Ads on YouTube have spiraled out of control in India you click a share on a reel, and by the time the video has loaded you‘re subjected to a 30 seconds unfathamable ad on a product you would never use, followed by another one before the 4-minute video loads. I‘ve timed this on some videos the time spent watching advertisements, in some cases, rivals the actual content!
Its also frustrating. It kills the experience. And if youre on mobile data it‘s killing your bandwidth as well.
Here’s a one-stop guide to what really works to block Ads on YouTube in India at the moment on Android, iOS, PC & even your Smart TV. No nonsense, no outdated tricks.
Table of Contents
Why YouTube Ads Hit Harder in India Than Most Places
YouTube’s ad load is not even across territories. India is one of YouTube’s largest markets by watch time, so it is a go-to-focus territory for advertisers and the outcome is: more ads, more frequency and an especially large number of unskippable formats.
YouTube Premium costs ₹139/month in India (2025), which is actually one of the lowest rates in the world. But many users don‘t want a subscription or want to know what free options are available without a subscription, with:”
That‘s when third-party applications come into play and certain applications work quite well.
The Browser Route: Still the Most Reliable Fix on PC
Assuming you are viewing YouTube through a desktop browser, probably the best way to enjoy it cleanly is to use uBlock Origin. It‘s a free, open source extension compatible with Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and Edge, to name a few.
How to set it up:
- Install it from the Chrome Web Store or from your Brower‘s extension store
- It just works it‘s that easy To get started without having to do anything:
- For YouTube alone, it captures both pre-roll and mid-roll advertisements.
I‘ve tried uBlock Origin for about 2 years, on many devices, and it is hardly ever anything misses. And when a new ad type manages to appear, the filter lists are updated in a matter of days.
But on a positive note, YouTube really does try to prevent ad blocking. There have been times where a warning banner has been shown asking users to turn off whatever ad blocker they were running or, for the Classic flavor, encouraging them to sign up for Premium. If that happens, the “uBlock Origin Extra” companion extension should fix things.
Alternative: Switch to Brave Browser
Brave has native ad and tracker blocking that will block YouTube ads without anything extra. It‘s very fast, Chromium based so every single one of your Chrome extensions works, and it does a pretty decent job at blocking YouTube ads. I‘ve been using Brave for sometime, and it does well most of the time (occasionally forgetting sponsored segments inside videos, which is where the SponsorBlock extension steps in).
Android: The Options That Actually Work
Now this is where it becomes more complex. You can‘t use it on YouTube‘s official Android app, as it doesn‘t allow extensions or even the use of it, for that matter.
Option 1 YouTube ReVanced
ReVanced in the custom version of YouTube that removes the advertisements, at app level. It‘s not even present on the Play Store (for good reason!), but it is used, maintained and free of charge.
To install it:
- You have to sideload it (inc. allow installs from unknown sources in your android settings)
- Download the ReVanced Manager APK from the official G!t hub repo
- Utilize it to patch your currentYouTubeAPK
It may sound technical, but I have seen detailed walk throughs on YouTube ( yes, I know the irony). I found that it takes about 10–15 minutes to set up in first instance, while everything thereafter is pretty much the stock YouTube experience, with no ads.
Option 2 – NewPipe
NewPipe is a non official YouTube client, it is lightweight so does not make use of YouTube API, so ads never load. It also offers background playing and MP4 downloads without Premium. The user interface is very simple but it does the job.
Option 3 DNS Based Blocking (Ad Guard DNS)
You can change the private dns on your phone, to AdGuard server, dns.adguard.com, which will block a ton of adnetworks at the source system wide (not only in YouTube, but in all apps). Requires no app and works on Android 9+.
This is the obvious downside it doesn‘t catch all YouTube ad formats as some ads come from the same domains you would get your regular videos from. But it cuts down the amount of ads significantly.
iOS: More Restricted, But Not Hopeless
The ecosystem is tighter. You can‘t sideload apps so easily and even the official YouTube app doesn‘t block ads.
Best options for iPhone:
- AdGuard for iOS (free version) sets up content blocker profile from Safari options, seems to work alright with YouTube on Safari not the app.
- Brave Browser (iOS) – same as desktop. Use Brave to access YouTube instead of Safari or the official app. Not the most smooth but ads are blocked.
- YouTube Premium– on iOS, to be honest, if you watch a lot of YouTube in the phone this is the least cumbersome option. You can go for the ₹139/month plan.
No clean equivalent to ReVanced there is on iOS without jailbreak. Apple is much tighter on this.
Smart TV and Firestick: A Surprisingly Easy Fix
Most of us don‘t give the TV adblocket much thought. But if you‘re viewing YouTube through a smart TV or your Amazon Firestick device, there are a few options.
Router-Level DNS Blocking
Configuring AdGuard DNS or NextDNS at the router level makes sure every device in your network is covered phones, laptops, TVs wherever, it doesn‘t matter. You just have to change the DNS entries in your router admin once and you‘re done.
Won‘t remove all YouTube ads (same-domain problem again), but removes some ad-network tracking and most banner/overlay formats:
SmartTubeNext (Android TV / Firestick)
SmartTubeNext is the YouTube client that is ad-free and designed for Android TV. Similar to NewPipe, which lives on the phones, it avoids the ads while not accessing the YouTube ad serving platform. It boasts a clean interface, full 4K capabilities, and I haven‘t experienced an ad once in using it with the Firestick.
Do VPNs they provide aid?
People often think that routing all your traffic through a VPN will stop YouTube ads. It won‘t unless you specifically stop your VPN from using the YouTube domain. A VPN will change your IP and location. However, YouTube ads are shown from the YouTube domain irrespective of your IP.
Certain VPNs have a feature to block ads (for example Windscribe and ProtonVPN have a NetShield function) and those can be effective. However, a basic VPN without an ad filtering layer wont do much for YouTube.
Anyway, just out of interest of how VPNs and the proxy tools relate to privacy and routing, it links into a much bigger topic of network tools which I think is worth looking at.
My Take After Testing These Across Devices
There is no one size fits all solution for all of them. Here‘s how I would be honest:If you want just one recommendation? Use PC – install uBlock Origin them. If on Android, install ReVanced. That should be enough for most and with the least amount of friction.
| Platform | Best Option | Works Without Subscription? |
|---|---|---|
| PC/Mac | uBlock Origin | Yes |
| Android | YouTube ReVanced | Yes |
| iPhone | Brave Browser | Yes (limited) |
| Smart TV | SmartTubeNext | Yes |
| All devices | Router-level DNS | Yes (partial) |
A Related Trick Most People Skip
If you‘re a prolific user of YouTube for content research, or just for keeping things for later, then it‘s probably useful to learn How to Save Videos for Offline Playback. Twitter/X is often the source of clips from YouTube, and being able to How to Download Videos from Twitter is a useful skill for anyone working in a content flow. Saving content you own the rights to, or everyone else at least happily shared is important for keeping your workflow moving regardless of a less than optimal connection.
The Bigger Picture on YouTube Ads in India
YouTube isn‘t going to stop running ads. That‘s the essence of their business. But users shouldn‘t be forced to endure an experience that‘s turned frankly painful.
None of these above tools are illegal in India (Using the ad blocker, using any third-party client is not breaking any law). There can be a violation of YouTube‘s Terms of Service which in any case is a different issue all together (and far less serious). So far, YouTube seems to have responded by just displaying warning banners.
Anyone who watches over a half hour of YouTube a day knows that it can be a real quality-of-life enhancement to block all those ads. But whether you use a browser extension, a modified client, or DNS filtering will come down to which device you spend the most time on and there are good options for all.
Trust Booster External Links
Here are two authoritative external sources you can link to for credibility:
1. uBlock Origin GitHub (Raymond Hill)
Both are primary sources (official repos/docs), not aggregator sites so we get strong trust signals for SEO. Use them integrated within the pages that talk about those tools rather than having a list of them at the bottom.
Passionate content writer with 4 years of experience specializing in entertainment, gadgets, gaming, and technology. I thrive on crafting engaging narratives that captivate audiences and drive results. With a keen eye for trends and a knack for storytelling, I bring fresh perspectives to every project. From reviews and features to SEO-optimized articles, I deliver high-quality content that resonates with diverse audiences.
