Reddit is two different products stacked on top of each other. One is the thing people love: specific communities where someone has already asked your exact question about a repair, a game or a recipe. The other is the front page, a live stream of whatever is popular across the whole site, which is built to be scrolled and has no end. This guide is about keeping the first and getting rid of the second in a desktop browser.
Key points:
- r/popular and r/all are the site-wide streams. When you are logged out, the Reddit home page is r/popular.
- Stillfeed's free browser extension blocks the r/popular and r/all pages and leaves the subreddits you visit on purpose alone.
- Optional controls, off until you switch them on: hide sponsored posts, hide comments, word filter and media filter.
Why r/popular and r/all are the problem
A subreddit has edges. It is about one thing, it has a few thousand posts that matter this week, and when you have read what you came for you can leave. r/popular and r/all do not have those edges. They pull the most visible posts from many communities and mix them into one stream, so the topic changes with every post: a news item, a joke, an argument, a photo, a story about someone's neighbour. That variety is exactly what keeps the thumb moving. Each post is a small new reward, and the next one is always a flick away.
The other trap is the default. If you are logged out, Reddit's home page is r/popular. If you reach for Reddit to check one thing, the first thing in front of you is the firehose rather than your answer. Most of the time that people lose on Reddit starts there, not in the specific community they meant to visit.
Plenty of people have noticed the same thing on a phone with a bigger display. The bigger the screen, the longer the stream feels, which is the point of Reddit on a bigger screen: endless scroll. The desktop version of the problem is the same, just on a wider page.
What you can do by hand
Reddit gives you some tools that help without any extension, and they are worth using first.
- Go to a subreddit directly. Bookmark the two or three communities you actually use. Opening a bookmark skips the home page entirely.
- Sort by what you want. Inside a subreddit you can sort by new, top or hot. Sorting by new tends to run out, which is useful.
- Use search. If you are after an answer, search for it rather than browsing. You find the thread and leave.
- Log in and join only what you use. A home feed built from your own subscriptions is far narrower than r/popular. Leave communities that only add noise.
These habits work, and they depend on you remembering them at the moment you are least likely to. The first time you type "reddit" into the address bar, the default beats the plan.
Blocking them with Stillfeed
Stillfeed's browser extension is free and works on eight sites, Instagram, YouTube, X, Reddit, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn and Snapchat. It has no account, runs entirely in your browser and sends nothing out. It does not block arbitrary websites; it hides feed surfaces on those eight and adds time tools.
On Reddit, the default behaviour is simple: the r/popular and r/all pages are blocked. The block covers the address with any capitalisation, and multireddits that include them. Your own subscriptions, the subreddits you open on purpose, posts you click into, search and sign-in are left alone. It is on by default, and you can turn Reddit's hiding off from the toolbar popup if you ever want the firehose back.
One honest detail: the Popular and All entries in Reddit's left menu stay visible. The extension blocks the pages they lead to rather than removing the menu links, so you may still see the link, but it will not take you to the stream.
The optional Reddit controls
Beyond the default block, the extension has four optional controls for Reddit. They are off until you turn them on.
Hide sponsored posts
Promoted posts are hidden in feeds. This was checked on Reddit while logged out, and the label Reddit uses for promoted posts when you are signed in has not been checked, so results may differ when you are logged in.
Hide comments
Comment threads can be hidden. If your habit is reading arguments below posts rather than the posts, this removes the part that holds your attention longest, while the post and its link stay.
Word filter
You enter words, and posts whose titles contain them are hidden. It is a simple way to cut a topic that keeps pulling you in, such as a game, a celebrity or an election.
Media filter
This filters posts by type, so you can cut image and video posts if text threads are what you want from Reddit.
Some features depend on how a site labels things, and where a feature is not available the popup says "Not available yet" rather than showing a switch that does nothing.
Adding a limit
Blocking the streams removes the biggest sink, and you can still drift inside a subreddit. For that, the extension's time tools work on Reddit like every other supported site. A daily limit closes the site until midnight once the day's total is used, with five extra minutes once per visit. A session timer gives each visit two, five, ten or fifteen minutes. Quiet hours close it on chosen days and overnight, pause before opening adds a five or ten second breath before the page loads, and grayscale drains the colour. These apply in the browser where you set them.
If Reddit is one of several feeds that eat your time, how to stop doomscrolling is the place to start for the wider picture, and Stillfeed on Reddit covers the iPhone side.
Installing it
Go to stillfeed.pro/extension. In Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera and Arc, install it from the Chrome Web Store. In Firefox, install it from Firefox Add-ons.
Stillfeed is also an iPhone app that does the same job with a distraction-free browser on your phone, and that is the main product. The extension is the free desktop companion.
Common questions
Does the extension block the whole of Reddit?
No. It blocks r/popular and r/all. The subreddits you visit directly, search, posts you open and sign-in all keep working.
Why does the Popular link still show in the menu?
The extension blocks the pages, not the menu entries. The link stays visible, but it does not open the stream.
Can I turn it off?
Yes. Every site has its own switch in the toolbar popup.
Does it hide sponsored posts by default?
No. Hiding sponsored posts is optional and off until you switch it on.
Does it collect my browsing?
No. It has no analytics, sends nothing to Stillfeed or anyone else, and keeps its settings and your minutes of use on your device.
More guides
- Reddit on a bigger screen without the endless scroll
- How to block a website in Chrome
- News Feed Eradicator alternative
- Social media detox
More browser extension guides
- How to Block YouTube Shorts on Chrome (and Other Desktop Browsers)
- How to Set a YouTube Time Limit in Chrome (and Other Desktop Browsers)
- Unhook YouTube Extension vs Stillfeed: What Each One Does
- A Website Blocker for Firefox That Blocks the Feed, Not the Whole Site
- Instagram on a Computer Without Reels, Explore or Suggested Posts
- How to Hide Reels on Facebook on a Computer
- Snapchat Web: Use It for Chat Only, Without Stories or Spotlight
- How to Block a Website in Chrome (and When You Only Want the Feed Gone)
- News Feed Eradicator Alternative: Hide Feeds on 8 Sites, Plus Time Limits
- Block Distracting Sites on Edge, Brave, Opera and Arc (Free Extension)
