easiest way to get rid of ads on Hulu is to upgrade your subscription to the ad-free tier. You can buy it individually for $12.99/month. You can also purchase it as part of the Disney Plus Bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu (No Ads), and ESPN Plus for $19.99/month.
To do this, log into your account and switch to the Hulu (No Ads) tier to change your plan. Your account will be charged the additional cost on the next billing cycle. You can change your mind later and turn it off if you prefer.
Use a Chrome Extension
If you watch Hulu using a desktop browser like Chrome, you can install an ad-blocking extension like Hulu Ad Skipper. It will detect and skip upcoming ads on Hulu and skip through them. The extension is advertised as a “set it and forget it” solution. Just install it, and the extension does the rest.
Some users have said they’ve had success using other ad-blocking software like Adblock Plus or uBlock Origin. Note that you don’t have to use Google Chrome to use it. Instead, you can install Chrome extensions on Microsoft Edge, too.
Reload the Hulu Program Page
This next tip doesn’t remove ads, but it can shorten them. Usually, the ads on Hulu are short, lasting between 30 seconds to one and a half minutes. However, ad breaks on Hulu can be up to three minutes long.
When a program goes to commercial, you’ll see a small “Ad” banner in the upper-right corner of the screen. It will also display the number of minutes the commercial break will run for.
If it looks too long for your liking, stop watching the program on your streaming device or web browser, then select it again to re-enter. You should (more often than not) see a shorter ad time—probably between 30-60 seconds.
If it doesn’t work, try it again. It isn’t guaranteed, but it is a good (and quick) solution to reduce the ad time.
Try Ad-Blocking Browsers
There are ad-blocking, privacy-focused browsers like Brave on your desktop that can help you block ads on services like Hulu. Brave is built to block ads out of the box.
The default settings might break Hulu, so you’ll need to tweak them first. If you find Hulu doesn’t work properly in Brave, open Brave’s settings menu and go to the Shields section.
Set Trackers & ads blocking to Standard or Disabled. You can always go back and turn it back on after watching your program.
If you have the browser locked down with other strict settings, you might also need to turn off additional settings in the Privacy & Security section.
Use Web Filtering
Most modern web routers (especially third-party routers) allow you to use web filtering to block certain websites and services. You can use this functionality to block the specific service used by Hulu to load ads.
The steps to do this may vary, depending on your local network configuration, but this should give you an idea of what to look for.
To start, launch your web browser and type in your router’s IP address. This is typically 192.168.0.1 or similar. Consult your router’s documentation if you aren’t sure.
Once you’re inside the router’s settings menu, look for the Web Filtering option (this is usually listed as an advanced options feature). Find the web filtering option and add the following domain:
ads-e-darwin.hulustream.com
Save your settings and restart your router when you’re done. By blocking this domain, most of the ads on Hulu should be blocked. Unfortunately, this tip isn’t guaranteed to work, and Hulu may prevent you from blocking this domain in the future.
If you find that Hulu won’t load after blocking this domain, repeat the steps above and remove the domain from your web filtering list.
Open Two Tabs
If you’re watching on a desktop, there’s a trick you can use to skip ads—open two tabs to watch the same program.
In one tab, mute the volume and fast forward to the first ad. Then, on the second tab, begin watching the content until you get to the first ad. When you get to the first ad, mute it and move to the other tab.
Rewind the opening commercial, unmute, and continue watching. Keep moving between the tabs until your program is over. This is a pretty clunky way to avoid ads, but it’s guaranteed to work if you really don’t want to watch them.
Enjoying Your Hulu Subscription
While it can be tricky to block ads on Hulu, the steps above should help you get started. Commercials aren’t completely avoidable, though, and you may still see ads while you’re watching live TV.
If you’re a subscriber to the Hulu + Live TV package, it opts you into Nielsen rating by default, but you can always opt out of Nielsen ratings on Hulu before you watch anything. If you want to watch your Hulu content on the go, you could download content from Hulu to your mobile device. Any parents out there might be interested in creating a kid-friendly profile on Hulu, too.
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