We all know the frustration: you click a link, and instead of the article you wanted, you get a full-screen video ad, a popup asking for your email, or three banners fighting for your attention.

Enter . What is Tampermonkey? Tampermonkey is one of the most popular userscript managers . It’s a browser extension (available for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, and Opera) that runs small JavaScript programs called “userscripts” on specific websites.

While people often use Tampermonkey for dark mode hacks or YouTube download buttons, it’s also a surprisingly effective (and educational) way to block ads. Yes—but with a caveat. Tampermonkey itself doesn’t block anything. It’s the userscripts you install that do the blocking. Unlike a full-fledged browser extension that runs in the background and filters network requests, a userscript works after a page loads, scanning for ad elements and removing them instantly.